Why I am Bad at This... Part 2: Too Many WIPs.

 

 

The following are the notes I wrote for this blog post: 

• Don't leave one WIP (work in progress) to start another.

• Finish what you start!

• Once is fine, but when the number of new WIPs approaches more than five, we have a problem.

That's it. That is the whole post. If I can just master the three bullets above, I can be a better writer, a writer that finishes first drafts. 

It's no secret on the internet that coming up with new ideas before finishing the current one is a universal problem among aspiring and even accomplished writers. 

Psst... the secret is to discover your own personal strategy to leverage this abundance of creativity into completed tasks. These are my rules, for me. Maybe they can inspire you.

Bullet Number one: Don't leave on WIP to start another.  

 

   It happens every time. Sometimes I am three chapters into my first draft and sometimes I'm 75% into the draft when the second book forces its way to the forefront of my mind. The dilemma. What do I do? Force through the current WIP, distracted and miserable? Start an entirely new work and deal with the guilt of abandoning project one in the aftermath? 

    The answer lies somewhere in the middle. I have found jotting down outline style notes of the thoughts for the second WIP, then returning the complete the first WIP is the most productive way to deal with what I like to call Intrusive Inspiration. (We'll define this later.)

    Even if I have to do this several times, for several new novel ideas, I only write complete sentences for WIP one. Never start a full sentence for the intruding WIP. This will only lead you down a rabbit hole, chasing plot points and inventing characters that will bring you farther and farther from your intended goal.

 

Bullet Two:  Finish what you start!

     

    One and two are similar, yet if you don't follow one, you've already failed two. 

Bullet Three: Once is fine, but when the number of new WIPs approaches more than five, we have a problem. 

 

    This brings us back to our Intrusive Inspirations. In the world of psychology, intrusive thoughts unwanted, upsetting, and persistent thoughts that are involuntary and disruptive to daily life. For an author Intrusive Inspiration is the involuntary thoughts that prompt the creation of a work separate from the work currently being worked on. 

    Much like indulging children, the more I allow this intrusive inspiration to pull me away from my current work, the more often it occur. Thus, the longer it takes to finish my draft... if I even finish it at all.

    This why I have to have rules. My rules for me. They not apply to anyone else. In fact, they might not even work for anyone else. It's taken me years to invent these rules, years to figure out what it takes for me to finish a novel. 

    I am allowed to leave my first draft for no more than forty-eight hours to write a disjointed outline of the intruding WIP idea. By day two, I have to get back to main WIP. 

 

    Who is policing me? No one. 

 

    Who cares if I actually follow these rules? No one. 

 

    Do I break these rules? Sure, but not as much as I used to. And since following them, I have completed more novels than ever before.  

The message: Make your own rules and remember, simple is better. When in doubt, finish one project before starting another is solid advice. Just saying.