"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." ~E.L. Doctorow

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Working with Blinders On


Now I know not all writers think alike or even work alike but I was wondering if anyone else has an itching to wonder while they're working on a story. See I get these ideas for other stories or scenes that I'm dying to write down, sometimes I go ahead and do it, sometimes I stick with what I'm "supposed" to be working on - but I can't help but think that I shouldn't allow myself to be distracted. (as you can tell I'm not all that good at keeping myself focused on one project.)

So am I the only one that has ADD (not literally) when it comes to their stories? or is this a common thing?

p.s. they should sell "Writer Blinders" so we can keep our focus where its supposed to be. :)

12 comments:

aig63 said...

... and sometimes your story goes off on a tangent that is not at all how you started ...? What a minute... this is not normal? Uh-oh...

Kelly Hashway said...

I say write what's coming to you at the moment. I actually write chapter summaries before I start the first draft. That way, if I get an idea for a scene, I'll go to my chapter summaries and write it there. Then when I get to that point in my manuscript, I can cut and paste the dialogue and/or narration I already wrote.

Kerry Ann @Vinobaby's Voice said...

I have sticky notes littering my desk, purse, and night stand filled with ideas for new novels (which I'm not allowed to start until I finish the current one), blog post ideas, and things I must go back into my story and fix. I only wish they were filled with notes for that particular day's writing instead. Oh well. Keep on writing.

Muriel said...

Sounds pretty normal to me. I can't write a story in the proper order. Nightmare. And I don't use half of my notes in the end.

C.M. Villani said...

AIG - totally normal.

C.M. Villani said...

Kelly - see you are a lot more organized in that respect. I've just gotten into the outlining practice. My first story - totally winged it. This time around I found that using an actual outline seriously helped loosen up the writer's block.

C.M. Villani said...

VB - Yeah I wouldn't be able to get around my house if I used post its. :D But I hear you! I make notes in my writing notebook and sometimes create whole document files in my writing folder for "Future story ideas" "Backstory" and "What this character is thinking and why"

C.M. Villani said...

Muriel - Oh, Tell me about it! Neither do I and it drives me crazy too! Because I'll go back and be reading thru my notes and suddenly see something and say "Why didn't I use that!"

brenda said...

It's good to know there are others that have the same illness - story unloyality. I think this is a good thing to be honest,because it means your imagaination is churning. BTW, like the UI of your site.

Anonymous said...

I am relieved to hear you have writing ADD too. I feel like I used to be so much better about my focus, but the older I get, and the more thoughts, stories, ideas that come into my head, I don't want to lose any of them. If you find the writer's blinders... please be sure to share! MMF

Unknown said...

gosh, that seems the only way I know how to do it... out of order. Don't know that I'd call myself 'normal' but it seems like plenty of other writers are that way, too!
thanks for stopping by my blog! It was good to see you!
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Rhi said...

I have concentration problems that's attatched to my mental health anyway, so I always have more than one document open, more than one notebook with me, more than one firefox tab open. And usually something in background, and my phone is always ready to go to post a tweet or whatever...I get more work done by doing everything at once than I would trying to focus on one thing.

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