Is a bad thing to write more than one book at a time?

[shelerella]

I get so many ideas in my head, and a lot of them are so out there I can't apply them to the book I am on..So is it okay to start another book, perhaps three or four at once? Or is all this erratic over-extending myself, the biggest reason I can't finish the book I started?

[Shadow_Ferret]

I think you might have answered your own question. If you're jumping back and forth between projects you're really not making much headway. It reminds me of people in traffic who keep shifting lanes hoping to get ahead faster but they never do.

Slow and steady wins the race. Until I actually concentrated on one novel to the exclusion of all else, I had never finished anything either. I just had all these "projects" in various stages of disarray.

Which isn't to say you can't write down your ideas and do a little pre-writing. Just make sure you focus on one book and do the majority of work on that one.

[MidnightMuse]

Indeed - you'll never get to the prom if you keep changing outfits. Best to stick to one story all the way through until you've typed The End. Otherwise you're not accomplishing anything.

If you have other ideas, jot down a few details in a notebook so you won't forget what you were thinking, and then leave them alone until it's their time. Pick one, follow it through, and you'll love how that makes you feel.

[Siddow]

Why not focus on writing one book at a time, and when those other ideas come along, spend a couple of days writing a synopsis for them? Put it aside, and head back to the first one. You'll feel better when you reach The End on something, and you'll know what to work on next.

[Rane]

Try doing an outline for each book, that way you won't lose what is in your head, and then you can easily come back to it later and add on, once you've finished one book. :)

[icerose]

Diddo. Write the outlines, the synopsis, snippets of dialog and exposition, whatever gets it out of your head and onto paper and out of your way.

You can write more than one at a time, however it increases the time it takes to finish one and increases the chances you will never finish one. The more you finish from beginning to end the more you will learn.

[Thomma Lyn]

I get so many ideas in my head, and a lot of them are so out there I can't apply them to the book I am on..So is it okay to start another book, perhaps three or four at once? Or is all this erratic over-extending myself, the biggest reason I can't finish the book I started?

I just finished a novel, and I've debated whether to begin, as my next project (1) the sequel to the novel I finished (2) a completely different novel.

I played with both ideas for a while - jotted down ideas, etc. - but I actually started the #2 novel yesterday, and I'm hoping it sprouts legs and I can run with it.

To be properly done, a novel needs time and space in its writer's head to develop, often almost unconsciously. And I think jumping back and forth between two "worlds" would make that important process much more difficult.

YMMV! :)

[Southern_girl29]

I know that I couldn't do it. When I'm writing, I tend to have one character's voice in my head the entire time. So, if I tried writing something else, the character from the first work would find it's way into the second one. I do jot down ideas though, so I can go back and look at them later.

[kristie911]

I've written two at once but never three or four. I, personally, would be too overwhelmed. But when I was writing two, I would work on one until I hit a wall, then write on the other one for awhile. I found it made it easier to get back to the first one when I had been away from it for a little while. And then I wasn't stressing about not making headway, because no matter what, I was making headway somewhere. I finished them both.

If you're starting all these novels but never typing the words "the end" then you are overextending yourself. The others are right, if something pops into your head, rather than starting yet another novel, jot down the ideas or even the first couple of pages, then get back to your original. It will quiet your characters, keep your ideas, and let you finish your first novel. The easy part is starting, the hard part is finishing but if you want someone else to read your writing, then you have to finish it.

Good luck!

[Qwerty Uiop]

What do you mean, is it a bad thing?

Bottom line, if you make it work, then it works. If you find you can't get anything done... then stop.

[MyFirstMystery]

As others have said, it depends on you. After putting several "half novels" in a drawer unfinished, I decided that I needed the discipline to finish one project before starting the next. So I'm moving to one novel at a time.

I can however, work on two very different works at the same time, such as a nonfiction book and a novel. But experiment, and see what works for you. I found the multiple-novel approach just became an excuse for not finishing things.

MFM

[LeeFlower]

If you're starting a new project because you're 'hiding' from your first one, it's a bad idea. One final chapter is worth ten first ones.

But if you're progressing sufficiently, and that works for you, go for it. Just don't use a new idea as an excuse to neglect an old project.

