Writing Dangers: Shiny New Idea Syndrome

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So that wonderfully fantastic thing happened again when one of you amazing people suggested a topic that I could have sworn I’d covered, except it turns out I’d only ever touched on, because when talking about discipline, one of you lovely commenters (you know who you are—thank you!) posted this:

“I don’t know if you’ve ever discussed this already, but one thing I thought might be interesting, is your views on when to start new stories. Such as, you are working on one novel and have another great idea. Do you keep finishing the first one and then work on the second even if your enthusiasm dips or do you start the new one immediately and use that enthusiasm to your advantage?”

I think this is a fantastic question because there is little doubt in my mind that most writers (if not all) experience what I like to call Shiny New Idea Syndrome at one point or another throughout their writing careers.

For those of you who aren’t acquainted with this beast, Shiny New Idea Syndrome occurs when you’re in the middle of a WIP, and suddenly—BAM—a brand new tantalizing idea sneak-attacks you and starts whispering things like, don’t you want to write me? or hey, hey, why won’t you take a break from that other story and try something new? You know you want to, and makes you wonder why you’re even bothering with this other WIP when that Shiny New Idea is so much better.

Once Shiny New Idea Syndrome has attacked, a writer is faced with two options: continue with the first WIP and remember the Shiny New Idea for a later WIP, or put the first WIP aside and start writing the Shiny New Idea immediately.

As our fantabulous commenter mentioned, some writers worry that if they continue with their first WIP and leave the Shiny New Idea for later, their enthusiasm for the new project will fade, making it more difficult to write later on. And while this is a perfectly legitimate fear because yes, that does tend to happen with some ideas, I truly believe that if when the time comes to sit down and put the Shiny New Idea to paper, you’re no longer excited about the project, then it probably wasn’t a strong enough idea to be written into a novel in the first place.

I’ve talked about this before, so I’m not going to go into detail again, but in short, writing a novel is a very involved process that takes huge amounts of time, and if you can’t maintain enthusiasm for a new project idea while finishing a WIP you already started, then chances are you would have found it difficult to maintain that enthusiasm through the long months (or years) it takes to write and revise and revise and rewrite and edit a novel.

If, however, you do finish the first project and the Shiny New Idea is still there, tapping you on the shoulder and demanding that you get to work, then I’d say that’s a pretty good sign that you have something good on your hands. Something that isn’t just a fleeting temptation. An actual, lasting novel-worthy idea.

Because the real danger of the Shiny New Idea Syndrome is this: oftentimes writers find when they switch projects to satisfy a Shiny New Idea, part-way through that new WIP another Shiny New Idea comes along that’s so much better than the one you’re working on now, and before you know it you’ve started four new projects and haven’t finished anything.  I hear about this from writers all the time, especially new writers who haven’t finished a project before because Shiny New Idea Syndrome is a sneaky little thing.

That’s not to say that Shiny New Idea Syndrome doesn’t ever give you good ideas—it can certainly drop a perfectly sound novel-worthy idea into your mind. But I truly believe the first test of its novel worthiness is whether or not you can sustain that new-idea enthusiasm even if you don’t immediately begin writing it.

Because a truly novel-worthy idea will still be there waiting for you when you finish your first project.

So that’s my take on Shiny New Idea Syndrome. What do you think? If a Shiny New Idea hit you while working on a project, would you continue with the first project or start working on the new one? Have you ever experienced Shiny New Idea Syndrome?

Guest Post: The Secret Ingredient to a Successful Blog

Photo credit: Furryscaly on Flickr

Very exciting news, everyone! Are you ready?

I have another guest post! And it's on the amazing ProBlogger again! If you read it and let me know what you think, not only will you make me a very happy person, but you'll also find out what the super-secret ingredient to a successful blog is, and I know you're all dying to hear what it is.

So! Check out the post and let me know what you think! Then you can come back and look at the sparkly picture of fireworks because fireworks are awesome.

Have a wonderful day!

