How do you decide which projects don't make it to full term?

[Guest]

Clearly, as a writer, you probably have many ideas. And limited time. How do you decide which projects don't make it to full term?

[Chip]

Write down ALL your ideas. Some may never get fleshed out. Some may simply merge into other ones that have more depth, that just need twists and plot development that the otherwise-unused story ideas could nurture.

[Jessica]

There is a modified Hunger Games type showdown in my head at all times. Each idea tries to fight for attention. The ones that eventually die off don’t get written.

[Bübs]

One of my ideas allows for many contradicting ideas to be added on without breaking the feel of the story, so I just add them into that lmao.

[Jose]

I have 11. And I think of nothing else. If anything slides into my head, I dismantle it, and try to put it someway into the 11s that matter to me. If I can't. Then i won't come back to them.

[NoOr]

I go with whichever story I am enjoying the most writing. I know I will take all of them to completion. Hence, I don't worry about ever having to abandon a story. Pick the most enjoyable one and start expanding on the idea.

[Paul]

Something between my ears has to irritate me enough for me to start writing. This happened three times so far.

At the moment there's either too much or too little that irritates me to the level that I have to start writing about it. You could call it writers lock, I do not.

[Carmen]

So far, the majority of my projects have published; those which are in progress will have the same outcome if I have the time to see them through to completion.

[Laura]

I project hop. I’ve worked on six different books between 2012-2023.

[Pamela]

I go with whichever character is coming in strongest. However, I make notes of any ideas and noodle them around in my head to see if they grow legs. Sometimes they sit in the back of my head for years until they suddenly leap to life and demand to be written right! That! Minute!

[Matt]

I start with an idea and see how far I can build it out in my head. If I feel I have enough for a novel, I transition to notes and then write it.

On my 2nd novel, with an outline 70% complete on a 3rd. I have 2 more ideas on the back burner, I think about from time to time to see if any inspiration bites.

[Emmeli]

I just catch one as it wizzes by, start writing and see how far it takes me. If I get stuck I try another one. Unless I get writer's block. In that case I keep banging my head against the block

[Deborah]

None of them get the axe unless I just don't like the idea one day. Otherwise, they're perpetually on the back burner and I add to them as I get more ideas until they become the main focus.

[Jakub]

I write them all out in my notebook. Most hit a wall. I keep writing those that keep producing pages. When I finish some, the plug blocking the ideas suddenly unblocks and I write them until I hit a wall again. I work on up to 5 projects out of some 200.

[Brian]

All of them. They are all special. Even if I don't recall what most of them are about. But I will finished them all. Well.not this one. It's shite. And I really couldn't get into this story. Oh and this one, it had a great start but I couldn't get past a plot hole. This one is...I really don't know this, I'm not even sure that I wrote it. So putting all those aside, and this stack as well. I will finish the rest of them Oooo, that gives me a great story idea. I'll put this one down until I finish this new idea.