One Project at a Time

One thing I've never been good at is only working on one project at a time. Right now, I'm slowly getting back into writing and I'm only allowing myself one current work. I'm always filled with ideas and my usual way of doing things involves beginning ten projects at once and finishing one if I'm lucky.

The thing is, I want the work I do to be finished. I always look back on my unfinished work and think about how cool it would be if I actually had a complete draft. And then I think about finishing it, but I also think about finishing ten other things, and the cycle continues. Nothing gets done.

I don't know if I'm actually slowing myself down by working on just one thing, though. Although I've made the goal over and over, I haven't actually begun to write daily. Multiple projects might change that and make me more excited about writing.

One thing I know for sure is that my current story won't be completed if I begin anything else right now. And it's difficult to explain that - because I feel like it's an important thing for me to write. I feel like I need to have this story written, rather it ever gets past even the first draft. Rather I even ever piece it together enough or go back and fill in the holes where I've typed "(ADD SCENES HERE)" and planned to go back and fill in the blanks later. I don't know if any of that is important, but what is important is finding the end to this thing.

You would think something this important to me would be easily written, or that I would at least come back to it more often. But it's a huge change for me, a whole other style and new topics. And it's scary to write something so different, so I avoid it.

If you're a writer, what's the most challenging thing you've written? Do you finish your projects before beginning new ones, or do you have several that you're in the middle of? Are you any better at writing daily than I am?