[herdon]

I work on several novels at the same time, but I only work on a single draft at a time. I like to let a draft sit for a time before I take another pass at it, so I work on something else. I think many writers (like Stephen King) write like this.

As for writing simultaniously, there is no reason it couldn't work but it would require more discipline. There is no 'right' way to write, but there are danger zones that can keep you from finishing. I know a number of writers that start a lot of projects but don't finish them because they skip to new ideas.

[JanDarby]

Everyone has her own process, and the trick is to figure out what yours is. I am one of the odd souls who works on many-multiple projects simultaneously, but I didn't do that comfortably until I'd finished one project (my second manuscript, b/c I abandoned the first one as fatally flawed; it was missing any inkling of this little storytelling concept known as "conflict").

I think it's very important to get to "the end," at least once, before you let yourself juggle more than one project. It's the only way you'll know for sure that you can finish a manuscript.

I know -- because I've done it several times, and it's also how I work in other endeavors, kinda' nibbling away at them, instead of sticking to one at a time, start to finish -- that I can finish a manuscript, so it frees me to work the way that is most comfortable and productive for me. If I didn't have that security, the knowledge that I can and will finish eventually, I'd always be plagued by the fear that I was going off on non-productive tangents, and there'd be the very real risk that I wouldn't finish anything.

JD

[Anthony Ravenscroft]

Back in the Dimmer Ages, it wasn't practical to stop mid-page, roll out the paper (carbons, two flimsies) then roll something else in just to get those ideas down. The only advantage I had was that I wasn't wedded to a typewriter to get stuff done, & could scribble freely, but it did keep many professionals linear.

My PC's desktop is littered with Notepad files that I go back & harvest into a file called UNSORTED. If I'm buzzing right along on a manuscript, quite often something else shows up & tries to distract me -- the best way to deal with this is to write it down. Doesn't mean you have to stop your main project, or even slow it down significantly (assuming you're already taking breaks for food, lavatory, divorce proceedings, etc.).

[PeeDee]

When I was younger and better rested, I could write two or three projects at once and keep them all straight. These days, I probably could do it too, but not while at the same time keeping my job and my marriage, one of which I'm pretty fond of.

When I was still 40,000 words away from finishing my last novel, I had the completed ideas for two more novels bubbling away in my head, and the idea for three different short stories building themselves. All of them were built up enough that I could have started writing them at that moment.

I didn't. I held off and I just thought about 'em and I told myself very firmly that I couldn't work on that cool-novel-about-Rome until I finished this cool-novel-about-Myth. It helped me get over the drudged-feeling that comes during the middle of a novel.

But hey. If you can keep it all straight. In the future, I think I'll write the first half of my novel, let it sit while I figure out my ending (something that has to be done sometimes) and go write the first twenty-thousand words of another novel, then come back and finish my first novel. I dunno.

The problem with writing is, vague answers like "if it works, it works, if it doesn't, don't do it" are vague and maddening....and completely accurate. It's that kind of craft.

[Kristen King]

I'm one of those people who read half a dozen books at a time, and I'm constantly bouncing from project to project because that's just the way my mind works. But sometimes, when a project is really hard or just very intense, I'll focus on just that for a few days or weeks because I just plain can't stop thinking about it. It really depends on the piece and my mood... So if the pieces allow you to move back and forth and you feel like you're still moving ahead on them, go for it. But if you are procrastinating on one project by moving to another, you need to be aware of that and do what you need to do to correct it. When it comes to writing, right and wrong matter only when it's something that's right or wrong for you.

Kristen

[mkcbunny]

I think it's OK to start a few projects and then see which one leaps out at you. When I started "my first novel," I began with one idea and then started two others. They were quite different in POV and genre. I did some writing, some note-taking, and some storytelling into a tape recorder for each of the projects. Then, one day, after about two months, one of the books grabbed all of my attention. It wasn't the one I expected to tackle first [and it was probably the least commercial, as well; apparently, my muse knows nothing about marketing].

I don't work on the other two now, just to keep my head clear and focused on the novel at hand, but they're ready to go when this one is finished. If you aren't sure which story is the right one to be telling now, I don't see anything wrong with letting the competing projects duke it out for your attention until you decide.

