Ever have too many projects?

Pfff! If that's all you have going on, you've got it made. Me, I have to decide if I want to get up and get another cup of coffee, smoke another cig, check my email again, finish writing this post, scratch my ear, etc., etc. Avoiding one's WIP ain't all it's cracked up to be. It's tough work.

I have a major mental health issue so just a few projects competing for my time is stressful. I'm trying to clean up the house and repaint ready for sale. Then I've my second book due to be published in a few week's time. And I'm waiting for a promised contract from a Canadian publisher. And I'm trying to write the third book in the series.

So I've had to resign from a re-enactmentgroup I belong to. My writing is mainly set in Medieval England so I was enjoying learning by doing. I've also had to write down the days priorities and keep life simple. Really annoying - but totally necessary. And like for you, the output lately has dropped dramatically.

I have several novels started almost half done at the present time, I'm working on them one at a time but every time I sit down another idea pops into my head and I have to grab a notebook and write it down. So far I've got six different ideas going at once.
Thank goodness the kids down't need too much attention or I'd never get anything down Just kidding.

Try 10 or so short stories "in progress" (meaning stalled), and the freight train coming this way of my final exams in 3 months time. Yet still I'm burning to start a new novel. I'm a glutton for punishment.

Topaz044 said:

I was just wondering if anyone is having the same problem I'm having. Currently I've written a 71,000 book that is under consideration for a publisher. At the same time, I'm also writing another book that is so far 17,000 words. I'm also starting to write a screenplay, two novellas, and also have eight short stories bouncing around in my brain. I can type about 100 wpm, but lately my thoughts are so scattered that I'm circling between projects and as a result, I haven't gotten anything out recently.

Anyone else have this problem?

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Yes, constantly. There's a wide-bore pipe bolted to the back of my skull, and ideas for writing projects are pouring down that pipe and into my brain constantly. I calculate that just with the projects I have notes for already, I'd have to live to be 110 (which ain't gonna happen). Some ideas to keep it together:

1. keep either a pocket notebook or (if you can afford one) a digital microrecorder handy at all times to capture ideas.

2. I have a folder structure on my hard drive like so:
Writings
/Short Stories
/Novels
/Essays
/Plays
/Non Fiction Books

In each dir, I have a Word doc called IDEAS.DOC. As an idea comes down through that big pipe I told you about, I scribble it in this doc. I give it a title (just for reference, I'm not wedded to that title forever).

At the same time, I create another Word doc called [title].DOC, where [title] is the title I assigned to it in IDEAS.DOC. In this doc I scribble any initial ideas, thoughts, etc that I have for this potential future project.

Now, on an ongoing basis, if I get a brain flash for, say, some narrative or dialog or research to do for an idea, I do the following:

1. speak it into my recorder (if I'm driving at 70MPH) or write it into my little Moleskine cahier mini-notebook, if I'm stationary.

2. transpose the brain flash into its appropriate [title].DOC on my hard drive when I get home.

With this system (which really is even simpler than is sounds) all ideas and any random updates to those ideas get reliably captured, and it frees me up to focuse the bulk of my brain power on whatever my "current" project is. Give it a try, I hope it works out for you.

I always have too much going on at once. I just focus on what matters most to me at the moment, though this does mean that other projects will have to be put on "hiatus" for indeterminate periods of time. This makes me feel guilty, if anyone has been reading those things, but I don't get enough people commenting on my writing to worry about it much. The way I see it, the moment they start begging me to finish the rest, THEN I'll feel bad for "holding out," and only then. No point feeling bad over people who won't take the time to comment, considering how much work I put into writing stuff they can read for free.

I imagine it's different when you're actually in contact with a publisher...I'd focus primarily on the work that stands the best chance of being put in print.

I notice other people are giving suggestions about managing work on multiple projects or else minimizing it. I haven't any suggestions, as IMO, there's nothing wrong with having a lot of irons in the fire.

Scattered projects is a problem for me, a constant problem.

I came back from a conference in May with three requests for book proposals. Only one of those is done so far, the second will likely be done around Monday next. My blog takes time, done mainly for web writing practice and a minimal web presence. I'm working on one novel (one for a proposal), have started outlining a second, have poems buzzing around in my head. Based on what projects the editor seemed interested in, I'm working on a couple of more similar non-fiction books, just the beginning research and outlining. I'm also working on prototypes of a weekly, self-syndicated newspaper column I'm thinking of marketing in hopes that will give a bit of a platform.

Help!

NDG

It's usually not too many writing projects but rather too much going on overall. I own a travel agency and am a counselor in addition to my writing. The TA goes in spurts that always seem to coincide with my busy writing assignment times.

I have that problem a lot. I've managed to keep it pretty well contained for a while now, though. I have the novel that I'm submitting, the one I'm editing, the one I'm writing, and the two I'm planning; all my other new ideas go in the story ideas file to wait for an opening.

In any case, it's better than the horrible creative block I had at the beginning of the year. I much prefer having too many ideas to having too few.