Troy and or Scott, may I ask the greatest favor. Could you elaborate please on the "shiny object syndrome"? and ways to cure it? I ask because I think I have it!

Jenny, let's say I am working on a story. At first, I'm excited about it. Then I get caught up in the slog of having to wrangle and write it. Suddenly I have a new idea. Ah, it's brilliant! The story I'm working on pales in comparison. So I set aside that story and start on the new one because surely it makes more sense to work on a BETTER idea. Cut to a few months later and this new story I've been working on has become a slog. My enthusiasm has waned, when all of a sudden, I come up with ANOTHER new idea. Fantastic. So I set aside the 2nd project to pursue the 3rd one... Each new idea I choose to pursue is a 'shiny object,' something that comes along that distracts me from actually writing and completing stories. While there may very well be occasions where you SHOULD drop Project A to pursue Project B, for example if Project B is a good paying gig, generally the best course of action is to finish each story, and THEN move onto the new one that excites you. Otherwise you can get caught up in the shiny object syndrome trap.

Jenny, one piece of advice I heard from a professional screenwriter (probably from an interview on GITS) that seems to be a tonic for the SOS is to have multiple projects going, but each in a different phase. Project 1 is a rewrite of a finished script. Project 2 is in the outline phase. Project 3 still in research/brainstorming. That way, when the fatigue from Project 1 sets in, a writer can switch to Project 2 or 3 for a while without abandoning anything. Sort of like a writing assembly line.

Yay! What you describe, Troy, is my current situation with projects. I thought maybe I was ADD, but functional SOS feels better. Thanks for explaining.