Don't Abandon Old Ideas

I'm sure we all do this to some extent, don't we: you're writing a story or a book and suddenly you're bored with the idea, or you want to pursue a new one. That's perfectly normal and while many will say that it's best to stick with the original idea and see it through, I say don't. There's no point in writing something that you're not interested in writing because nobody will be interested in reading it. Save it for when it's exactly what you want to be writing at that time.
This month, as it is the first month of the 2012 Camp NaNoWriMo, I had an idea all set but then disaster struck: my trusty Alphasmart Neo died on me. After replacing the batteries and then taking it all apart, I couldn't figure out the problem (nor could three very technologically advanced acquaintances) so I was distraught. How to do nano if I didn't have my little portable computer? I didn't want to write the idea I had unless it was properly (don't ask me why - because I care about it, I suppose, I wanted to do it right) so I went through idea after idea, trying to come up with something else to do in the three weeks it will take for my new Alphasmart to arrive. I had a great little story in my head - great in that it was warm and cosy and I liked the characters, but it wasn't what I wanted to be writing at the time. I had to change to something else but I know that one day, I may well want to use that idea. Don't throw any plots, plans or bits of writing away because you never know when you might want to revisit it. Keep a box or drawer for old bits and bobs, or pin them on a corkboard as I'm planning to do.

Lydia