# I've always wanted to write a book.. but..



## streetsweeper (Jun 14, 2011)

I've always wanted to write a book, the problem is that by the time I’ve found an idea I like and I’ve planned out the plot, I’ve thought of a better idea, then I find it impossible to stick to the old idea... and I start planning a new book. The cycle repeats. I’m desperate, advice anyone?


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## Super Awesome (Jul 11, 2011)

Finish what you start. That's the best advice I can give you. 

But also consider that too detailed an outline can cripple you. Try writing without one, or writing with just a very brief outline. I know if I outline too much it's like I've already told the story. 

Also, head on over to Absolute Write. They're full of writerly goodness.


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## lyricalnuisance (May 6, 2011)

Start writing and just GO! Incorporate ideas if needed.


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## yesiknowbut (Oct 25, 2009)

Writing a book to the finish involves a lot of reworking. If you cannot do this you will never write a book. End of, I'm afraid.

This is a serious suggestion: how about starting with short stories? Might enable you to allow yourself to put new ideas on the back-burner long enough to finish something. On the other hand, short stories can be more demanding of you as a writer.

(coi: married to a writer. It's pretty much put paid to any fantasies I might have had about writing a novel. It is hard, boring work a lot of the time)


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## viva (Aug 13, 2010)

Find ways to incorporate your new ideas into what you have already started.


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## streetsweeper (Jun 14, 2011)

Lexie said:


> Finish what you start. That's the best advice I can give you.
> But also consider that too detailed an outline can cripple you. Try writing without one, or writing with just a very brief outline. I know if I outline too much it's like I've already told the story.
> Also, head on over to Absolute Write. They're full of writerly goodness.


Thanks for the link to the forum 

I have tried keeping the outline brief, so far, I have found it difficult to write when I don’t know exactly what is going on, however, I might give it another try..



alfreda said:


> Writing a book to the finish involves a lot of reworking. If you cannot do this you will never write a book. End of, I'm afraid.
> This is a serious suggestion: how about starting with short stories? Might enable you to allow yourself to put new ideas on the back-burner long enough to finish something. On the other hand, short stories can be more demanding of you as a writer.
> (coi: married to a writer. It's pretty much put paid to any fantasies I might have had about writing a novel. It is hard, boring work a lot of the time)


 I have written a few short stories successfully (in that I finished them). I notice they became at least 200 words shorter than the word minimum I set and that I could quite easily compress an idea for an entire book into a short story without the short story appearing over crowded. 

I only wish to write one novel and for it I hope that it will be ‘decent’, publishable and make one or two people question what they previously accepted.


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## 22857 (May 31, 2011)

streetsweeper said:


> I've always wanted to write a book, the problem is that by the time I’ve found an idea I like and I’ve planned out the plot, I’ve thought of a better idea, then I find it impossible to stick to the old idea... and I start planning a new book. The cycle repeats. I’m desperate, advice anyone?


I do the same thing.
Not just with story ideas, but everything. 
One idea is stimulation for a while, but once I discover a more intricate unsolvable stimulation, the other is a weight to carry.

Mix them. 
Apply them, add them to each other, make the stimulation an effort of developing connection and consistency.


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## streetsweeper (Jun 14, 2011)

Tsidakis said:


> Mix them.
> Apply them, add them to each other, make the stimulation an effort of developing connection and consistency.


What do you mean?


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## 22857 (May 31, 2011)

streetsweeper said:


> What do you mean?


I mean incorporate your new idea into your old idea.


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## Paradox of Vigor (Jul 7, 2010)

I bet the best books are the ones that underwent the most revisions. Revise revise revise, but make sure the purpose of it all remains...


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## MissJordan (Dec 21, 2010)

vivacissimamente said:


> Find ways to incorporate your new ideas into what you have already started.


Quoted for truth.

Just make sure you keep record of the ideas, if you're as forgetful as me, you'll likely lose several great ideas... :dry:


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## Mutatio NOmenis (Jun 22, 2009)

Okay, I had the same thing. Now, I'm the proud owner of a 276 page long unpublished manuscript :manic:. Anyway, the next time you get the urge to write about something, just pump out a 2000 word start to it that day. Sleep on it. Come back the next day and see if you can add more. Take time off of it if you get tired. You aren't doing deadlines.


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## BlackMamba (Aug 5, 2011)

streetsweeper said:


> I've always wanted to write a book, the problem is that by the time I’ve found an idea I like and I’ve planned out the plot, I’ve thought of a better idea, then I find it impossible to stick to the old idea... and I start planning a new book. The cycle repeats. I’m desperate, advice anyone?


The same thing happens to me all the time and I always think... with as many books as he has written, how does Stephen King do it? He much be getting new ideas all the time. I was like that for years, and one day I started writing one of my stories. It was less complicated... it was just something to get out on paper. And I now have a completed book. Then, the same thing happened afterward... i jumped from idea to idea, from complex story to complex story... and then.... I found one.. more complicated then the last, but Not extreme. And I have been sticking to that. Now I am not saying they arent good stories... just not as extravagent as some others. Or maybe if you have some short stories in mind, start with those. Because you know they are shorter, you may feel more eager to finish them. 

I also noticed that the first book kind of came to me as I went. I didn't really have anywhere to go with it. And that kept me sticking to it as well.. cause I wasn't stressing about getting to a certain part...

I think everyone finds their own way. All I can do really is tell you mine. I know a friend who plans everything out but then she feels like she already wrote it and gets bored. Honestly, I just like to let things flow as I go. Or maybe that will work foryou... because you know what is next and want to get to that. I am not sure. I hoped I helped at all. If not.. then I hope you find a way... and suggest looking up some books on writing... I am sure there are ones on a topic such as yours... good luck! <3



vivacissimamente said:


> Find ways to incorporate your new ideas into what you have already started.


I also agree with this. Sometimes it makes your story so much better. It has happened to me quite a few times where I have put ideas together.... Wise words


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## Einstein (Aug 10, 2011)

When I wrote my book I just wrote a certain number of pages every week until it was done. Took about 18 months.


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## Torhu (Aug 12, 2011)

I tend to just make different stories if I have enough ideas flowing. There's only so many ideas that can go into a story before it's overdone.


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## MissNobody (Aug 23, 2010)

I can relate! 

I'm working on a novel at the moment and it's taking a lot of perseverance! It's taken me at least three years so far! I'm on the third draft and it's still no where near completion. Each time I re-draft it I find that I give the plot and characters more depth. I've gone from the 'big picture' to working on the 'details'. 

Sometimes I go months without working on it because I lose interest, but I believe in my story so much that I'm determined to finish it! Choose a story and stick to it, and then work on other ideas as a break from your novel.

Good luck!


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## MarkTwain (Mar 16, 2011)

Maybe you should work your way up to a novel by starting with short stories?
I had the same problem, so I tried writing a 20 or so page short story, and it I think it went really well.
Thing is, with anything you write, there will be alot of revising. You may just want to start small so you don't get halfway through your novel and then just get frustrated with how long it takes and waste your own time


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