Young Writers Society

Here's something that I've been wondering about for a while.

Many people know the feeling: when you get bored with your current project, you start daydreaming about another one you could be working on. But should you keep writing until you reach the end of your story and ignore these temptations, or should you go ahead and take a break from your WIP and work on something else? But with the latter, will that cause you to never get anything finished because you jump around from one thing to another?

Discuss!

Well I think you have to skip around at least a little bit. Especially with longer stuff. If you don't, some pieces will drive you rather mad.

But I also find that if I skip around too much, stuff doesn't get finished. So, if you do need to work on something else for a while, make sure you come back later.

I... yeah.

I usually think of three or four stories at a time, but I force myself to only write one story at a time. One novel anyway. Short stories are wonderful distractions though! These short stories provide some short diversions and will leave you somewhat refreshed afterwards! Still, I would keep writing, no matter what!

Besides... when I start writing a story and ignoring the other one, that becomes abandoned.

I tend to have one I drift back to, one way or another. But I wander between...ah, perhaps six or more?

It works sometimes. Though to finish something, I've got to stick with it rather closely for at least a few weeks.

Skipping out for a while though can give a perspective you wouldn't have otherwise. Oy - I know I've seen things very oddly with a more distant look. ^_^

I have to get through one at a time. Even if I hate myself every moment of the way. If I take a break from the story, I know I'll either never come back to it or take my time returning. Either way, it's better for me just to stick it out, get it done, and move on. That way, too, I can motivate myself with the new project; once I'm done my crappy current piece, I can reward myself by moving onto a shiny new one.

smaur wrote:That way, too, I can motivate myself with the new project; once I'm done my crappy current piece, I can reward myself by moving onto a shiny new one.

And then, once you get to that piece, you'll hate that piece and want to do another one...

I think i want to do something else and then a great idea hits me for the Order and i have to go back. Right now is kinda of a lull while i type it up but even then when i'm nowhere i can type i sorta just write like person would doddle.

I think our creativity has the last say.

I usually stick to one and do short stories to get my creativity flowing. Lately my longer stuff have been neglected but I'll soon get them going again, once I remember what is supposed to happen next.

I usualy get to around 4,000 words and then get distracted by something else, but then if I force myself to go past that mark I can usualy finish it, although more often than not I'll be typing up and thinking 'Why am I wasting space on the computer with this trash?' To stop myself from drifting off I try to only write one thing at a time, although my mind is all over the place.

I get distracted all the time. It's what makes me never finish anything; I have a sudden obsession with an idea, and love it for a few weeks, write a certain amount, think of something else, and of course because that something else is new, it's shiny and cool. So then I go and do that, and the cycle continues.

I really need some backbone to stick through one story. Pah.

I have this problem all the time. I will think of this great idea, get it going, but then by the six or seventh chapter I've come up with a new idea, which I love just as much. I take a short break and start the new one. Well, start as in coming up with some dialogue or short scenes that could happen within the new idea. Somehow I find myself in the same situation as before with then new idea and begin going back and forth between the two. Right now I'm going back and forth between seven or eight. I'm not really sure how many I'm writing right now.

Well, yes, it will probably cause me never to finish anything. But ... well ... at the risk of blaspheming ... I don't really care as of yet.

I mean, I could attempt to kick start myself a writing career at the age of 16/17. But really I just want to enjoy my writing at the moment. Finishing ... not that important yet. I've promised to do a stint of NaNo each year so I actually do try hard to finish something occasionally, but really I'm still a kid. I don't want to be stressing and pushing myself too much more than I have to.

So I skip around anyway.

If you're serious about making a novel work, don't take a break on the first write. If you do, you'll come back to strangers, and you won't know your characters well enough to write them with any authority.

After thw second or third rewrite, I'd say 100% take a break from it. Become unfamiliar with the story and the specifics of the prose. When you come back to it, fix it up.

- FoY

While it's tempting to break from a story, you usually end up never returning to it. I've broken from several stories, none of which I'm too interested in finishing.

It's like shooting at something, then changing targets. You end up shooting everything, but not killing anything.

never take a break stick with it til the end

keep writing guys and =) happy reading (=