It can be hard to stay focused on a story when so many ideas come flooding into our minds. To stay focused on one story, it takes a kind of tunnel vision like concentration, one where everything else (i.e. other ideas) is blocked out, or at least put aside.
Often times, I’ve bounced around from one idea to the next when writing stories, only to find myself with a bunch of incomplete stories (and ideas). They’re mostly like sketches, not blueprints that are ready to be written. For me, a story comes to life as it is written, not just in the planning stages.
I find that it’s easier to stay focused on a short story rather than a novel for the obvious reason that the former can remain short, and it doesn’t need for the conclusion to be wrapped up neatly or explained as with a novel. A novel, however, requires us to think about that one story for weeks or months. Even if new ideas come to mind, we can only utilize the ones that pertain to the novel, not other stories.
When I come across an idea that really excites my imagination and inspires me, I will naturally want to explore that idea and expand upon it. But that excitement and energy has a shelf-life, and I need to work it on right away before the momentum is lost.
Fallton Havenstonne 