Juggling Multiple Ideas/WIPs

raelwv · Jan 22, 2007

I'm wondering how everybody handles a problem I seem to have a lot. I get to work on an idea but while I'm away from it (usually at work), something else comes up and I get caught up in the new idea. The old one falls by the wayside. It's a convenient excuse for not being very productive, but it's kinda frustrating.

When you're in full-on writing mode, what do you do if a new idea comes along? Do you try and juggle multiple projects, or force yourself to focus on the one you're writing and put the new one aside for later?

johnzakour · Jan 22, 2007

This question comes up a lot. If you want to be a full time writer you need to be able to juggle multiple projects. It requires a lot of sorting out projects, recording ideas and scheduling time.

IrishScribbler · Jan 22, 2007

I make schedules for myself, building in time to work on new ideas. I model them, partly, after the syllabus I used for my senior workshop last year. I had to map out my whole year to complete my creative project. It was very helpful, and if I ever become a professor, I'll have a handle on syllabi! <grin>

farfromfearless · Jan 22, 2007

I've read in a few places that it's productive to keep an notebook handy for when inspiration strikes. I see this working in two ways: 1. it allows a writer to capture and explore an idea - a creative vent; 2. it allows you to separate your current work from your inspired imaginings.

I started carrying a small notebook with me about two months ago and in my spare time away from my main WIP I like to mess around with other ideas. I like this because it allows me to still be creative without interfering with my main production atm.

PeeDee · Jan 22, 2007

I'm almost always juggling multiple projects. When I'm not, it's because the one project I'm focused on is really BIG.

At the moment, I'm working (actively, as in contributing to them every day) or no less than five short stories. I'm making halfhearted attempts to edit a novel, and I'm starting to the fiddly bits at the beginning of my next novel. AND I'm reading a BBT Slushpile and offering chatter on here.

Raphee · Jan 22, 2007

I have a couple of ideas written down in my notebook and some character pieces that I have developed that might come in handy. I also write short pieces of thoughts/bits of scenes etc that might strike me from time to time and that have nothing to do with my current WIP..
But I am unable to shift my main thoughts or work away from the WIP. I need to see that finished before I really start a full fledged new project.

Mandy-Jane · Jan 22, 2007

I find it very hard to concentrate on more than one project at a time. I think it's just my irrational fear that if I stop work on one thing to work on another, then the first one will totally fall by the wayside. But I'm the same in life too. I can't do more than one thing at a time. If inspiration does strike (yay - I wish it would more often!) I'll scribble down some key notes and then put it well and truly away until I finish what I'm working on. Then I'll get to it.

Eventually.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 23, 2007

ideas

raelwv said:
When you're in full-on writing mode, what do you do if a new idea comes along? Do you try and juggle multiple projects, or force yourself to focus on the one you're writing and put the new one aside for later?

I do work on multiple projects, but I never allow one to interfere with another. The only reason I work on multiple projects is because I want or need to finsih multiple projects.

I believe ideas are pretty much meaningless. Every idea seems wonderful, certainly each new idea seems better than the one you're working on at the moment, but an idea is no better than it's execution, and the best idea ever coceived is utterly useless unless you turn it into a finished, polished novel.

I'm a firm, Born Again Believer of heinlein's Rules of Writing.

HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING

1. You must write.
2. You must finish what you write.
3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
4. You must put the work on the market.
5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.

You must write. You must FINISH what you write.

For a breakdown, and some sound and serious advice about these rules, Robert J. Sawyer says it all. http://www.sfwriter.com/ow05.htm

CaroGirl · Jan 23, 2007

I work on multiple projects. I write novels and short stories, so I always have a novel in the background. I tend to work on shorts during breaks in novel writing. If I hit a rough patch, or finish an editing pass, or complete a large section in the novel, I take a break to work on a short. If I have an idea, phrase, character description, I make a note of it and keep it for when I have time to work on it. I'm not much into formal schedules. I'm a seat-of-the-pantser.

