Revising/Writing

If you're only able to focus on the revising, then why are you trying to do anything else?

Not there yet, I'm full into novel #2 and I'm not touching novel #1 for another five weeks or so.

Sounds mainly like time management. I've thought about this, because it's tough as it is to find two hours a day or more to write the quota I set for myself. Through in the revising, and I'm not sure what I'll do.

I do believe that you should do both every day. Even if just a half hour on each or whatever. I set a quota of 2000 words a day, but when I start the revising, I'll probably take what I can get. Some of those words might be touching up the old novel, but I'm going to try and get them. I think it's important to do both.

I'm curious as well to what others have done with this situation. I've got it sitting in my peripheral vision, and just haven't gotten the courage to totally address it yet.

I block out time each day for both--five hours writing, two hours rewriting or doing edits or whatever. The only time I stray from that is if I have a deadline.

I'm not as organized as some of the people here. I work on one project until I can't work on it any more and/or other characters are busy teepee-ing the inside of my head, at which point I switch to another project. Then I work on that one until I can't work on it any more and/or the previous project's characters are setting fire to the bushes, at which point I take up the previous project.

Occassionally, I will set deadlines. When I use deadlines, I find that my characters are more than willing to go on a long weekend or whatever until I'm finished.

If you aren't getting to work on the projects you think you should be working on, take a few days off and work only on those projects. That'll get the juices flowing again.

The Scip,

I also have a very difficult time working on two projects at once. Instead of trying to write the next book while revising my first, I jotted down ideas and brainstormed and read books that would help write book 2 and kept my focus otherwise solely on book 1.

But if you feel you must work on both, you've got some good suggestions above. Try to stick with one method for a while because often a new technique takes some getting used to and you don't want to go crazy trying a new thing in your writing time every day.

Unless, you know, that helps.

I just can't work on two things at once in my fiction writing. I can't concentrate enough on either to do a decent job. With my newspaper writing, it's easy, but not so with fiction. I only have two hours a day to work on my writing, so I don't start on another project until the first one is finished, edited and on it's way out the door. It's the only way I can do it.

Have you already let the first novel rest a while?

I am working on my first long project right now, but whatever the length, I have found I can't objectively read & revise until that work has been put aside for a while -- sometimes several weeks or more. It is maddening, and really hard not to just stick it in an envelope and mail it off, but if I do wait, I can always make it better when I come back to it.

Why not let that first novel sit & percolate a while, work on the second one? When you are done with the second one, go back and do all revisions on the first? Then start on a 3rd one, and revise novel 2 when it is done?

I realize that is a *really* long time, depending on how long it takes you to write each one. Maybe you could go back & do revisions when you get "stuck" somewhere, to give your brain a break from the one you have trouble with?

I suggest these because I sometimes feel like I put on a skin of my characters somewhere in my brain, and can't easily get out of one & into another without changing the voice of that piece. But I put a lot of importance on characters -- I might stick through a boring part of a book or a section of weak writing to see what happens to the characters, but I'll rarely read beautiful prose just for the sake of the sound of it if I don't like the characters.


wee

I only have a couple hours in a day for anything writing-related, and there's always some editing that needs to be done on something. I take turns between editing and writing. I'll usually do the writing until the steam runs out or decreases enough that I can concentrate on editing one of the other stories.

Before I had so many stories behind me, I used to be able to concentrate on only one at a time. It can still happen, when something is too hot in my mind to ignore, but that's unusual. It also reaches that point when I get between 35K and 50K words into a story and need to stay focused to keep things straight. Until then, I can do a few things at once and split my time every day.

I'm sure these answers don't help. You have to do what you feel comfortable doing. But at least put any finished works aside for a few months to let them cool before editing them. If that means concentrating completely on a new writing project, do it. Enjoy it, but get out of that other world enough to go back with a fresh view of your writing.

Have you tried an every-other-week approach?

I have the opposite of your problem. I try to do both, but I get so focused on the writing I can't edit. It bores me.

I try to get both done by querying. The chance that an agent might ask for a partial or something (haha, yeah right...) makes me edit more, while writing.

Maybe you could try the week by week like Roger suggested. That sounds effective...I might try it, too.

I find it hard to work on two projects at the same time. I have WIP #2 started, then I decided I needed to revise the first one (7th time) before submitting again. Personally I can't seem to keep my mind on both projects at the same time, especially when I feel frantic to finally get the first one where it needs to be. I feel your pain.

Here is my opinion, and this is after writing several novels and half doing the editing: Finish novel one completely.

The whole revising process and learning how to perfect your first novel will shave a lot of time off your second. I'm learning that as I revise, I am rethinking the way I write, what words I use, how I formulate sentences and plotting and details.

I'd split your time between studying how to revise and perfect your novel and then putting what you learn into practice. I'm doing that now.

If you haven't already, pick up all those books on writing and get cracking. Put into practice all those techniques, and hopefully you'll pick up a few things for the next time around.

Try: Self-Editing For Fiction Writers or Techniques of the Selling Writer to start.

I used to write more than one book at the same time but it seemed to take longer to get one done so I stopped with that method. Now I focus on one book at a time until it is completly done, revisions and all. Then I move to one that had been started. I'm getting the books done a little quicker that way, writing about 5-10 pages a day, mostly at night. I thought if doing two at the same time would help with writers block but I haven't been getting writers block lately.

By sticking to just one project at a time, you can stay focused more getting the job done. Then you can begin the next project while you're submitting that first piece to agents and publishers. It helps keep your mind off the waiting.

Amber