Shiny New Idea Syndrome
Do you suffer from shiny new idea syndrome? I know I do.
Shiny new idea syndrome is when you are plugging along on a story, making awesome progress on it, when you get an idea for a new story, a better story, an epic idea. And you want to stop writing the first story to write this mega blockbuster story. It's shiny and new and has to be written now!
This happens to me constantly. I usually can ignore it by writing down the gist of the story and saving it in a word document. If it's a short story idea for an anthology, I'll usually start writing it right away, at the same time as my other story. I don't normally write two novels at the same time, although I might be writing one and editing another.
So do you suffer from this horrible writing affliction? What do you do to overcome it? What's your writerly medicine?
Shiny new idea syndrome is when you are plugging along on a story, making awesome progress on it, when you get an idea for a new story, a better story, an epic idea. And you want to stop writing the first story to write this mega blockbuster story. It's shiny and new and has to be written now!
This happens to me constantly. I usually can ignore it by writing down the gist of the story and saving it in a word document. If it's a short story idea for an anthology, I'll usually start writing it right away, at the same time as my other story. I don't normally write two novels at the same time, although I might be writing one and editing another.
So do you suffer from this horrible writing affliction? What do you do to overcome it? What's your writerly medicine?
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I agree. I don't think there is anything else you can do. I do like to write the opening scene when it moves to the front of the brain. Sometimes I get a vision of the beginning and the end and write them both when inspired before assigning them to the "later" folder. Do you also find that new ideas perk away on another level of the brain once they surface, and now and again you have to give them some more time -- whether to do research or create a logline or story outline?
Saving the gist in another word doc seems to be the best fix for me so far, too ;)