I used to be a rabid reader. Not like some of my friends, but up until I got out of the Navy, I used to read quite a bit. Then I started going to movies regularly and began reviewing. On occasion, I would run into the dilemma of comparing a film with the book, which isn’t something I wanted to do. Comparing a film to its inspirations (book, television, comic) nearly always results in a skewed experience because changes will happen.

I also write a lot and plot out stories. In the Navy, I started carrying a notebook to jot down ideas, and one notebook turned into many (I have a cabinet drawer full, in fact.) Recently I have also gotten the itch to take those notes and ideas and start shaping them, trying to find the story or setting in the idea or thought. A few have actually started demanding my time to get them on paper, and the results have been interesting.

Sadly, I now find myself with a terrible problem: I can’t read anymore. Not to say I have amnesia or am illiterate, it’s just that I have started three different books in the last year and can’t seem to get more than a few pages in before becoming hopelessly lost. Why? Because the moment I start imagining the story an author is presenting to me, I immediately shift over to one of my own unfinished stories and start mentally scripting.

Perhaps the only cure may be to get as many rough drafts down on paper as possible while I’m so inclined (before I shift to another project.) My question is, has anyone else every experienced this phenomenon?