New Project-itis

I have work I’m supposed to be finishing—two nonfiction projects on two different, very interesting topics. I’ve given myself a schedule complete with deadlines, and every morning around 8:30 I’m seated at my desk surrounded by research, interview notes, index cards, notebooks, pens, and color-coded highlighters.

And then I think of the-best-ever idea for a craft/nonfiction book proposal/article/story, which thoroughly distracts me from the project I’d planned to work on.

Anyone else have this problem? I call it “New Project-itis.” Any project idea I have while in the midst of the grinding work for my CURRENT project is, by definition, superior in every way.

Sigh. I’m learning to jot down the idea in my idea log, set it aside for later, and plug along on the real work of writing, which is always less exciting than daydreams and brainstorms…but is the only way to actually get to a polished product!

:) Cheryl