Plot Bunnies? More like Plot Tribbles!

Way back in the day when I was about fifteen years old and a beginner writer, I had this crippling fear.

I was scared that if I got a good idea and I wrote it into a story, I wouldn't get any more good ideas. It actually kept me from writing books for a long time, because I didn't want my head to be empty of stories.

Eventually I bucked up and starting writing books anyway, and I've since learned that fear was completely unfounded.

As soon as I finish a book, five more ideas clamor to be written. Right now my life is like this:

"As soon as I finish my WIP, I'll write one of you guys, I promise ..."

Well, ACTUALLY, it's more like this:

"HELP!"

I don't wonder how I'll come up with new ideas anymore. Instead, I wonder how I'll get them to leave me alone.

Does anybody else have this problem? I can't get the stories in my head to SHUT UP. And they're multiplying like tribbles ...

The Good Thing About Short Stories

The good thing about short stories?

I can totally surrender to the plot bunnies!!

If you aren't familiar with the term, "plot bunnies" generally refers to those pesky ideas that multiple like rabbits in your brain while you're diligently (trying to) chipping away at your 100k word novel. Plot bunnies for me are like shiny objects are for my cat. Unbelievably distracting.

The beauty of a short story is just that. It's short. So while I'm writing short story 1, I can pop over to a new word document and jot down a few paragraphs for short story 2, 3, and 4 without experiencing the spasms of guilt that usually accompany such actions when I'm writing a novel. Heck, I might even finish story 2 right then and there before I've returned to story 1.

It's refreshing.

I'm enjoying my creative break. I'm not NOT writing, I'm just doing something else. And the plot bunnies are going crazy.

Anybody else struggle with plot bunnies?