Tell me if any of this sounds familiar:
1. Every few weeks, a new story idea comes along and sweeps you off your feet. It's all you can think about; it's all you can talk about; you can't wait to start getting words on the page!
2. You start writing scenes and character sketches and outlines and magic systems and world-building notes annnnd basically drop whatever story you were working on previously.
3. Your friends ask you questions like "wait, what happened to the story about the talking ficus?" and your reply is always, "oh what? That was like, four months ago. I've worked on at LEAST three other stories since then."
4. No matter how excited you are about this shiny new idea, some other shiny new idea inevitably takes its place.
5. Your computer and notebook are filled to the brim with snippets of discarded, once-shiny ideas... and the cycle endlessly repeats.
If any of this resonates with you, then you might be...
1. Me
or
2. A novel hopper.
I've seen countless blog posts, podcasts, and YouTube videos denigrating this endless process of chasing shiny new ideas, abandoning ideas once they lose their luster, and in the process NEVER completing a single story. I've heard writers smack-talking other writers for having the AUDACITY to get excited about new ideas. I've read endless advice about how to be productive as a writer and achieve the focus and discipline necessary to see your novel through to the end.
But all of this advice usually boils down to one key suggestion: Force yourself to focus on one project.
And that's not how I write. What's more, over the last fifteen years, I've realized: that's not how I want to write.
So where is the advice on how to flourish as a novel-hopping writer? Is there a way for writers whose passions burn fast and bright to utilize that energy productively, rather than squelching it out or giving it guard rails? Do novel-hoppers need to change everything about the way they write in order to be successful as writers?
No!
In this book, I'll be detailing how I've come to accept my novel-hopping tendencies over the last fifteen years of writing, and how I turned what I first thought of as a weakness into my greatest asset.
Ready? Read on, novel hopper!
YOU ARE READING
How to succeed as an easily distracted writer
RandomDoes this sound like you? 1. Constantly excited about a new story idea. 2. Have so many stories you lose count. 3. Never finish any of them. We are a lot alike. In this advice book, I present 13 tips on how to flourish as an easily distracted wr...