No matter what, though, always finish what you start. It's never a waste of time.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 23, 2007

I've tried juggling, but I keep dropping the eggs, then my wife yells at me.

sfecphory · Jan 23, 2007

I put my head down and finish the one I'm on. Stephen King was once asked if he keeps a notebook of ideas so that he knows what he's going to work on next. His answer: no. The good ideas will stick with you, they'll keep floating to the top. The bad ideas will sink and drown. I think he's pretty dead-on with that.

Thomma Lyn · Jan 23, 2007

I'm juggling multiple projects:

1). Doing what I can to promote my e-published novella

2). Getting ready to start a round of queries to reputable agents for my most recently completed and polished novel

3). Revising -- uh, gutting

-- my second novel, which was written three years ago but which I feel has promise

4). Working on the first draft of a brand new novel

Sounds like a lot, but it's actually pretty nice -- I have a project for every phase: creation, revision, pitching, and promoting. Gotta admit, though, the first two -- creation and revision -- are the most enjoyable for me!

Soccer Mom · Jan 23, 2007

I'm a notebook person. I scratch down ideas all the time. James is right though. Most of them never go anywhere, but sometimes they do. I's fun to go back and see my old notebooks sometime. (I thought I could sell a story about what?)

jodiodi · Jan 23, 2007

I have one project that is my main area of concentration but there are multiple other ones on the side. I think of the one I'm trying to get ready to send out as the Prime Rib and the others, which haven't been polished or are still being written, as the Potatoes au Gratin, Roasted Asparagus, Spinach & Toasted Pecan Salad, Wild Mushroom and Leek Soup, and Creme Brulee. All parts of the Writing Feast, but you don't cram them all in your mouth at once.

thepainpasses · Jan 23, 2007

That right there would be the reason why I've never finished a novel.

One idea I'd had tossing around in my head a bit I relegated to a short story (I think it worked much better that way anyway) to get it out of my head. But other than that, I really can't quite tell you how to ignroe the new ideas - I don't even know how to do it myself.

Of course, I often try to incorperate my new ideas into my old ones, which make for stories far too elaborate that any original theme tends to get lost in all the drama.

So for now I'm relying on the inspiration I get from knowing I have to finish the story I started in the really fancy journal my boyfriend got me to keep me focused - I'd hate to tell him he wasted money because I can't write in a half-used journal.

JBI · Jan 23, 2007

I found an interesting way to combine all my works into one super story. (I write fantasy, but found a pretty easy way to write almost any kind of fantasy, and add it into the "series (for lack of a better term, all my work stands alone)). As for ideas, generally when they pop in my head I write them down, get a basic idea then forget about them. Later I plan to toss them into my other works, and use them for subplots and things, but for now they just take up memory on my computer.

Nicole_Gestalt · Jan 23, 2007

I always have multiple projects going on at once, and as well as all the writing I do I have art pieces that need working on and cards that need making and of course then there's the selling of it all. For me keeping busy works the best, I like to be able to switch from one piece of writing to another when I feel that i'm not quite getting down what I mean. I guess for me switching between the wips is like taking a break from the main piece and then coming back to it feeling all refreshed.

I know a lot of people can't work that way but it seems to work for me, oh and I always have notepads (and are constantly buying more - I just can't resist them!) around incase i get a glimmer of an idea that doesn't want exploring just yet.

thethinker42 · Jan 24, 2007

I always have tons of projects going on. Right now, I'm working on a third draft, and 3 or 4 first drafts. I'm focusing mostly on the third draft at the moment, but if I get too burnt out on it and just need a break (even for a couple of days), I can work on one of the other projects. As long as SOMETHING is moving forward, it keeps my level of frustration to a minimum.

