Hello Juanita, I just joined SW. Just reading some of the members comments on various subject and ran across what you wrote regarding concentration. I have poems that I just can’t seem to finish. I    don’t know about you, but I am somewhat of a perfectionist, and for me, that leads to procrastination. If I can’t get if “perfect”, I’ll leave it alone and move on to something else that’s half done. Go figure. Trust me; you are not the only one! We need more accountability partners in the writing business. I think we should take advantage of the group’s name (She Writes) and make SURE “She Writes”.

Oops... accidentally erased my post for a typo! Shucks! At any rate you are not alone. I can't focus unless I'm working in multiples. Usually I'll start out working on up to 7 books at a time, but (on average) publish 3 a year. This year I completed 4; and another year it was 5. And this is in addition to the blogging and social networking, and reading and reviewing... plus a few other things. But I'm not too concerned about this level of activity, which sounds like is true for you, because I'm very pleased with my work.

Carol,

That's just it. I finish all of my projects. So, it's not self-sabotage. What I would like to do is work on one project at a time and finish one at a time. That's what I'm talking about.:) I just can't seem to do that. I should have stated that I do finish them all. Now, that that's clarified, does anyone else do this? I still don't want to be the only one.

Thanks for the comments. I'm glad that I'm not the only one multitasking.

Hi Juanita - I have the same problem.  I like the comments below, and think as new ideas pop into my head, now I will jot them down, then force myself to go back to finish the work at hand.  Thanks for bringing this subject up.

You're definitely not the only one out there. I suffer from the same "write-uation", but am now enjoying the bliss of conquering it. As a writing coach, here is the advice that I give to my clients (that eventually started to sink into my own brain), you can work on as many projects as you desire, if you don't desire to reach a finish line. As creatives, we tend to work in either an overflow of ideas or a drought of muse. So to accommodate the droughts (or simply keep your to do list rolling with ease), decide on your current WIP (work in progress). That is your focus. That is your first in line. As the other ideas for projects pop into your mind, allow yourself the reward of working on them as you progress through the focused project. ex.So you are working on a novel. At the end of each chapter, you allow yourself to do a character sketch for your 'next' project, or create a setting. But not too much. Keep your true focus on the novel. 

At any rate, write on and write True.

Brook Blander

Author/Poet/WriteLife Coach

http://www.ebonylotus.com

I had a writing mentor who once told me that this was a way some writer's participate in self-sabotage...starting new projects and never finishing one -also called procrastination- a sure way to avoid failure, although we may feel like a failure for not finishing anything. (I'd write an entire manuscript but moved on to another project before editing and polishing a story.)

I think it's okay to have a few projects at once, as long as things are eventually getting finished in a timely manner. Once I made up my mind to seriously pursue writing as a career, I noticed that projects started getting finished.