How can I keep from getting distracted by minor details?
I'm writing a novel and I really enjoy it, but it's so big that it's easy to get distracted. So often I'll open the document and just fiddle around with restructuring or tweaking minor scenes because it's just such a monumental task. Writers, how do you keep yourself moving forward?
Answers ( 1 )
I suggest that you accept that "getting distracted by minor details," is also a form of working on your novel.
I have been working on a book for years. Some of it is essays I have written over 20 years, some is original for the book - or stuff I wrotse since I began the book for other sites or publications. It still took me 4 years from the rough draft to yesterday when I sent the 1st draft of the manuscript to the publisher. There were days I opened it up, reformatted the Table of Contents, and closed it, and that was all I did all week.
For me - this may not be applicable to you - writing is not the bulk of the time I spend on a book. I think about essys for weeks, sometimes months, before I pound them out on a keyboard. But I'm working on it, when I talk about it, think about it, stress over a piece of it.
It's okay to dither. It's important to dither. It frees your brain up from the immediate work to deal with anything else for a little while. You'll get there, when you get there.