Are you one of those writers who finds that the problem is not so much getting ideas, but keeping them at arm’s length so you can keep working on the current novel?

If you have two or three novels going at the same time (plus maybe a number of smaller projects) here are some tips:

1. Keep an ideas/characters notebook handy, or a computer file that sits on your desktop. If you suddenly get a great idea, make a note of it so you know it won’t get away, then go back to the work in progress.
2. If you have several novels on the go, then pick one to focus on. (The other one – or others – aren’t going anywhere. If you have a ‘dry day’ on the main novel, you can take a break by going back to the others – but set a time limit. Tell yourself you can only do this for a day, or two days. Then you have to go back and solve any existing problems with the first one.
3. If the problems on the first novel become a major roadblock, organise a session with some other writers to talk over the problem, or send it to a critique partner online. If necessary (and if you are REALLY committed to finishing it) then pay for a professional critique.

Whatever you do, resist dumping one novel to start another just because you hit a rocky patch. That happens with every novel, and it will happen with the bright sparkling new ones too… before too long, they will become ‘old’. There’s a real danger here of never actually finishing a book… and therefore never getting published.

Marg

Categories: General Tips, Plotting Your Story, Uncategorized
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