044: The Mindset Trap That Can Keep You Stuck
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The Mindset Trap that can keep you stuck
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I want to talk about something as kind of a continuation of a conversation that's been happening on social media and also in my Blank Page To Book Membership, about your book idea and coming up with a book idea. And something that that can be kind of, I don't wanna say dangerous, because that sounds alarming. But it's something to watch out for, when you are in both the idea generation process and also, early in the drafting or outlining or writing process. This is something that can be very distracting, especially for new writers who don't have experienced this with this kind of thing happening. So I want to talk about it just just to give you a heads up that this is something that might be happening, and to talk about why this can be so detrimental to writers. So what we're going to be talking about in this episode is called shiny object syndrome.
This is this is where you have an idea you're brainstorming, you're plotting, maybe you've already started writing, and then you hit a stumbling block, something gets hard, you get frustrated, you can't move past something. And all of a sudden, you get a different idea whether it's, well usually how it shows up as a completely different idea for a different book. And that new idea starts to look really good. And so what happens is, sometimes people will just jump ship, they'll say, Oh, well, this idea isn't working, let me just go over to this one and this will this is the idea, this will be the one. So then the same thing, Same thing happens, they start going through a brainstorming process, maybe a plotting process, maybe they start writing. And then they hit a number, another stumbling block, something gets hard, they get frustrated, then they get another book idea and think Oh no, this this third idea, this is the one that's going to really, this is the winner. This is the one, I just need to scrap these other two projects, scrap these other two ideas and go over to this one. And this is a process that can repeat itself over and over and over again. It's kind of like the grass is greener on the other side kind of a mindset. Where something that's new and exciting, always seems better than what you're currently working on. That's kind of what I'm talking about when I say shiny object syndrome that you're distracted by a shiny object. Oh, a new book idea. Oh, great. I'll do that one.
Now. I think it's important to clarify right away that this, I'm not saying that it's not a good idea to work on more than one project at a time. That is totally fine to do. In fact, right now I have two manuscripts that have about one one has about 12,000 words, as of the time of recording, this one has about 12,000 words, and one has about 8000 words. And I'm kind of going back and forth. And just kind of working on both. Periodically, I'm not spending a lot of time writing, I'm writing maybe twice a week right now. And just kind of going back and forth on on both of them. So it's not that you you can't do that a lot of people find it really fulfilling to have different projects to work on. Especially if those projects are very different. Maybe they're in different genres, that it feels good to them and it feels creatively energizing to do that. So it's not that you can't work on multiple projects.
What shiny object syndrome is really about and why it's dangerous is it can prevent people from making progress on any one book. If you get through a plotting process and maybe write the first chapter and then switch over to a different idea because you think that there's something wrong with your original book idea. And then you keep doing that, what you're going to have is a collection of half form, half formed ideas, and starts of a lot of different books, but you're never going to be able to see any of those through if you keep getting distracted by other ideas. And I think there's this tendency for people who are new to writing or maybe new to the creative process to think that if they hit a block, if something isn't working in the plot, like they, maybe they have a big plot hole, and they don't know how to resolve it, or they're feeling frustrated with something, it's easy to feel like that's a sign that you chose the wrong idea and that your book is just not going to work.
It's very easy to assign all kinds of meaning when we hit writer's block, or we get frustrated, or whatever it is. So what I what I want to encourage you to do is to not look at those things as proof that your book idea is not solid, you're never going to know that your book idea is isn't solid unless you keep going. Now maybe you get halfway through the book or third of the way through the book and discover like actually, no, this really is not working. It's not just that I'm getting blocked one day and decide to scrap it. But there's a serious issue with this. I'm no longer invested in the story. That happens sometimes Sure, it's fine to scrap a project like that's okay. But if you're scrapping it at the first sign of trouble, or the first sign of difficulty, then that's kind of a symptom of something more serious. And it's frustrating, it's frustrating to feel like you are constantly being pulled in different directions, and to not make progress on any one book. That's hard. Because it's like you're doing all of this work, right? You're doing all of this work mentally to come up with these ideas and try and flesh them out, get some things on paper, and then to continually constantly just move on to something else that can feel frustrating. Because after a series of doing this, you know if you do this several times, it's like well, yes, I've got a beginning of some books. But you know, you might feel like you don't have a lot to show for it.