Survivor's Guide: The Internet Abyss

So as many of you know, I was deprived of internet for over 24 hours. It was a trying time in which I began to suffer serious withdrawals around the 30-hour mark. Ok, I exaggerate, but I really wanted to check my Twitter…and blog…and everything else.

Thankfully I have just about the best tweeps known to man who RTed my corny pre-scheduled tweets like no tomorrow so that Friday’s blog post didn’t suffer a painful and lonely death.  I also had an epiphany and was able to fix my Facebook like box and add it to the blog just moments after I reconnected to the internet. (See it? Isn’t it pretty?)

It’s beautiful, I know.

ANYway, I thought it’d be fun to create a guide for surviving lack of internet. I’ve titled it…

SURVIVOR’S GUIDE: THE INTERNET ABYSS

Catchy, right? It’s catchy.

So here we go. The brief, and life-saving Survivor’s Guide:

The Internet Abyss is a frightening, dangerous place and must not under any circumstances be entered unprepared. Venturing into such a place without training or tools for survival may cause serious injury or death.

I barely escaped with my own life.

Should you ever find yourself in the abyss, take these steps to ensure you escape unharmed.

DON’T PANIC. I know it’s terrifying. The little red “X” over the internet access symbol is enough to send even the most experienced veterans into cardiac arrest. Take a deep breath and know that this is temporary. Breathe in, breathe out, relax.

Repeat after me: This is only temporary. This is only temporary.

SHINY DISTRACTIONS. FIND THEM. My shiny distraction was a brainstorming notebook. Once I regulated my breathing, I found a pencil and began sketching out a WIP. I didn’t finish, but I made a lot of progress. You can too.

Other productive distractions: Books, Microsoft Word, bills, grocery shopping, NOTEBOOKS, to-do list, books. Prioritize as you wish (but books are there twice for a reason).

Other (less productive) distractions (but equally shiny): Movies, cupcakes, music, ferrets, confetti, puppies, video games and that song that’s been stuck in your head all day (Arabian Nights, anyone? No? Ok, just me then.)

GET A BUDDY. Strange things happen to people when they’re isolated. They start pacing, rocking back and forth, talking to themselves and occasionally even find an old volleyball to be their new best friend. Don’t enter the Internet Abyss alone if you can help it. Your mental health may suffer.

UPON ESCAPE…REJOICE! And create your own Survivor’s Guide. So, you know, your friends don’t suffer the same fate as you.

Oh yes. And since you have internet now, watch this because it’s pretty hysterical:

Have you entered the Internet Abyss? What survival tips do you have? 

Writing is Writing is Writing

It took me a while to come to terms with this, although I’ve heard it said a few dozen times before: there is no such thing as wasted writing.

Sure, I understood that those short stories I wrote way back when and those unpublished manuscripts were worth at least the time I put into them, but it never occurred to me that this really applies to any writing.

That essay you did for English class? You wrote it, didn’t you?

That poem scribbled away in your diary for no one to see? Yeah, that counts too.

That Scrabble game you played last night? Uh…not quite.

But Scrabble games aside, the message is still the same: you’re never wasting your time while you write. So maybe that story you wrote was complete crap. So what? Does David Beckham waste his time practicing if he plays badly in a scrimmage? Will the Trix Rabbit ever get to try a bowl of cereal? Will I EVER stop being distracted by shiny objects?

Sorry, sorry, carried away again. The answers are all no by the way. Especially that last one.

Point is: as long as you’re writing you haven’t wasted anything. It’s that many more pages you’ve taken the time to sit down and work on your craft.

So on those days that you stare at your WIP and you can’t bring yourself to write a decent word, don’t beat yourself over the head. Try to write, put down some nonsense, and if you really can’t think of anything at all, open up a new document and write something random. Make it ridiculous. It doesn’t have to make sense, and it’ll probably be a lot more fun to read if it doesn’t, anyway.

That wasn’t a waste of time. After all, you wrote something, didn’t you?

Fun question! What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever written?