Page Z #12 - Focus

To get something done, you need to focus and keep working on it until it's done.
Sounds so simple. Is often really hard.
Even when you have the rare luxury of being able to work on just one task until it's done, it's tricky to keep focus. Shouldn't you rather be writing this other, great, new thing that is really interesting right now and if you don't you won't remember it later? If you start asking yourself what feels better right now, the answer is rarely "Yes! Indeed I want to go back to that same manuscript that I've been working on for ages. It is so much fun!".  More often it will go something like "Oooh! Flashy new idea. And this one is not just a fling! It's true! And honest! It will be the one story to rule them all. Better right it down. Right now!"

Obviously it's not always a bad idea to take a break and work on something else. But often it's a bit like opening a bag of crisps. You can't stop after having just a few (speaking for myself here). And before you know it you have yet another half-written manuscript. Last time I counted I had at least five of those. ;)

Just like I have yet to learn to not open a bag of crisps and firmly believe that I'll only have a few, I have also yet to learn to manage my story ideas and half-written manuscripts, so at least a bit more of them gets to be finished.
Definitely feel free to comment if you know this feeling, if you also rush into any new idea that comes along at the expense of your existing writing, and not least - if you have any advice on how to handle this :)