Picking and Choosing What Works

A few days ago, I was surfing for twenty minutes. That's the time it takes for generic Sudafed and generic Tylenol to kick in. I'd gotten so involved in the latest wip that I'd forgotten to take my regular dosage until I couldn't breath and my head started pounding. (Damn flu!)

Anyway, I was on Twitter when someone tweeted the question of how to handle new ideas that hit you while you're still working on a manuscript. I tweeted back that I take a couple of minutes to jot down the idea (no more than a page), then return to the original manuscript.

I don't know about anyone else, but once my brain starts creating, it refuses to stop. It took a long time for me to train myself to finish a project. (The multitude of files in my credenza and various electronic storage media can attest to that fact.)

But the other side of the coin is--did I give this woman, a writer relatively new on the path, good advice.

There's so many folks out there with advice. The problem is there's no one solution that works for everyone. As I tweeted to this woman, this is what works for me. I really hope she's not like me, and gives equal credence to every piece of advice given to her. I believe I screwed up my own path for a long time by listening to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE!

All this well-meaning advice leads back to the saying, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." I hope I gave her a method to help her brain settle down and focus, instead of sending her to Hell. If I did, may she find the strength to say, 'That Suzan chick is nuts. This way is much better."