Does this happen to anyone else?

[temporus]

I'm somewhere deep in the novel, around 60K words.  Now, as I'm trying to focus, so I can turn the corner and start moving toward my ending, I am being hijacked daily with new story ideas.  Sometimes more than one a day.

Really, this is getting a bit tedious, because they aren't just ideas, but now I'm getting specific thoughts and ideas milling around my head that might actually be useful towards stories for some themed anthologies.

I was considering breaking down my writing time into discrete chunks.  One time to work on the novel and keep that moving with my self mandated daily word goals.  Then a second time to work on various other writing projects.  I've never tried it before, and not sure if it would work, or crash and burn badly.*  

Anyone else out there have a strategy for simultaneously working on multiple writing projects?  Do you think it's a good idea?  Do you think it's better to just focus everything on reaching the end of the novel, then trying to go back and work on the shorts?  Do you have other suggestions?

Comments

[temporus.livejournal.com]

That's a potential for trouble for sure, shinies that distract, but have no substance, like a will-o-the-wisp that leads you into a quagmire.

I think though, that's why I'd be curious to try and make it a dedicated separate writing time. So I'd have my normal daily goal on current WIP of 500 words. Once that session is complete, take a break, do a bit of something else to "cleanse the palate" then sit down fresh with alternate projects.

Will this work? No clue. It is, in general how I tend to do blog posts and short articles. The only real difference is the nature of the writing.

[bonniers.livejournal.com]

It sounds like it's worth a try. It fits in with your normal working patterns, which is a good sign :D

I tend to be in either hyperfocus mode, or hyperdistractability. It's not so much that it's difficult for me to shift gears the way you're doing, it's that I forget I need to shift :p