Write Away

Sometimes what I do is I make a list of my top choices and then I go through that list and make a new one out of my top choices from that list and keep doing that until I only have one left. But I can't seem to narrow it down this time.

This is also one of my methods.

I am incapable of working on just one story, so I need many methods of dealing with this problem. The longest I've ever managed to stay on one project was 6 weeks at a time. I read the same way, several books at once, so it makes sense that I'd write like this as well.

I've tried to stay on one story, so hard, and just end up stopping writing entirely. So I've accepted this is how I am.

I have perhaps 30 projects on the go at any one time. Actually, many more now I think about it. Perhaps nearer 50. Of course, this is insane.

So I do what you do, and make lists. My current list has three stories, that is ones I've actively worked on in the last two weeks. That's manageable. I'll work on one story for a couple of days, switch and go onto the next, and then on to the third, and back, and so on.

I'd rather be the sort of person who can write one story all the way through, but it seems to be this or nothing.

One of the best tips I ever received was to note down the major plot points of each new story as they occur - key dialogue, character details etc. It doesn't me take long. Usually less than a few hours in total. Otherwise the new ideas nag away at me while I'm still steaming ahead on my other project and it's too distracting. If my new story summary is safely contained in a document, that helps me mentally set it aside until I'm ready to deal with it later.

And yes, my 50 story ideas are all very different, in answer to the other commenter above.

If you're the sort of person who also likes to write to-do lists before you go to bed at night, like I do, which help you sleep by getting buzzing ideas out of your head, that trick might also work for you.

I've heard that many writers have notebooks of hundreds of unfinished stories. And they value this, and return to it many times in their career. I've tried to think of my 'problem' as more like a 'treasury of ideas' but I've had limited success. I'm too envious of other writers who can focus.

When I started writing I had no problem deciding what story to write and sticking to it. It only became a problem several years in. Perhaps this is common?