When To Focus, When To Write Wildly With Your Creative Writing

Focus is an issue that many writers struggle with.
Having ideas is not a problem, they flow easily and rapidly, presenting themselves in all kind of forms, in unexpected places and at unpredictable times.
But choosing an idea and taking it to the next level, giving it the space and attention it needs to develop into something more, can often be a major sticking point.
On this endless conveyor belt of ideas, where every time you choose one, another 3 or 4 take its place, how do you choose on and focus your creativity energy and talents just in that one direction?
The simple, but not obvious, answer is: you don’t always have to choose just one.
Different creative projects serve different creative needs. If you’re working on a 100000 word novel for example, then much of your creative writing energy and time will be focused on this major writing project.
But it doesn’t mean you CAN’T write anything else until your novel is finished.
Often, the best cure for getting stuck or feeling like you’re starting to tread water a little on a big creative project is to take a break from it. Try writing something else, something very different. And make this temporary new project as fun and low demand as possible.
Writing itself is not difficult. What makes it difficult is the feelings and significance we attach to it.
For example, many of us find it difficult to write just for the joy of writing, experimenting and playing with our creativity. We always need some end “product” to show for the time and creative energy we invest.
Sometimes yes, focus and commitment are necessary and important to reach where we want to reach with our creative writing ambitions, whatever they may be.
But other times, if you’re struggling to write even a few sentences in your novel, let alone the final ten chapters, perhaps exactly what you need is a break and some time to play.
When you write creatively for the pleasure and experience of it, without any great attachment to the end outcome, you’ll start to rekindle your love for writing.
Then when you do return to your novel, today, tomorrow or next week, you’ll feel freshly inspired and fired up again.
So the next time you feel you’re getting weighed down in a particular writing project, don’t keep blindly slogging your way through, laden with guilt for finding it so difficult.
Give yourself a break – literally – and use a different kind of writing, or even a different creative medium altogether to rediscover your love of creating and writing…
Sometimes, blinkered focus IS just what you need.
But stay aware enough – and kind enough to yourself – to know when a change of creative writing will actually give you just the fresh motivation you’ve been struggling to find.