Truth Thursday: It's Hard to Focus

When I say it's hard to focus, I mean it in two different ways. For one, it's hard to concentrate when actually writing material. For another, it's hard to focus on just one project. There's always so much to work on and so much to do.

At the beginning of the year, I was working on editing Second Chance, which must have worked, because now it's getting published. I have also been working on its companion novel, Impact. But I got distracted and continued some work on a project I started in 2012 temporarily titled Redemption, not to mention editing a novel I finished in 2012 titled Chains, rewriting a novel I finished writing in middle school titled Solid Ground, and writing the sequel to a novel I finished in 2011 titled Transparent.

As one might imagine, by trying to focus on all of these things, I've gotten none of them done. Impact should be a bigger priority because it's the companion novel to something that's getting published very soon. But I'm being pulled in so many directions because I don't want to lose my ability to create new material, and I don't want to lose my ability to edit well. I want to exercise all parts of my brain, but it's very difficult to juggle. I don't exactly like carrying around 2 binders and 3 notebooks everywhere I go. For one, it's heavy to do so, and for another, it's difficult to actually get something completed due to this problem.

So what did I do? I didn't write for a little bit because even though I love writing, it really can become a stressful activity sometimes. I dipped my toes back in the water this week editing Chains during some down time and writing a little more of Solid Ground. Taking breaks from editing usually isn't a big problem, but taking a break from writing or rewriting something is, especially when a huge chunk of material has already been written. When the motivation to write comes, first I reread everything I've already written to make sure I don't write any inconsistencies or double-up on similar events. But by the time I do that, sometimes I've run out of steam to actually write the piece. This is incredibly frustrating and is holding me back from finishing manuscripts. So what is a girl to do?

To be honest, I haven't figured that out yet. But I thought I would mention this is a problem because I know many other authors have to deal with it as well. So, how truthful is this post? Do you deal with similar situations when you write, or have you heard of writer friends who have the same issues?