Jumping from one fic to the next...

[Darksong]

Ever since I've started writing, and if I wrote a chaptered story and not just a short one-shot, I would always at first think, "This idea is so cool! I want it to be like a novel!"

The problem is, after two chapters or so, maybe less, I lose interest in what I'm writing and abandon it altogether. It makes me feel like a hopeless writer because I can never stay fixed on one thing.

Is there a way I can help prevent this?

 

[Evolutionary]

I know nothing to help you as I'm in the same situation :/

But I've gotten to 10,000 words before losing interest once, you just need to keep writing and writing. And if you get a great new idea you could try fit it in.

 

[Noctowl]

I get that with every single fanfic other than TROFAF. =/

I try to write a chapter of another fanfic once a week, but if I stop once I just can't be bothered to bring it up again.

 

[Shadowstar]

I have the same problem, so I'm probroly not going to help much....

Try to force yourself to write a certaim amout of words before jumping to another fic, then you can go back and write more words for the "abandoned" story. Any ideas or plot twists you get should be written, to give yourself a goal in where to get in the story line, and seeing as story lines ARE the story, that would help you finish what you started. You can go back and forth with what you're writing just like that~!

Provided you have enough self-discipline, but that shouldn't be a problem. ^^

 

[Jetx]

I do that too (or I did; need to start writing again sometime). You just have to force yourself to finish what you're doing. If your idea was really that good, it won't be that hard. I thought I would never be able to finish anything either, up until my first NaNoWriMo, and now I know the trick is just to hold your other idea back for a bit and work with what you've got.

 

[Tailsy]

I do this. What I do is I write whatever idea I had going next, then when I get bored of that I move back to what I was previously writing. It works! It's confusing if your mind is organised (mine isn't), but it stops you from feeling burned out by what you're currently writing.

I have a severe case of me being unable to keep my plotline running without something dumb happening in the middle of it that has nothing to do with anything. Case in point: For last year's NaNo my characters had just fallen into an alternate dimension where everyone was the opposite sex because I thought it would be fun to write.
(I didn't win last year.)

 

[Sandstone-Shadow]

I totally had this problem. NaNoWriMo (and Involuntary Twitch, of course <3) fixed this for me. Set goals for yourself. Tell yourself something like, "By the end of this week, I'll have written 5,000 words," or whatever you want your goal to be. Keep them achievable, and celebrate somehow when you accomplish them.

If you're getting bored with your story, spice it up. Add a new character or a plot twist, something to recatch your interest. And if ideas for other stories come to you, jot them down, but do no more than that. Write them down and set them to the side until your current story is done.

And finally, it helps a lot if you have someone that'll yell at you for talking about giving up or switching stories. Think of it this way: if you give up or switch your story, then your current story will never be finished. Your characters will never solve their problems, your world will never be returned to peace. It'd be a shame to let all those good ideas die, right?

That motivates me. =3 Good luck!

 

[Ruby]

A short story is not a lesser thing than a novel, and being a writer of short stories is not hopeless or second-rate. But I suppose if you long to write novels you should first write a story of about two or three chapters, after that write a longer story, then write something half the length of a novel, and so on by degrees until you have grown into the kind of person who can write a full book of five hundred pages without the trouble of getting bored before the end. You could also do as some other people have suggested and aim at writing a certain number of words each day.

 

[Dragon]

Do something like NaNoWriMo. You come up with a stupid idea, and by the time the month is over, only then do you realize how retarded it is.

Or, that's how my NaNoWriMos are DDD:

 

[Darksong]

A short story is not a lesser thing than a novel, and being a writer of short stories is not hopeless or second-rate. But I suppose if you long to write novels you should first write a story of about two or three chapters, after that write a longer story, then write something half the length of a novel, and so on by degrees until you have grown into the kind of person who can write a full book of five hundred pages without the trouble of getting bored before the end. .

That's one of the problems. I'm someone who likes to write long things. Short things don't really work for me. Unless it's a contest for a one-shot or I actually have an idea to keep it short, it's hard to end it. D:

Do something like NaNoWriMo. You come up with a stupid idea, and by the time the month is over, only then do you realize how retarded it is.

Or, that's how my NaNoWriMos are DDD:

I did NaNoWriMo 2008, and that's exactly what happened, except around the 20th of November D:

But Sandstone-Shadow's idea is good, I think I should try that. Everyone's is great, actually.

 

[Keta]

When you come up with an idea you like, try to structure it- write a rough outline (with room to work out the kinks) of your general plot, sketch out your characters, and basically lay out the bare bones of the story. Then, as you work on each chapter, work in a little more detail and add some revisions.

I'm ADD when it comes to writing; however, having a rough plan of what you want to happen does help significantly.

 

[Minnow]

If you want to have a longish or consistent story, but have trouble keeping interest then you could try to write several short stories that are all connected by a world, theme, character, or something else. Lots of authors do or have done that, and it might work for you.

And I guess if you wanted you could eventually combine the short stories into a long novel, if you kept the characters or world consistent.

But for writing a stand-alone novel? I don't know. I get problems with that, too.

My advice is to write whatever is the most fun for you to write. Even if it sucks, at least you'll be practicing and maybe you'll have an easier time with another format. Just keep at it and have fun. That's the whole point, right?

 

[Roguemagus]

As above. You should write what you want to write and not worry if it doesn't fit in a certain format.

 

[Eeveelution]

That happens to me on a regular basis, too. It's natural for people with big imaginations. I've found stories I can't remember on my other computer. All I can suggest is to not write a story. If the idea keeps coming back and bothers you, THEN you should write it. That's what I normally do, but it's different for everyone.