I'm currently working on one piece (though it is actually two books covering the same storyline, if that makes sense). I used to divide my creativity between this piece and a few RPs, but I found it was too draining on my creativity. I'd feel my muse at work and I'd put a lot of energy into the RPs and find myself drained when it came to working on my book(s). So I had to quit, sadly. Though working on this piece (which is fantasy), requires the huge task of creating my own world, which I have decided to focus a great deal of my novels on due to the enormous amount of effort I'm putting into it. Though I don't have any other plotlines in mind yet.
Let's see......ever since I was 12, I think I've had about 7. Perhaps it's 8 now. I have: - My current demon story - A wolf story - Another story that needs more plot time - A story about time traveling in a dream - A story about the inside of computers and evil counterparts - A Native American-styled story - A trilogy based on my favorite poem by Lewis Carroll - A series of books based in a magical world And several more that are still just ideas. I divide my time by simply working on the ones that demand my attention. That would currently be my demon story and my wolf story.
Multiple projects at once? Since starting my first real effort at producing a novel, I have considered revisiting some of my old short story ideas. Currently, I have 5 books knocking around in my head, and I've only written out preliminary notes for them. I'm only seriously working on one. I'm wondering if anyone ever works on multiple projects at once? I fell like I'd get too distracted if I tried to jump around. Yesterday, I wrote the Constitution (a really basic version) for the nation in one of my other projects as a warm up before working on my current story.
I technically am doing two novel projects at once - both of which are rather old ideas. Only one, however, I'm really working full time on as a novel; the other I just do when I'm exhausted or bored. However, I also do a lot of conworlding as a breather, or when I do need to figure out some little issue for my story. Regardless, I probably have a hundred book ideas from the last eight years or something, some of which I'll never go back. This reminds me, actually, about something I read in another one of those writing books. Apparently, Issac Asimov often worked on multiple projects at once - i.e., he had a few typewriters in his house, and every time he got pooped out working on one, he just went to another typewriter (i.e. another story) and continued where he left off. So I don't think it's bad to work on multiple projects at once, as long as you eventually finish something.
Just to be clear, I didn't mean to suggest at all that multiple projects was a 'bad thing'. Only that it's totally beyond me. I'm way too consumed by my solitary tale!
I have four unfinished, but am only concentrating my energy on one with the aims of having it complete before July. So far things aren't looking good, so I guess I'll be devoting most of this week to working on it. After that, I plan to start something else. I have several plots scattered around, and am eager to start work on a political piece. Which I'm vowing to complete before the end of Summer (mid-August), so that once classes return I'll be able to pick up an earlier piece and continue work on it. Everything will be finished eventually - I'm just the sort of person who can't work more than a month on one project without needing a break.
I'm only writing one at the moment. Finished my first one last year. I've learned from the past not to focus on more than one at a time. It is extremely time consuming to finish one let alone more.