As far as getting ideas for new projects, I'll jot them down, spend some time exploring the idea, and then save the notes into a folder and let them simmer for a while. Sometimes a new idea will grab hold of me and NEED to be written NOW...so I'll put my current project aside and work on the new idea for a little while. This helps me in two ways: 1, it gives me a break from my current work; 2, it gives me a chance to make progress on something else. Also, if the new idea is really nagging at me, it's hard to concentrate on my current project, so it's better for me to just spend a little time on it, get it out of my system, and then get back to work on the current book.

Again, as long as SOMETHING is moving forward, I'm happy.

NeuroFizz · Jan 24, 2007

I have always adhered to the "one novel-length project at a time" philosophy, although smaller projects are okay in parallel. However, I recently had an idea leapfrog over a half-completed project. I'm working on the jumper and have back-burnered the jumpee. The latter has as much promise as the former, but I can't get that new one out of my head. But, no, I'm not working on both simultaneously. I'll finish the new one first, then finish the second one after that. I guess that makes me a one at a time writer, at least for novel-length projects, even though I have two works-in-progress at the present time.

randomsome1 · Jan 25, 2007

I've got three things that want written all at once, but I know I'm not organized enough to pull them all off at the same time. I have a notebook for character sketches and plot ideas (scribbled in around my work schedules), but when it comes time to buckle down and get things done I have to prioritize and concentrate on one WIP. I can come back to the notebook and the other ideas whenever there's time.

And like other people have said: if you burn out on one idea, the others will be waiting.

Vanessa · Jan 25, 2007

raelwv said:
I'm wondering how everybody handles a problem I seem to have a lot. I get to work on an idea but while I'm away from it (usually at work), something else comes up and I get caught up in the new idea. The old one falls by the wayside. It's a convenient excuse for not being very productive, but it's kinda frustrating.

When you're in full-on writing mode, what do you do if a new idea comes along? Do you try and juggle multiple projects, or force yourself to focus on the one you're writing and put the new one aside for later?

To answer your question, I have the same problem. I find my mind more busy than it should be especially when I'm focused on one project. I can be driving and thinking about a current project, then get hit with other ideas and they keep coming. It's weird. I have the same problem in the shower. I have to keep a notebook, napkin or PDA, heck even the back of a business card to capture these thoughts.

I believe this happens for a reason, and to jot them down makes sense. However, I do and am able to focus on completion of whatever I'm working on. I just sometimes don't like the mind interference. I call it Mind Wars!

Yuallica · Jan 25, 2007

I usually have a plan for what I will work on each year, normally around four or five novels, sometimes six if I've already got a lot of bits and pieces written for them.

If I get a new idea, I'll put it on hold for a bit, then maybe start a file for planning to go into, but I won't actually start writing it properly. If the idea sticks around long enough, I'll put it into my plans to write next year; if I'm still interested in it months after I get the idea, it's a good sign that I'll stay interested long enough to write it. If not, I probably would have gotten bored after a chapter or two anyway.

If a particular idea is really bugging me, I'l sketch out a couple of scenes for it, or do a bit of planning, but carry on with what I was writing before. I usually have two projects to work on at a time, so it's not too much to manage, but I can carry on writing if I get block for one of them.

triceretops · Jan 25, 2007

I have to immerse myself in one, and only one project and see it through relentlessly to the end. I began an alien invasion story and got halfway through it before I realized that it was a trunker. I forced myself to finish it out at 450 pages. I didn't trust myself to abandon a project, knowing that I just might do it again, with a more important story.

Tri

Juggling Multiple Ideas/WIPs

raelwv

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard

IrishScribbler

farfromfearless

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

Raphee

In debt to AW

Mandy-Jane

venturing ever further into the unknown

Jamesaritchie

CaroGirl

Living the dream

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

sfecphory

Thomma Lyn

Cat Wrangler

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

jodiodi

Reflections of Reality

thepainpasses

JBI

Nicole_Gestalt

thethinker42

Abnormal Romance Author

NeuroFizz

The grad students did it

randomsome1

Vanessa

Writer and Music Producer

Yuallica

triceretops