Disciplined?

[STrent]

I literally had to go on holiday to another country to find a way of making sure I locked myself into finishing writing and editing chapters of my novel. Never mind the hikes and whiskey

 

[Writer61]

Er, nope. Absolutely terrible.

I have started plotting the fourth story in the third series after the first story that I started for this site but haven't finished yet.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Yeah, can you remind me of the Statute of Limitations on thread trampling pls

I think the topic title calls for some thread-hijacking.

 

[samhasstories]

I set out with some measure of discipline - I'm going to work on this thing I feel I have to, that I want to make some progress on - but I don't torture myself with it. If the words aren't coming and I'm just getting frustrated, I'll pivot to something more fun and exciting that's fresher in my imagination. Then I repeat the process next time (or when I finish the fun one, if it's short) until I break through in the one that's troubling me.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Disciplined?​

Perhaps strange to say, kinda disciplined.

Like everyone, I have ideas in the middle of doing something else. My normal approach is to create a Word document and a Lit story placeholder, both containing a basic overview of the new idea.

If it’s complicated, I might add a proto-outline, or make some comments about characters or plot points.

Less typically, if it’s really compelling, I might write say 1,000 words or so, something I’d only normally do if this was now my central piece of work. But then I mostly go back to what I’m already doing.

But there are some exceptions. With chaptered stories, I’ll often interleave these. So I’ll work on chapter three of story A, then chapter two of story B, then back to chapter four of story A. I think this helps a little as my subconscious is thinking about story A while I’m writing story B.

The other exception is with a longer [for me] work, say starting at 30k words. Here I often find it cleanses the palette to break off and write something else. I also get the feeling that I have published something, rather than getting bogged down in a complicated plot. So it’s kinda a release for me.

Emily

 

[dadadadiox]

When I’m deep into a story I can be disciplined and dedicated to getting it done, but that’s not always the case. I typically have three or more projects happening at the same time. If I’m at an impasse on project A I can slip into Project B and give A a break until I find the missing piece that’s holding me up.

I write every day without exception. Having a few stories going on at once gives me options. What do I feel like working on today?

I often say writing is like doing a puzzle. We create the pieces from thin air, assemble them, and then create more pieces that fit with what we’ve already built. Sometimes a new piece doesn’t come easy and I need to step away and work on something else.