So I have a little problem of thinking up new idea after new idea. But in the process of trying to chart each idea (like if I want to get serious about the concept, setting, and characters), I get burnt out and wind up leaving it.
I feel like I’m leaving a bunch of hollow shells behind rather than light sketches.
Well, I’ve got tons of ideas, and I do abandon a ton of them, too. But I find that dropping them and going back to check on a few of them results in actually making the stories.
It depends on what I’ve got going on. I have some things that don’t gel until I get a prompt from something like ONC, for example, where I’m trying to fit my worlds into their competition.
What I like about keeping fails for this is that you have a ton of the world fleshed out already, an idea of where to go, and the right prompt is the thing that drives it beyond it’s failures.
Coins on a Battlefield was one that went like that, last year (high fantasy enough). The year before? Old Soul was a werewolf story that wasn’t going anywhere.
They have some flexibility to them that’s allowable: as in you tell them what you adapted. So, it’s not severely strict.
But I find many of them aren’t very specific.
For example: Coins on a Battlefield was it’s own story, but the prompt was about flipping a coin to choose your fate. I incorporated that into how the gods make their decisions known to their people.
That sounds like an ADHD thing. Ooh, shiny! Hyperfocus GO! And then the moment the “fun task” starts to feel more tedious, and more like “homework” then suddenly… you don’t wanna do it anymore. And then you feel guilty as hell and try to harass yourself to do the thing, which in turn, makes you want to do the thing even less. Rinse, repeat.
Sometimes it’s okay to abandon things. Sometimes you might actually return to those things when the timing in your life is right. I find what helps is having someone who’s interested in the same thing and it keeps me on that hobby/story for much longer. Like I started crochet a few months ago and have been OBSESSED. I have a friend who loves to crochet/knit and we’re always sharing each other’s progress/tips. So just having that person makes me excited to finish things to show her. Maybe you just need a reader?
I don’t know if I have ADHD per se, but it runs rampant in my family so a little brushed off on me, I’m sure
That and/or a non-writer to talk about it with. Because I find writers can be a little too strong when it comes to stories. Or they don’t listen Not the writers here but elsewhere