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How do you keep focused?



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Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:56 pm
LiteraryVenom says...



So, I have this issue with my writing. Recently I've picked up this horrible habit of starting things that I never find the time, will, or focus to finish. :? I have miscellaneous chapters of random stories lying all over the place. My mind works overtime a lot, and so I have all these ideas but I can't get them finished!

So here's my question - What do you guys do to stay focused and not bounce from idea to idea?
I have to write. I have to write the same way I have to eat, the same way I have to breathe. It's like life to me. I have no idea where I'd be if I didn't do what I do.

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Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:52 pm
Rosendorn says...



I have a few tricks:

1- Write down all ideas as they come to you, then put them away for later. You can then rest easy and know you won't forget all those awesome ideas when you get around to them.

2- Butt to chair, hands to keys (or pen to paper), write.

There isn't really any other substitute for general stubbornness in writing. Keeping through it is difficult, but it is important if you want to finish things (Especially long term projects).

What I find helps is having a goal. I usually come up with some sort of start point, then come up with an end point, and write in between them. I also have lots of little things in between— I call them goal scenes— and work towards them. So my writing process looks something like:

[Start point] [murky space] [goal scene!] [murk] [goal] [repeat quite a lot] [end].

The goal scenes keep me interested and force me to write in order, because I want the scenes to turn out well. It also stopped me from bouncing around.

They also act as a form of bribery. I see how awesome they are, want to get there, and keep all the epic between the current point and the goal. I have to find a reason to get excited about the rest of the stuff I might not want to write, because otherwise I'll never get to the goal scene.

Hope this helps.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:17 am
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RacheDrache says...



Alternatively, you can acquire me, or another reader willing to make your life miserable until you finally commit. Just ask Rosen.

What I really mean to say is that at some point you just have to ask yourself what it is you really want to write. Really and truly want to write. Writers are imaginative folks. We're creative. We tend to get ideas. I get a lot of ideas all the time, and one thing I do to at least stay dedicated to the same project is manage the idea input. I weigh the ideas I get. Some of them I write down if I really, really like them and are significantly intrigued by them, and then I tuck them away for some day in the future. Most of the time I forget about them.

Far more likely than writing them down is the strategy of simply entertaining them in my head. I'm scatterbrained, so if an idea can hang around long enough for me to do something about it, such as write it down or use it. Sometimes of course I lose good ideas this way, but I always get over that.

When I can I also try to incorporate whatever idea I get into my existing story. When I do this I stay dedicated to the project but also to satisfy the urge to play with something new. This strategy involves a lot of willingness to change your story on the fly. It's one reason why don't like to plan my stories out much.

But in the end there's nothing for it but strapping on your hard hat and diving in. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the right idea. More often you just have to get down and sink your hands into the dirt and forget all the glamorous things you thought a writer's life would have. If this were an easy business, more people would do it.

My final piece of advice is to try not to worry about that first draft. Get it finished and then worry about making it good.

Rach
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Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:16 am
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Tenyo says...



Smush things together

You know what's better than a great idea? Two great ideas (as Rache was saying.) Ideas don't do well in solitary confinement. You can have one idea and write until you can't write anymore, and then it just gets abandoned because you need to keep adding to it and letting it grow.

When you get another idea, rather than letting it run off with it's own half-hearted novel, smush the two together. Even if they seem incompatible at first the fun part is making them work, and that helps to keep things interesting too.

Also, keep in mind that when you're in love you can't think of anybody else except that particular person. When you're hungry, you can't focus on anything else until you get fed. If you're engrossed in your novel then it gets easier to blend in other ideas, but when you lose interest that's when you start to trip up.


Make it interesting

I'm going to slightly contradict Rosey's advice about writing through murk to get to the goal, only because that never works for me.

It's a key thing to note that you should write because you want to, not because it seems like a great idea for a novel. When you get tired of the initial buzz you'll deviate and skip onto another novel. If you find you're loosing the passion for it, then add it back in. I learned this lesson when I tried writing mystery fiction because I can plot it out well, but I get so bored when actually writing it. So I add a prince, a few mythical beasts, a hint of magic, and that makes things much more fun.

When you get to those scenes where you just want to write something else, then be brave. Make someone fall in love. Have a key character kidnapped by pirates. Do something stupid that messes up the whole plot and see how much more fun it is to write.


Always finish what you start

Quiting is a habit. The more novels you finish, the better you get at finishing novels. The more novels you abandon, the better you get at abandoning them.

If you decide that a novel isn't working once you've written five chapters, then try to squish the rest of your plot into the next three chapters and turn it into a short story or novella. Yes, it will suck, but at least you've have finished it.

One of the worst habits that so many writers fall into is that they start a hundred novels. They get better at starting novels, and only starting them. Starting a new novel will become the easiest thing in the world.

Each time they come up with a new idea they'll think of how it begins, the introduction to the plot and the characters, e.c.t. Then they'll write it, and once all the introductions are done and the story is rolling they hit a brick, because they don't know what to do next. They're unpracticed in the carrying on part of writing a novel and so end up struggling.

They then put this down to the novel not working, scrap it, and re-enforce their own bad habit.

Always, always finish what you start, even if it means getting rid of the last two thirds of the plot and drawing it to a faster close, or turning a full novel into a short story.


Or, if you want a quick fix

~ Apply pressure: set a reasonable deadline and stick to it.
~ Chose a time: set yourself twenty minutes at a time and no more to work on your novel. You'll learn to use your time more efficiantly, and hopefully you'll have to stop mid-scene and spend so long thinking about the scene that your mind won't drift.
~ Wordwar: where you join others in writing as much as you can in a short space of time. I find the benifit of this is that you're so intensely focused on what you're writing that you automatically encorperate new ideas and don't splinter off.
~ Keep company: It's easy to distract yourself, but when you have two people working in the same room it's much easier to stay focused in the mutual silence, even if the other person is just doing homework.
~ Sheer bribary: Finish a line, get a sweet. Finish a paragraph, get some chocolate. Finish a page, get a donut.
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Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:35 pm
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Chronofdarkness says...



Completely agree with Rosey Unicorn about jotting down ideas as and when they come to you - some of my best ideas have the annoying habit of turning up in my brain at the stupidest of times so I always scribble them down at the earliest opportunity. I have a whole journal now packed with little ideas which are great for keeping my focus - a quick flick through always gets me back in the zone.

A strict routine helps too - I'm the world's biggest procrastinator and I'll use any excuse to not do my work. Mostly out of fear of failure I suppose. I have a weekly routine pinned on the fridge with a magnet which I have to adhere to on pain of self-loathing. That usually works!
  





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Sun Aug 26, 2012 8:55 pm
artsy says...



I find that keeping a set goal comes in handy.

You can also use a full screen typer to block out any distractions on the internet, because that's my biggest problem when it comes to typing stories on my laptop. One that I love to use is Writer. Push f11 for a full screen and type away! I usually try to get at least 1000 words a day on there, which is great, since it has a word count, spellcheck, and you can even save some of your work on there.
"You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes - you can steer yourself in any direction you choose!" - Dr. Seuss
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You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.
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