I try to stuck with one project, but sometimes I go on to have a "break" by writing something else: but this something else is never a big project and the first one is always the MAIN PROJECT. The others are just a break from the pressure I got from the first one. So I would say I stuck to the main one because I'm easily distracted and influenced by other ideas so if I'd really go on and write something else all the time, I would never finish anything!
I've always got multiple things going at different stages. My main focus shifts. I've got a novel. I've also got a play (which is finished. yay!). It's the time of year to submit shorter works so I've got some short stories and essays to really clean up and get out there. But I might spend a few days on a short story then a week with the novel then I could sell something and have to switch my focus to the revisions needed for that piece. The goal is progress and there's more than one path to get there.
I have three live projects, my main is the one I find most difficult and also the one I care about the most. Funny though the other two seems to work better as I am more relaxed about them. I think it is healthy to write more than one project at a time. I find taking a break from one or the other keeps me feeling fresh.
Sometimes I'll write a short story while I'm writing a novel but I have to watch out that I don't cannibalize one project for another. Three of my novels in a row have had similar patterns all two male leaders and similar struggles and obsessions. I'd rather get one out of my system fully and then maybe those projects will adjust. Or maybe I'll keep writing the same stuff over and over again.
The honest answer? Yes, but I try not to do it. I only really make progress when I get stuck in to one project and let it take over my life
I have this problem. I call it a problem because at times (Many) it keeps me from finishing projects that I really would like to see done. If it's keeping you from finishing one project then I would try and concentrate on finishing the first before leaping into another.
I'm usually working on at least 3 projects at a time, however they change the level of importance... strangely they don't usually get in each others way.
Yes. Its also a bad idea. My interest in writing a particular story comes and goes, and so it kinda sucks to look at half written stories which would probably never be finished.
I don't think working on more than one thing is a bad thing. Maybe it takes more discipline. When I was traveling and freelance writing, I had to have several things in the works at one time to get by. Maybe that's where I learned to better juggle my writing pursuits. I do finish most things. The stuff I don't finish is often for a good reason (like it sucks), but it has nothing to do with the other things I'm working on. I'm someone who can really get into the zone when I'm writing so whatever I'm working on feels like the only thing I've got going on at the time. Discipline and focus is an important aspect when it comes to working on multiple projects. Have those two things down and work will get done.
I make a list in my head of what I'm going to write next. When I've finished a chapter of WIP 1, I'll revise a chapter of WIP 2, and then back to WIP 1, and then finish my notes for WIP 3, you get the gist. I find that helpful because it means everything gets attention and nothing is neglected for ages.
I do but only because ideas keep popping in my head. I ended up not finishing or starting most of it. Though sometimes I incorporate those ideas with the ones I'm working on. I'm mostly having trouble writing the middle parts so I make sure to write a short summary. That way I can tell myself I've finished a story even if it is not fully fleshed out. I've also noticed I rarely come up with new story ideas. Back then I usually write/draw romance stuff coz that was always get read by my classmates. My action packed stories tend to get ignored. Now I'm mostly creating stories for myself with more focus on fantasy and supernatural.
@Accelerator231: OMG, really? All this time I thought I was the only one like that haha. Btw, do you happen to make those repeated themes and tropes some sort of a trademark? I've noticed some authors tend to repeat the same kind of character or storyline but only because they're into those kind of stuff. Among the ones I can recall is OnePunch-Man and Mob Psycho 100 creator ONE. He seems to like OP characters so much that both protagonists (Mob and Saitama) have overpowered abilities.
Me? I find myself doing something. A girl dressed in white that acts as the messiah. I made a white mage in London. And then a character, (Emilia) from a relatively high fantasy series (re: zero) dropped into the slums of a relatively low magic universe (asoiaf). And now, a normal modern world, where a lower class hippie who dreamed of being a doctor just got a blessing from the god of perfection and excellence. I also seem to have a tendency to drop extremely overpowered characters into settings where their actions will twist and warp the world around them. Like a sorcerer into sword and sandals. Or someone who could conquer the world in a world with no magic. Or otherwise. I also seem to have a tendency to.... Write a dissonance between normal and abnormal. A story where turning around the corner let's you walk into a world of magic. A husband and wife where the wife is normal, and the husband works for stargate. Or where a student in a stereotypical high school turns out to transfer from another world. Anyway, I think we should make a new thread for this.
Whoa that's a lot. You seem to be into isekai either. (I can't seem to imagine Emilia in asoiaf ) Mine's is either something about superpowers, supernatural, time/dimension travel, or some apocalyptic thing going on. But sometimes I try to subvert fantasy elements esp. when it comes to fairy tales. (I'm more interested in tales not known by many people) I gave up on it though after seeing so many people do it. (though it's mostly a deconstruction) There's a time I thought what if you can order superpowers online. The protagonist somehow got hold of a high tier ability that is sought after in black market and whatnot. Ends up getting chased by the international police. I once thought of a zombie apocalypse but the cause is supernatural and virus related which I believe is now mostly depicted today. Thing is there's this cult that used some sort of arcane magic to turn everyone into zombies. After playing some SMT games just adds more fuel to that fire. (in before, I only watch streams of someone playing Silent Hill) If anything, I wish to include game elements in my story. Something like dimension travel but using save files. Each file is it's own pocket dimension. But that would be a problem because it's not a video game. (killing the immersion) I agree, we should probably make a new one.
I have anywhere from 3-8 projects at work in various stages of development. Juggling can become tricky sometimes. I once was so swamped I accidentally wrote one project's business requirements into a different project's Scope document. Glad a friend caught it before it went out!
So after mulling ideas for a sci-fi short story, I came up with two different ideas in completely different directions. I decided to work on both stories at the same time, as a break from my novel. Does anyone else do that? As in have more than one WIP in progress at the same time?
I actually put two of my sci-fi novels on hold because I discovered I write some decent comedy. Now my desire for comedy must be quenched before I can come back to sci-fi.
I cyclically work on many items, often storing them for long periods of time and then coming back to them. My memory is excellent, but I have difficulty in paying attention, so this cycle keeps me productive, often with many stories or poems finishing simultaneously.
Actively, never. I write one and finish it before starting the next one. That doesn't mean I don't think about other things and take notes on other ideas, but I never write them. Then again, I write several books a year so I never really feel the need.
Not really. What I do is constantly change my story before I can ever make any headway. I'm just not too serious about writing, though.
