asks: What happens when you write a lot of different stories and you just can't finish one? This happens to me because I have so many ideas popping into my head it just gets overwhelming and frustrating.

You're not alone! Writers have magical brains that, under the right conditions, constantly spew ideas for stories. It's not a bad thing, but can be a problem when you're just trying to finish one story. Here's how I deal with it...

I keep an idea file. All my persistent ideas go in there. I'll be walking the dogs, or trying to sleep, and story ideas will often pop into my head. They're often fleeting. But some of them will grab hold of my brain and force me to pay attention to it. Sometimes it's just a character idea. Other times it's a situation that could turn into a plot. When my thoughts start chasing those ideas down rabbit holes and coming up with more details, that's when I open up the file and type everything in there.

Once the thoughts are in safe-keeping, I feel at liberty to let go and resume my current story. When you don't write down those ideas, you're afraid of losing that little gold nugget. What if that's the story that becomes successful for you? What if I forget everything magical about it? When you keep a record, forgetting is no longer a problem.

The other day, I wanted to write a short story, but came up empty. So I opened up my idea file and perused it. I found one that seemed perfect for what I needed, and it was an idea that I don't even remember putting in there! Ha! I read what I wrote, and I felt that "oh yeah that could be a story" magic again.

So whenever you come up with ideas, don't feel the need to drop everything and write it. It can wait. Just write out the idea in its entirety into your idea file. Put as much detail as you envision into your file, then close it. This way, you get the satisfaction of writing out a new idea without straying away from your current story.

One last tip: make backups of your idea file!