I only ever work on one thing at a time, and right now that's a historical novel. But I have an unfinished novel and an unfinished play that I set aside. If I get stuck on the historical, or bogged down on the research and feel I need to give vent to a burst of creativity, I always have the two dormant projects available.
I'm working on one main novel but I have ideas for a couple of others and I have written a few scenes in each to just "get a feeling" for them. I'm concerned about loosing focus if I spend too much time on works other than my primary work but there are days when I just want to take a break. Thinking about a different story can be relaxing.
I generally only work on two stories at a time, but I have this habit of writing out excerpts and outlines for other ideas whenever I feel the need to procrastinate take a break from those other stories. Unfortunately, that means that I technically have a couple dozen open projects I haven't officially started just lying around...
One novel. But I've got three set aside - and if I don't keep my focus, they can lure me into tinkering with them. I've been writing short stories at the same time as the novel. Which I find okay because they're not too distracting and fun , good exercise. But I won't work on two major projects at the same time, I've tried that before and it divides my focus , and time management. Sometimes my projects can even cannabilize each other , one character borrows from another , similiar phrases pop up in both works. If I have a good, major idea that comes up while I'm working on my novel, than I write it down , brainstorming a bit while the idea's fresh, but afterwards I set it aside.
I wouldn't spread out that much. It's like when you're trying to get some pirate downloads (wink) done and you have 10 at a time downloading. Yeah, those 10 files will get done at some point, but not any time soon, not like as if you were only doing 1-2 downloads. Sides all that writing and plotting and character creation and arcs and subplots and all that is just gonna get so mixed up in your head. Sounds like a nightmare to me lol. But. . . whatever works ,: \
It's various, i'm mainly working on my fantasy project which has gotten alot further in progress. I have one project that i'm working on that's going to be a stop motion series and will be written in scripts with it's own fictional universe in it.
I have one fantasy that I am seriously working on and a few good ideas that I have drifting around in my mind. I have made an agreement with myself that I will not start writing another story, until, I have completed (or at least gotten a lot done) my book.
I have one book finished, accepted and on the last edit, and at any one time i have four or five magazine/newspaper articles I'm working on with deadlines all around the same time at the end of the month, which makes it a little tricky, especially as I'm a man, and you know, multitasking and all that... I think you do have to be disciplined though, or it's very easy to drift, and deadlines definitely help - maybe think about imposing your own deadline on each project you start?
I like to do one project at a time cus I get a little obsessed with it, you know. I don't think I'd be able to divide my time properly because once I get writing in one, I'd be so interested I'd wanna write more and develop it, meaning eventually the 2nd project would just get set aside. But currently I have no projects and I'm racking my brains for some ideas...
i don't set any limit on how many come to me for free mentoring, or one-time help, but do have to set a limit on how many paying clients i'll take on at any given time, so i won't be shortchanging them in re the time i have available to spend on their projects... at the moment, i'm ghostwriting one novel and doing complete rewrites on two others, while providing on-going writing lessons to someone i'd mentored for a while, who wanted significantly more time and attention than i could provide with free mentoring... that's about my upper limit... though i may take on overseeing the ghostwriting of a non-fiction book by a freelance writer whose work i can trust to satisfy the potential client who just dropped in my lap this morning...
I have three. A steampunk fantasy currently at 20,000 words. A sci-fi thriller currently at around 15,000 words. And a fantasy story that's 120,000, but unfortunately doesn't have an ending and I hate most of it....
I have 2 started but i am currently only working on one, i had about 60k words written once and decided i didnt like it and went and deleted everything really upset my sistr and my mom who were reading it to the point the wont read anything until its finishd
There's one project I'm actively working on (I'm still planning it; I'm meticulous in planning and must have every detail somewhere in a diagram) and two I'm mulling over due to plot issues (one of them seems to have no real conflict, just mass hysteria and death, and the second only has a beginning planned).
So I am having a little problem in that I have too many books in the works - or maybe it isn't a problem at all? For those of you that have had this issue - do you tend to skip back and forth between them or do you focus in on one and pound it out? At this rate I won't be done with a book for years - and a new one is always popping up. Is it best to put the others to bed for a while? It seems that whenever I do that, I start thinking most about the stories I'm not working on.
I tend to have a few different projects at different stages. I generally prefer to focus on one major writing project at a time. But there are times when one needs to take a break, to recharge one's batteries, and at those times I find it helpful to have something else to which to devote one's energies - either a project in its embryonic stage (research or outlining) or a finished work that may just need some polish. When I get ideas for new projects, I jot them down and make some notes, but I try not to dive into them to any degree (difficult for me, because I tend to compulse on new projects) because then I find that I have too much going at once. After four novels, none published, my current project may actually be THE ONE, so that has made it easier for me to keep my focus.
EdFromNY - that's smart. Keeping a journal with the new ideas. I think I'm like you - it's very hard not to jump into the new work and just set it aside. Good luck on THE ONE! I'll cross my fingers for you.
I do the same thing I have 4 novels and several pieces of poetry in the works everything is at a different stage I write when inspiration for each one hits. (and I keep a small pocket journal with me so I can jot down new ideas...although now that I have a laptop I just use that since I take it to work with me.)
I kind of have one project and one project only to work on. Though it is a project that consists of many books, sort of like a series. So in order for it all to work together, I have several documents on my computer for plots, dialogue, characters, ideas etc. I kind of need to know where the story starts to know how it should end, but also I need to know where it ends to know how to properly start it. So I am sort of having too many things going on at the same time but then again I also feel it is necessary since it will eventually become a unified story in the end. If I ever felt the urge to work on a completely different story from time to time, I would definitely try to refrain from thinking about it. I simply fear it would take away attention from my current main project, despite how fractured that project currently is.
Anielle, I am very much like you. But I have to wonder if that's to our credit or our detriment as writers. =) WriterOfGarnia seems to have the pointed dedication I could only hope for. Maybe if I make the decision to sit down and write nothing but one book for an hour a day and then can hop over for another hour and work on the other stuff as it hits me. Hmmm...
My issue isn't so much creating a balance as I work on the pieces its finding the time. I really have to force that hour a day in for writing and most days I don't get it unless its broke up in 5-10 minute segments throughout the day.
I have three in the works, all in different stages. When I start losing interest in one, I hop to another one, and so forth. It also helps my creative process. Something that might not work in one will work perfectly in another story.
