Constant Content

It's been a weird year, but here lately I just can't seem to focus. I'll be trying to write one article, and I keep getting ideas for others. Even more common is writing one article, and whole paragraphs for others come to me. It's about to drive me even more insane than I already am. Especially when you combine it with the fact that I'm also trying to figure out what to do with my creative writing too.

I have a folder in my Constant Content folder entitled, "Partials Which Need A Lot of Work." There are over thirty in there, some even finished (kind of) but I'm not happy with them.

This isn't a real plea for help, I'm basically just venting. Now, if someone else suffers from this frequently, I'd be happy to hear haw they get over it (if at all).

P.S. CC needs a sister site for creative writing...

Barry,

I am also focus-challenged. I have many partial articles in my CC folder, even some with just a title and a byline. I also have some that are finished but not aceptable to me. I can't help you solve this problem since I've been struggling with it for quite a while. Part of it is that I'd rather be writing fiction than non-fiction and my mind keeps drifting off that way. But there is no online market for fiction that I know of and the print market is so tight, it's very intimidating. I too wish CC had a fiction section or sister site but they probably can't find a market for fiction sales either...

Hear, hear!!! I'm guilty of the same thing-my poor computer is crowded with so many unfinished articles, it's not even funny anymore. Worse, I tend to go for months without submitting anything, even if I finish them! I think it all boils down to being a big chicken for me, though.

However...if I absolutely MUST get something done, I have a "method" that works for me. I'll write or revise my article with a pen and paper next to my computer, and jot down all the random ideas I have while working on the main article. Just knowing I won't forget my ideas helps a lot, and allows me to finish the job at hand. Sometimes the notes come out as a scrambled mess, but I can usually weed out the good ideas from the fluff.

Of course, I'm probably not the best person to solve your problem...I've been known to force myself to write by writing in the tub, lol. It becomes a race to finish the article before the water gets cold, lmao!

Just a few days ago I went through all my unfinished articles and deleted about 90% of them. Yes, there were some good ideas in there...but I was feeling overwhelmed, and now I feel like I can let go of those old ideas and focus better on my current projects. When I have some downtime and need ideas, I trust that they will come (and if they don't I know where to ask for help ) Anyway, it felt GOOD!

For finding fiction markets, I recommend http://writingfordollars.com/. They list markets for all sorts of writing--fiction, non-fiction, interviews, poetry, etc. If you click on "current issue" you can see this month's newsletter; they always list a few different paying markets. I like that they arrange them by high-paying, medium-paying and low-paying.

I'll write or revise my article with a pen and paper next to my computer, and jot down all the random ideas I have while working on the main article.

I have journals and legal pads all over my house. I actually prefer to write with pen and paper. Don't ask me how many potential and ideas for articles are in those as well. There's nothing like seeing your thoughts grow and grow. I laid down in bed one night a few years ago with a legal pad and fine point pen, and within five nights of repeating the ritual I was forty-thousand words into a novel.

Just a few days ago I went through all my unfinished articles and deleted about 90% of them.

I don't delete very often. I have another folder for good ideas that'll take inspiration to finish. Most of those are about political or constitutional issues. I do occasionally randomly click on some of them, add a paragraph or two, and then click another. It's almost like an ADD deterrent.

I have an analogy for my mind the last year or so. If my mind is a computer designed to process vast amounts of data, then it has a Windows operating system - little crap always running in the background, taking away from the processing speed of the whole.

Haha, Barry, I love your Windows analogy. That's just how I feel. Seems like I am always wanting to focus on the thing I'm not supposed to be doing. Maybe I am just contrary like Mary, Mary.

Oh, I know what you mean. My focus lately has been scattered because I'm stressed about money... yet there's a fine line. If I'm too stressed, I can't get work done, but if I'm not stressed enough, I get lazy. Oh, mind, why must you be so finicky?

In other news, I'm back here now that my first year of school is almost done, and having great success in the couple of days I've been writing more intensively. If my method continues to work for a while longer, I'll share it. Knowing me, though, it won't last.

Basically, I have a folder of stuff I'm actively working on, one for "future stuff" which can include vague ideas and half-finished articles, and a text file with ideas. I throw in keywords I notice in the recent searches tab, ideas I get from reading other articles and websites... pretty much any stuff my muse says, "Ooh, do this!" Then when I need a new project I scour my ideas file and I'm usually away to the races in a few minutes.

Every day, I pick out ~2 ideas from my muse's "Ooh!" file and write them. The articles usually don't take long to write since I find them interesting, and I actually just sold a series of five that I dreamt up that way. Woot!

This is going to sound a little weird, but I do it all the time, and it actually works.

If you ever can't focus, or if you're stumped by a sentence or a word, shift your eyes back and forth from one side of your computer screen to the other for thirty seconds. In your case, Barry, from one side of your legal pad to the other. It has something to do with unifying the left and right sides of your brain - a scientific study discovered it, but I can't for the life of me remember where the study was done. You might get a few weird stares from anyone who happens to look at you, but it should help you focus.

Lol @ Amy! I love that idea! I get weird looks anyway, so a few more freaked out strangers is no big deal for me!

Barry, I have roughly 200 notebooks in my house right now. One of these days, I swear, I'll organize all this paper into something usable, but until then, I like to go through them once in a while just to see what I've written that I might have forgotten about, lol. Sometimes I find something good...other times, I cringe and pray that no one else ever reads my notebooks!