I have a question for all of you.
Do you work on multiple projects at once?
I tend to work on one at a time, but once I finish a draft,
I move to the next one. However, this
month has been a bit odd for me. I don’t
know if it’s that I’ve got enough going on that I feel like I’m jumping from
one thing to another without any clear direction. Maybe I’m losing my ability to
multitask. Or maybe I’m using it too
much. I don’t know.
In April, I finished my Blue WIP, and now it’s up for
critiques. I’ve been getting some
awesome feedback, and I love it. While I
wait for the critiques to finish, I’ve been trying to use May to work on
revising my Yellow WIP. As much as I’m
enjoying this one, (and trust me, it’s one of my favorites) I’m having a hard
time concentrating on it.
Actually, it’s not as much a matter of concentrating. It’s a matter of getting down to work. Every time that I start a section, I get so
caught up, I keep reading to the end. I
think I’ve read the whole thing three times this month already. I love these characters and the story, but I
can’t concentrate on it enough to focus on revisions.
Whenever I’m working on a novel, the characters take up
residence in my brain. In my spare time,
or when I have a chance to stare out the window, I let them bumble around in
there. They tell me what their story
needs or if there are any changes that need to be made.
Except this time, the characters from the Blue WIP haven’t
moved out. They’re fighting over space in
my brain and I feel torn between the two stories.
So now I’m wondering how all of you deal with it. Do you work on multiple projects at
once? How do you bounce from one to
another?
Right now, I'm just working on one novel, and since its got a pretty big plot and characters to flesh out, I thought I'd finish it before moving on. In the past, though, I have worked on more than one project at a time. I feel it's a lot more productive, since when I get bored of where I'm at when writing on one, I can switch to the other. But that;s just me... I have a short attention span
ReplyDeleteI've always felt that way too, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should stop jumping so much.
DeleteGood timing! I've been wondering the same thing lately. I'm about 25k into my current WIP. Writing the beginning went pretty fast but now I am to the dreaded (by me at least) middle, and I'm struggling a bit more. Meanwhile, there's another story crashing around in my head and looking for a way out. For now, I've just been writing down scene notes for that one when they come to me but trying to keep going on the draft of the other. I do often bounce between my nonfiction work and fiction, though, and I find that a little easier to juggle. If I have time, I try to make one day just a fiction day. Or some days I give myself an hour or two for fiction, then turn to more pressing nonfiction matters. Either way, it seems that knowing I'll have that time to get to the other project helps me clear my head for the one I'm working on at the moment. Not sure that makes sense or if it helps, but there it is! :)
ReplyDeleteAhhh, the dreaded middle. I can't count the number of times that's stumped me. Even when I'm excited about where they're going, I don't know how to get them there. Or I just lose the momentum. Either way, I feel for you!
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