[blacbird]

If you're trying to be a novel writer it's probably a bad idea to write fewer than one book at a time.

caw.

[Nakhlasmoke]

I've got several started novels, and I know that unless I pick one and concentrate, then I'll forever be a writer with a gazillion WiPs and not a single publishing credit.

So that's what I'm doing. Those other stories are still going to be there later, and I think my work will be better focused.

So while some can work on several stories at once, I've realised that it just isn't right for me. Do what works for you, and if you've noticed a problem, then you probably already know it isn't working.

[Bubastes]

Do any of you work on a novel and short stories at the same time? Would that help scratch the "new idea" itch?

[DeadlyAccurate]

I think it's very important to get to "the end," at least once, before you let yourself juggle more than one project. It's the only way you'll know for sure that you can finish a manuscript.

I agree completely. Too often, new writers try to juggle multiple projects because they get to those parts of their book where they have to trudge through. They've run out of steam, and a new idea is bubbling up that they're eager to work on.

But those are the parts that separate "I'm writing a book" people from "I've written a book" people.

[Jamesaritchie]

Do any of you work on a novel and short stories at the same time? Would that help scratch the "new idea" itch?

I do this almost every day. I think most writers who write novels and short stories work on both at the same time. At least, the majority of the ones I know do.

Whether it's all right to work on mor ethan one project at once, whatever the type, is purely up to the individual writer. If it works, it's fine, and many writers can and do make it work. Others can't make it work.

But if it's somethng you want to do, there's no harm in trying it. It shouldn't take very long to determine whether it is or isn't for you.

[FergieC]

I always have at least two things on the go, because I can't work for more than a couple of hours a day, 2 or 3 days a week on one project (unless it's really bashing along brilliantly anyway). More than two and I know I'm not focussing enough, but two seems about right. If I'm only working on one thing, I end up wathching TV in the evenings.

One big problem I have with ideas though, is how do you know whether they relate to a novel you're working on, or whether they should be developed as a whole new project? It sounds like a dumb question, but I have a lot of ideas which could be shoe-horned into a current, almost complete novel on re-write, or could possibly (but not necessarily) be developed into something new. Does anyone else have that problem? How do you know what course to take?

[JanDarby]

One big problem I have with ideas though, is how do you know whether they relate to a novel you're working on, or whether they should be developed as a whole new project?

I don't have a good answer for this, but one thing I found out over the years is that I'd have "great ideas" for a story, and I'd write the first chapter or so and then set it aside to simmer (which is my standard operating procedure before I sit down to write something of an outline) and eventually, I'd have a bunch of these first chapters done, sometimes with partial outlines, except that I would feel something was missing, and then, with more experience, I realized that the ideas weren't big enough to support an entire novel, but I could combine a couple of them, and tweakk them a little bit, perhaps using one idea more as subplot or characterization.

So, I guess my answer is that it's a matter of experience more than any clear-cut rules.

JD

[davids]

Only if your left hand knows what your right hand is thinking

[jpserra]

I don't think so; provisionally.

Don't hide from your primary project.
Make separate time for each project you are working on.
Make an IDEA file and keep a paragraph or two of the idea under a separate file in it.

If you find the other projects are interfering with the primary; put them aside.

[Penguin Queen]

What do you mean, is it a bad thing?

Bottom line, if you make it work, then it works. If you find you can't get anything done... then stop.

Well said.

I have been writing a mystery novel & a nonfiction thingie (travel writing) side by side for the past two years (plus a day job, freelance broadcasting & the odd short story), & I found having two long projects on the go really worked well -- I'd pour out all my fiction into the novel, & then go and do some sober(ish) non-fiction: research history, dates, facts etc. & write the travel thing. (Is there a short term BTW for "a book of travel writing? When I say a travel book poeple think I'm writing a guidebook, which I'm not. End tangent.)
I'm not sure that I could do the same with two novels (they'd cross-pollinate, I think, and I'd have characters from one appear in the other & confuse myself), but the fact that I coudlnt do it (I think) doesnt of course mean that nobody else could.

So -- if it works for you (and it doesnt harm anybody & doesnt frighten the horses ;) ), then do it, even if nobody else has ever done it before.