*shows him the numerous fishbowls containing all the unfinished poems and stories, kept within her laptop.

I have the original (paper) manuscript of my first attempted novel in the closet... 90% done - thirty years old.

V.

*hugs* I'm glad this isn't as isolated as I thought. If I know others have to go through this, then I feel a lot better knowing it's a common problem which can eventually be resolved.

It'd be interesting to see someone make an art exhibit of all their incomplete drafts and put them in fishbowls for others to see. With most writers, they'd probably fill up a warehouse.

-Vaperfox

I have the opposite problem of abandoning too many things unfinished. >^_^< Out of every ten stories I start writing, perhaps one or two might be seen to completion. Some of this is due to things like low frustration tolerance and sometimes just plain laziness and/or perfectionism, but it's also because I don't generally work from outlines -- I jump in and start writing, and see what happens and what works, so that naturally leads to a lot of false starts and half-baked concepts that turn out not as great as I thought they were when I first got the idea.

I think right now, I have about 30 or 40 different works in progress if you count everything from idea or concept (sometimes with a character, sometimes without) all the way to partial drafts. I do keep an ongoing list of the best ones (so I can be mentally reassured that I won't forget them), and sometimes it can be depressing to look at all these concepts that I can't seem to get out on paper in any finished form.

But for the past few days, I've been writing on a story that's been stalled for about... probably a year, maybe longer than that, since I don't really keep track. It's also turning out to be a different sort of story than I envisioned back then, which is both frightening and exciting. So you don't need to abandon anything really -- everything's always there to go back to as long as you don't delete it or throw it away -- you might just have to make peace with the fact that, for right now, you simply don't have whatever you need to finish this piece, and maybe someday you will. (I have a children's fantasy novel written more than a decade ago. I haven't given up on it, but at the moment, I don't know what to do with it in terms of rewriting. So there it sits. Someday. I hope.)

As far as how this all relates to the Thursday Prompt, I think I might address that and some other things in a journal entry. I've had some thoughts brewing for a while that I think need to be shared in terms of what the prompt is and what it isn't, at least in terms of my intentions...

*Hugs* Thank you for sharing this with me. I generally fight against shifting opposites of laziness (I don't want to start writing today, maybe later) and stubbornness (I'm gonna keep writing till this gets done!).

I don't like to write from outlines, but when I try to make them, I consider the outlines like exercise for the story ideas. They aren't going to follow the outlines. They'll just be used like an idea of where I'd like to go as opposed to where I will go.

I like to jump in and start writing immediately because I enjoy the adventure of discovering the characters, the plot, and the twists along with the story. If I plan everything out, it makes it less of a joy and more of an exercise. I write for the love of discovery.

I applaud you for having all those works available, cause you have so many options. I know it can be tough to choose which to go back to and I think that's part of my problem. It's hard to figure out what I should focus on next, but I'm usually the type that likes to make a concept and internalize it while continuing forth with new ideas that provide different twists on already created ones.

I'm working my way up to the novel level. So far, I keep reaching novella, but for me, novels are like those big game animals that constantly outrun the hunter. I can catch the medium-size game with great effort, but I don't seem to be using my tools effectively enough for the endurance trials brought about by novel-length concepts.

And thank you for posting that very interesting and informative journal entry. *hugs again* It really inspired me when I was feeling down and now I'm going to post my Thursday Prompt, cause now that I look at it, it's fine the way it is. =^.^=

-Vaperfox

I'm working my way up to the novel level. So far, I keep reaching novella, but for me, novels are like those big game animals that constantly outrun the hunter. I can catch the medium-size game with great effort, but I don't seem to be using my tools effectively enough for the endurance trials brought about by novel-length concepts.

I tend to think that most writers are more comfortable in either short-form (flash fiction, short stories, occasional novelettes or novellas) or long-form (novels, series). I hate to think this way because it seems kind of limiting, but then again, it doesn't mean you can't work in other lengths; just that one might be more of a challenge. Assuming all that is the case, I seem to certainly be more of a short-form writer. >^_^<

Something I ran across the other day is the concept of "span of control" as referred to by this writer. The term was originally used in business to describe, I think, the number of people a manager can effectively manage, or something to that effect, but I think he relates the concept well to writing. I like the idea that one's span of control can vary throughout one's career and be changed:

http://jaylake.livejournal.com/260396.html

That idea of "span of control" sounds intriguing. I'm going to check out that journal. Thank you so much! =^.^=

-Vaperfox