do the plot bunnies bother you too?

It happens sometimes for me but I always either just try to ignore them or get my writing/ notebook out and scribble the basic ideas down, I figure if they're on paper they aren't jumping around in my head >_<

Yup, they do. And it doesn't help that I keep a pair of fuzzy bunny slippers under my writing desk at home...

I always keep a "notes" file for whatever I'm writing. When I have ideas for later scenes, I take a minute to open the notes file and churn out a few paragraphs on those ideas. That could be anything from plot points, character motivations, bits of dialogue I want to include, or just feelings I have about those scenes. (Sometimes just, "I am so so excited about this scene and I know it comes in Chapter 20 and I'm only on Chapter 5 but please can I write it now please please please????")

Most of the time, I write my drafts in order. And that means when I DO get to write those scenes that have been all plot-bunnytastic, I have tons of ideas for them, and sitting down to write them is terrifically satisfying and -- sometimes -- incredibly easy. Over the summer, I was doing a 2nd draft / rewrite of my '07 NaNo project, and I had had the final scenes in mind for months and months. When, in September, I finally got to write them, I was incredibly excited, and I churned them out in just a few writing sessions. Yay!

The problem I'm having NOW is that I keep getting plot bunnies for stories other than the one I'm writing now. Ack!

NaNo '09 - The Understated Unraveling of Mercedes Moreno (rewrite) - YA magic realism

"It'll be smashing this time, I think." -- Elaine Stritch

www.twitter.com/harperkarcz - John Green follows me, and you should too.

I find that when it happens, it's best to just go with it. I write down the "future" then try to tie them together. I have a separate novel I'm working on that's currently in three pieces - beginning, climax, and the very end. I actually started with the climax!