Working on more than 1 WIP?

thelittleprince said:

Like many others on here I'm a big fan of letting my manuscript rest a bit while it is in the revising stage, so I can approach it later with fresh eyes. But while I would love to work on a new project during this resting period, I can't seem to do it. I don't know what is stopping me... I have ideas, but am too preoccupied with the thought of my other WIP to put these ideas on paper.

I see lots of writers on here who are working on 2 or 3 WIPs at once, and I'd like to ask - was this a skill you learned as you developed as a writer? Or have you always been able to work on more than 1 story at once? Any tips on how to multi-task in this way would be appreciated

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Even though I'm only allowing myself to work on one WIP until it's done, in the past I have worked on two at once. I have different playlists for each, and if I want to switch my focus from one to the other, usually all I have to do is put on a song from the one I want and that does the trick. I'm very sensitive to music though. It has the ability to influence my mood and thoughts in all areas of my life, so it's not surprising it helps focus me on particular writing projects. Just find one thing that you associate strongly with a particular project, a certain person, place, song, movie, etc., and use it when you need to switch focus. Or reread parts of the project you want to work on. Re-reading my own work always helps me get in the mood to write more of it.

I have a feeling this comes fairly easy to me (I juggle a lot of stuff, in part because I do short stories as well as novels). But one thing that may (or may not) help is not to set aside the first WIP completely. Don't do any heavy lifting, but if you keep getting ideas about what you want to change, make copious notes. When I still worked in MS Word each word of the first few sentences would have at least one comment hanging off of it with things I'll want to change or add or think about what I get back to that WIP. That way I don't loose anything. (You, of course, can arrange your notes in any way that would feel comfortable to you).

I don't know if that help. I suppose for some people it could back fire and keep them two focused on that WIP that's supposed to be resting, but maybe it can be a fruitful outlet for those times when you're feeling distracted.

I'm still a new writer so take this with a grain of salt, but working on multiple WIPs is, for me, my natural process. As I learn what writing advice to take and what to ignore...one of the big ones I've finally let go is to "work on one project until it's done."

Right now I have two novels open on my desktop and, when I sit down to write, I just see which one draws my attention, then work on that one. Sometimes I will work on the same one for weeks and weeks, some days I alternate naturally, other times I'm not inspired by either and float back and forth brainstorming.

It's been...liberating to let myself work this way. Finishing two other books has reassured me that I can and do actually finish this way. My writing is better and more enjoyable. However, I did have to develop a system to make sure I don't just end up going back and rereading the last chapter...whenever I finish writing a section, I write a few short notes about what just happened and what I think will happen next.

I sometimes lose momentum on one as well, so I always have something else to tinker on in the meantime.

I tend to be in the middle of reading several novels at any one time as well though.

I'm always multi-tasking, so it's not hard for me to tackle multiple WIPs. In fact, I think sleep is the only time I'm ever doing only one thing at one time.

The only time I tend to concentrate on one WIP is when I'm nearing the end, and even then sometimes I'll sneak over to work on another here and there.

It helps that they're all vastly different in style. If I'm stuck on one, I just switch gears and work on another WIP. Or, they're at different stages, such as one in rough draft, while another is in editing. They use such different aspects of the brain (creativity/analytical), that it's easy to shift between the WIPs. Also, I don't need time to rest before I begin editing. I have such a shoddy memory that it's all new to me, so I'm able to see it with an objective eye.

I don't know if that helps or not...

Reading these replies, I think it's certainly a case by case basis. OP, I am like you exactly. I only work on one WIP at a time. If I finish a draft, I put it aside and instead of taking on a new novel, I'll perhaps dabble in short stories or article writing to keep writing while not taking on a big project. I don't even like to think about the story while it's sitting. So my advice would be stick with what works for you. Some people can't attack multiple projects at once at risk of diminishing the quality of each.

I've just finished my 6th novel but found out around the 2nd how difficult it is to juggle two at the same time. Also, I've found that my conscience won't let me work wholeheartedly on a novel unless it's the first in the que, as in, I started it first. Even if I'm super passionate about a premise, if it came second or third, that's the order it will be worked on.

I have been working on the same novel for several years. In between, I write and publish nonfiction personal essays and blog posts. But any fiction that I've written has been for this novel. Writing is such a personal thing that it makes sense that each writer has a different process.

If your mind is so preoccupied with work one that you can't work on anything else, you may as well forget letting it rest, and get back to finishing it.

My first three novels were done by singular focus. Now, on my 20th book, I'm bouncing between three fiction and one non-fiction project. So yes, I guess once I got the basic techniques down and matured my writers voice, I found that multiple efforts kept me stimulated.

I'm currently working on two WIPs and editing my first book. As the ideas come to me, I write them out before I forget them or change my mind on how I want something to go. They are all part of the same series, which probably helps things a lot too. I don't think I could do it if it were for different books with different characters, settings, and plots.

If I put the manuscript in the trunk, I don't think of it as something I am working on. I have a few things in progress at any time, but I am only actively working on one. (The subconscious may be doing its own thing.) Changing how I language this makes it easier to let the piece rest.

I've been having trouble with this too. What's working for me is making notes for a new project, nothing too intense, just trying out some new characters and outlining. It's been a great change of pace!

I used to work on multiple at a time, and never ended up finishing one.

The novel I just finished really grabbed me and I felt like I was eating, sleeping, and breathing it. All I wanted to do was write it. I was never that passionate about any other story when I was working on multiple at a time.

I think if you can find that one story that really grabs you, just focus on it. If you get another idea for another jot it down and come back to it later.

I won't work on two novels at once, as I get a kind of tunnel vision where novels are concerned but I'll work on a novel, short story and nonfiction pieces at the same time. They seem to come from different places and I have no trouble juggling them.

I work on several story ideas at once, writing for whichever strikes my mood, or working on the one that is front and center in my mind. I make myself sit and write, working on one of the stories I've started, but I walk first, to get my mind ready to write. At my age, it's like an old diesel engine, hard to start when it's cold!

I alternate projects and have maybe 5 on the go right now in various stages. Most are novellas. When I first started writing, I only had one project, but when I decided I wanted to work on multiple projects, I had no trouble doing so. Since I have so many in-progress projects, there's often a gap of several months between drafts for a single project...such a long resting period that I often mostly forget what I wrote! I never work on multiple projects at once; I only alternate.

I am currently stuck on a novel I have been writing, and reading these make me think that I could have been writing something else I've been longing to, so that I may not stop writing.

Yay!

I'm 'working on' four at the moment. I've been dabbling with them for years as things come to me. But once I finish my current non-novel project (hopefully within a few months) I can sit down and seriously work on them.

I have never been good at working on two novels at once because I tend to get pretty obsessive about things and can't focus on more than one (though I am constantly working on nonfiction and advertising stuff for paid writing gigs at the same time). I'm hoping I can develop this skill with novels. If I manage to sell the book I'm querying I'd like to be able to work on a sequel without putting my new WIP on hold.

I don't consider it multitasking because I'm not working on two novels at once at the same time. If I'm working on one, the other is sitting for whatever reason it's sitting there until I have the whateverIneed to pick it up again.

So, I do have several WIPs going on at the same time, me switching gears sometimes when I need the mental break from one.

I write every day, in some form or another, so if/when I lose momentum on one project, I switch to another, until I feel the 'spark' for the first one again.

I find that writing shorter pieces helps, but I have had two novels on the table at once before now!

I'm working on several projects, but actively writing on three of them right now. Some days I only write on one. But all three are outlined with deadlines. It's harder than focusing on one project at a time (my preferred method), but not daunting...at least not more so than writing any book is.