Kristina Beaton asked Sherwood Smith:

How do you find the focus to write? I've been writing for years but struggling to find the focus to organize and finish my projects.

Sherwood Smith I suspect there are as many answers as there are writers, and all are right--or wrong, if a solution doesn't work for you. For me, habit is a large part of focus. Anything can become a habit. There's a lot of talk about avoiding bad habits, but not as much about forming good ones. One way is to give yourself small rewards, another to make sure to count up everything you got done before you go to sleep, and gloat to yourself. Revel in accomplishment, however small.

Another thing I've discovered is to beware of producing little stuff that never adds up to anything. This is the downside of writing exercises or writing warmups, etc, that often get recommended. For too many busy people these end up being all one gets done in a day--and so though one's writing, it never goes anywhere. Even more important, there is no real learning or improvement involved in splatting a few hundred words out a day that don't connect to anything else.

If a larger project is stalling, try writing the scenes you look forward to doing. What about that project jazzed you in the first place? Write the Good Stuff, and then go out from there. So what happens next? How did they get there? One thing I learned the hard way, if what I'm writing doesn't excite me, it sure as heck will not excite any readers. So I've got to figure out where the "juice" is in a scene, or cut it. Tighten. But that gets into revision, so I'll stop here, and wish you luck!

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