Cheating

This is rather unusual for me: I'm currently working on three separate short stories. I started with one, got stalled, got a great idea for a new story and went to write that one. Usually I'm pretty disciplined about finishing what I started, but this was a REALLY GOOD IDEA! So I chugged a couple thousand words into it... then stalled. [Expletive deleted.]

So, I tried going back to the first story, but was still stuck. I poked it a little, but it remains comatose. I'm not ready to pull the plug on it, but it's not looking to healthy at the moment.

Then, another idea came along that seemed like a real short idea. Just maybe a 2-3k story. So... yeah, I started that one. And got into it. Didn't quite stall, but it's gotten slow. A few dozen words at a time. But then I switched back to WIP #2 and chugged along quite nicely. Yea!

In each story, I ran into trouble at the same place. I set up the conflict, then couldn't figure out how to resolve it. [Several expletives deleted.] This is a continually problem for me. I mop myself into the corner. No, really, I do that with a real mop, too, but I blame the odd configuration of my kitchen/dining/foyer/ laundry room. It's either mop myself into the corner of the laundry room or find some place else to dump the mop bucket.

Anyway, back to writing. Working on several stories at once has been interesting. Most surprising is that my brain has done fairly well at jumping back and forth. Like a successful adulterer, I keep to the story currently being told. I don't know if this will be a new trend or not. In some ways, I'd like it to continue. That way, when I ever get back to Novel #2, I would be able to continue writing short stories, keeping my name out there, keep in the practice of writing shorts, that sort of thing.

Are you a monogamous writer or a polygamous one? I used to be serial monogamist, but this cheating's working out. I'm a playa*. (HA!)


Says the woman who married the first and only man she ever flirted with, let alone dated. ;-)