If you ever spend any time in online groups where there are a lot of early-stage writers, you will find a few common threads. First, of course, they are constantly looking for reassurance. Will someone read through the first paragraph of my novel? Or, I want to write a book about an alien invasion, but they turn out to be cute little bunnies. Will anyone buy that book? Another common malady is what I call First Chapter Syndrome. Writers will have first chapters done for twenty-six books, but have exactly zero chapter twos.
I’ve always thought I might be susceptible to that same syndrome, so I’ve always made myself finish one project before starting another. Oh, sure, I had the “idea file” where I stockpiled future ideas, but I never allowed myself to actually begin to write any of them until I was done with my current project. That way, I figured, I’ll never be one of those guys.
Also, for the first four years of my writing career, I had several other full-time jobs. I managed a real estate office, while also selling real estate myself. That left me so little time for my writing that I knew I needed to be laser-focused when I did have my fingers on my keyboard.
Six months ago, I retired from both real estate jobs. Time-wise, the world was my oyster. As I felt the shackles of employment fall from my wrists, a new thought occurred to me. I want to write multiple projects simultaneously. Why not?
Well, there are probably a few good reasons why not to do that. I could still fall into that trap where I give up on each project when I reach the flabby middle (the story’s, not my own) or if I had written myself into a corner. If I had a little discipline, though, and gave myself a few rules, I thought I could get away with it. Only two rules, really: don’t let any project sit for more than thirty days without working on it, and limit myself to three projects at a time.
So, my multi-project experiment began. One reason that this might work better for me is that I am fairly genre-agnostic. If I wrote exclusively in Crime Thrillers or High Fantasy, I can see where it would be more difficult. I have two memoirs out and am working on a third, one innocent romance that I am seguing into a cozy mystery series, a time travel series, etc. I’m unlikely to confuse my whodunit with my whendunit, if that makes any sense.
I started work on a short story compilation, a non-fiction travel book, and a sequel to the time travel book. So far, so good. The travel book is just a day-by-day account of a trip around America that my wife and I took last year, so it is the easiest to write. The time travel book is set in a complex universe with complex rules (why do I do these things to myself?) and is the second in a planned series of four books. Second books are notoriously difficult to write, and this one is no exception.
The upside is, this technique has given me more time to plan the middle of the time travel book. Instead of taking two weeks to plot it out, and thus writing no words, I have continued working on writing short stories and the travelogue. Sitting at my keyboard, I am writing my travelogue today, but when I walk my dogs, I am thinking about the time travel twists I want to inflict on my poor protagonist.
I have established a weekly word count goal of 12,000 words per week for 2017, which essentially comes out to a NaNo Wri Mo’s worth of writing every month. This technique makes it easier. If I was writing using my old method, as soon as I finished one book, I would have to launch cold, directly into the next book to make my weekly word count. Using this method, even though I finished my short story collection last week, I’ve still got two other projects already with momentum. I could focus on continuing to write them while I decided to add another book into my carousel.
So far, it’s working for me. I’d like to publish between six and eight books this year, and I’ve already got four of them in various stages of completion. To combat spreading myself out a little too evenly, I’ve given myself deadlines for publication: February for the short story collection, March for the travelogue, etc.
Will this work for everyone? I’m sure not. It wouldn’t have worked for me as little as six months ago. If you have the luxury of having plenty of writing time, though, it might be something to consider. So, I’m interested in what you do. Are you a single project writer, or do you like to have multiple balls in the air at the same time?
Nice article. I make my living at writing, both freelance and my own books. Because clients can sometimes delay payments or even cancel projects, to maintain cash flow I have to work on multiple projects at once. I usually have 3 books going at the same time (my own), 3 client contracts, and a dozen articles queries out at a time. Combine that with marketing, and I get quite busy. 🙂
I find I work more hours now that I am “retired” from the “real job” than I ever did before. However, now I love what I’m doing, so that’s something. 🙂
I tend to have multiple projects going so that when I start to run dry on one, I can always put it aside for a while and work on something else. That way, I stay ‘fresh’ as I’m writing. Also, now that I write full time and now the down time from my day job (writing is now my day job), with more time to actually write, I find doing multiple projects a more efficient use of my time.
Exactly!
I have multiple projects going as well. I too like to switch out if one is getting to a stumbling block or a rough patch. I can switch out and give myself a break from it a bit. Thank you for posting this Shawn I really enjoyed reading it.
I don’t believe in Writer’s Block, but there are certainly times when I am not sure how to transition to a different scene, or where the next bit of conflict comes from. That’s when it’s handy to have another project going.
I’m definitely a one-project-at-a-time writer. I get too immersed in the story and character development to pull off into something else. I breathe, eat and sleep my story, often dreaming about it. As much as I think about it consciously, even more is going on in my unconscious, so sometimes as I’m writing, great synchronicity emerges that I could never have planned. I think if I were jumping from project to project, that wouldn’t have a chance to evolve. I’m glad your plan is working for you, Shawn; I don’t believe it would ever work for me. Vive la difference!
We’re more alike than we are different. That’s why I always have one project that is straightforward, like writing a memoir or the travelogue, and one project that requires all my creativity. I am the same way with the primary creative focus, but I like to have a side project to work on while my creative well refills.
I’m the same, Melissa. Total immersion or nothing. 🙁
Melissa, I fall into your camp; however, I can begin a new writing project when I’m in the throes of revising the previous one. Often saves my sanity (I think!).
Hats off to those who can manage it – but I think I’ll stick to one at a time. 🙂 That said, I did try to write my memoir at the same time as my novel, with limited success.
I think mixing very different projects can work well this way. When I’m writing a memoir, I mostly face the Bob Seger question: what to leave in, what to leave out. Writing a novel, that’s where the creative pool is needed.
Now that I don’t have a day job, a recent transition, I often say to myself, “oh right, now I can do THIS.” Which is good and bad for my word count. I am still catching up on other things, but when I write I have a few works in progress going, and am trying to finish (and submit) one at a time.
For what it’s worth, when I first transitioned from a 9-5 job to writing full time, it took me about two months to really get into the rhythm of writing every day. Now that I’ve got it established, though, it’s much easier.
I always have multi projects going. If I get them timed right, I have each one at a different stage of completion. So while I’m waiting for the editor with one, I’m formatting the other for publication, and if I get tired of that, I can go to the one I’m writing. If I’m tired of them all, I have a couple on the back burner that I can play with.
No excuse for writer’s block, anyway!
First off, congratulations on your ambitious outlook. I’m a pretty much one book at a time kind of a writer, but, like you, I do have at least one or more other projects on a back burner. As the author of a mystery series, I do find that sometimes I feel undue pressure to keep “knocking them out,” which can be a bit of a downer. At present, I am taking a bit of a hiatus after releasing the fifth book in my series. However, I am eight chapters into a new project that I began over three years ago, totally unrelated, and when I feel the fire stirring in my belly, I have no doubt that I will “power write” for six months or so and bring that one to conclusion. After that? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see . . . 🙂