So you’ll notice that my blog updates sporadically, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Bad thing because there is zero consistency, but a good thing because this means I am mostly focusing on my writing outside the world of blogs. That being said, today I have decided not necessarily to come here and vent, but to try and reach out to some other struggling writers to see if we’re having the same issues. I haven’t found my own personal Writer’s Circle yet, but I hope to. For now, you readers out there are my only hope!

As you can see by the title, I find writing hard. I’m sure lots of you have already judged me accordingly to say: “Well if you find it hard now, get out while you’re still sane.” Let me clarify. I never have the traditional writer’s block. My muse is plentiful and knows no bounds. However, my muse tends to work overtime and I end up with a universe of ideas and no idea on how to organize them. I have written stories from simply thinking while doing dishes. My latest idea has already spanned thousands of words, and spawned more than five other ideas itself. But what the hell? How can I just buckle down and focus on one idea? People say just do it. Maybe I’m greedy, but I will liken my situation to… hmm… oh! An episode of How I Met Your Mother.

For this I will go back to Season Five, Episode Fifteen entitled “Rabbit or Duck”. You see in this episode Barney holds up his phone number on national television and his phone turns into a magical phone. It never stops ringing, and there is always a hot chick on the other end. The only downside is there is always a hotter chick out there. He never manages to actually get any, because the phone keeps giving him a hotter chick. Because of this, the entire episode he fails to actually capitalize on the magical phone because he cannot focus on one girl long enough.

So, I will in turn liken my muse to the magical phone. My muse keeps cranking the ideas out, but as I fight to get them all down on paper, napkins, emails, text boxes, hands, or whatever else I can write on; I find myself unable to capitalize on any one idea. I know exactly how Barney felt in that episode because I am afraid to not focus on the next idea. I keep thinking, but what if this next idea is my Harry Potter? What if my next idea after that is my Lord of the Rings? What if my idea after that is my Game of Thrones?! What if the idea after that beats all of them!?! *Insert mental breakdown here*

But seriously, I am unsure if I lack the discipline to advance past a few chapters now, or lack the planning ability. I mean I’ve heard many authors say they worked on their worlds for years before working on the story itself. The more I read about the world of a Game of Thrones the more I realize that he doesn’t write so much about characters as he does about the world itself. Hell, there is a cook book based off Game of Thrones!

People say just writing is the start, but seriously I never stop. Sure I may passover a day or so here and there for things like household duties or extra work, but I am always thinking about writing. I’m always getting inspired by a new event, a new song, a new experience or even meeting a new person. I really feel like all the “how to plan your novel” and “how to write your novel” articles out there focus on the mechanics of the writing, but none have focused on the discipline of writing. I can make a million folders, and fill them with notes, scans, text documents and crazy planning. But it feels as though the moment I’ve fully prepared a story, I’ve got a new idea to plan.

I guess what I am looking for is some crazy method to “monk-ing” it up writing style. I do not want to move to a cabin in the woods to write, but even if I did, it wouldn’t help me focus on one story idea. In fact, it would probably inspire many more ideas. How does one focus on one simple idea? Should I simply convert any new ideas into the current world I am working on? How does one “shelf” an idea without planning more into it? These are the questions I pose to the universe… now the question is, will any respond to the call?!