The shock of the (shiny and) new

Do you sometimes find yourself distracted from what you are writing now by the temptation to write about something else, by an idea that’s just popped unbidden into your head, doesn’t want to let go, and shouts WRITE ABOUT ME! I’M MUCH MORE FASCINATING THAN WHATEVER YOU’RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON! If so, then you might just be suffering from Shiny New Idea Syndrome.

Shiny New Idea Syndrome is a condition which can affect anyone, but for the purposes of this article I’ll be looking at problems it causes writers and suggesting how to deal with them.

I knew about the syndrome, of course – having occasionally been afflicted by it myself – but until recently I didn’t know it had a name. I discovered it was called Shiny New Idea Syndrome on the blog of my colleague, the writer (occasional Writing Magazine feature writer) and co-director of the recently formed Cadence Publishing, Sophie Beal.

So you might say that discovering that Shiny New Idea Syndrome was a named quantity afflicted me with Shiny New Idea Syndrome with regard to writing this article about it.

But what is Shiny New Idea Syndrome? The name describes a situation where the victim