If you have a burning desire to write a book, but you don't know where to start, I've got something to share with you. Maybe you've always wanted to write a novel but you struggled to find time to actually sit down and write maybe you wonder, Who am I to write a book, maybe you're not sure how to actually structure a full length novel Do you outline or just dive right in? Wherever you're at my new blank page to book membership can help. It's specifically designed to help new writers go from idea to written edited book. It includes a monthly live training with me on craft or mindset to drop in weekly writing sessions to help you make progress, a private q&a podcast episode a Facebook group in an entire online course, with video trainings on my nine step process of writing a book, basically, everything you would need support, accountability, help with your mindset, and more, get six months of access for just $59 a month. That's it, click the link in the description of this episode for more info, or go to www.thekatiewolf.com/membership for more.
I think when we talk about shiny object syndrome, it really is a mindset thing. It's like a mental state. So here's how to kind of get past that. First of all, the first thing I'll say is, it's important to know that you are going to have days where you feel blocked, and you want to scrap your story and you're frustrated. That's part of the creative process. And it doesn't mean that you need to jump ship and scrap it and just start over with something new. That's not a sign that something's not working. There are things you can do to troubleshoot, whether it's going back to the drawing board doing a little bit more brainstorming, maybe jumping ahead in the manuscript. If you're struggling with a particular scene or chapter, you don't know how to resolve it. See if you can just jump ahead or go back to where you felt like things were working and you had a solid grasp of of, you know the plan for the story. So there's troubleshooting you can do but just know that again, this is like a normal part of the process. Every writer experiences this and it's not a sign that you need to scrap your project and move on to something new.
The second strategy I'll say, I'll give you to kind of avoid this shiny object syndrome is if this if you identify with this if you think that this is something that you are doing, you're like, Oh crap, this is what I've been doing. I've been jumping ship every time it gets hard. Pick one idea I would say the idea that it's most exciting and expansive to you, and stick with it, for at least a period of, I don't know, I would say a few months. If you get ideas for something else, while you are committed to working on one manuscript for a period of a few months, that's fine. You can have a separate word doc, you can have a Notes app on your phone that's open, where you just put these ideas down. So you get them out of your head onto the page, you're not just saying, Nope, I'm not acknowledging those ideas, you can put them down. But set them aside, set them aside and come back to them later. Those ideas are not gone. They're just you're not working on them at this particular moment, you are focusing on the manuscript that's right in front of you. Okay. And why I think it's important to do this for at least a few months is that gives you an opportunity to see if you can overcome whatever the block was, whatever got you frustrated in the first place. Because 99% of the time, you'll be able to do that and just realize the further you get, like, oh, this was just part of the process. That's fine. It doesn't, you know, it doesn't mean anything about me as a writer, the story, nothing. So the length of time is different for everyone, it kind of depends how long you've been working on your idea, generally. You know, how often you write, if you're only writing once every few weeks, then giving yourself two months might not be enough time. So get honest with yourself and just kind of set a timeline that feels challenging, but doable, and say, Okay, for the next X amount of weeks or months, I'm only working on this one story. And then do a check in with yourself at the end of those few months, like really get honest, is it that the story really truly is not working? Fine, go on to a different idea. Go back to your notes that you made about ideas that came to you while you were focusing on that manuscript, you know, it's fine to shift course.
And again, I just want to reiterate, for those of you who do work on multiple projects, this please don't misunderstand me this is not to discourage you from doing that. I find it fun. I find it it, at least at this point. In the beginning, it was not fun. I had to pick one thing and stick with it. So, you know, I think that can certainly change. But yeah, if it if it feels doable for you, and it feels exciting, and you are energized by the idea of working on more than one story. And this is the important part. If you feel like you're genuinely making progress on both of those books or all of those books, then by all means, stick with it if that works for you. Alright, so that's shiny object syndrome. Again, just something to watch out for. It can really keep a lot of people from making progress and, you know, just kind of feel frustrated and we don't want that I don't want you to feel frustrated to feel stuck. I want you to have momentum to keep going on your work in progress. Thank you so much for tuning in.