Just Curious: Number of Projects

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RuLaReJo

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I'm just wondering if I'm the only person who works on multiple stories (I think of them as "projects") at a time. I know I can't be. How many do you usually work on at a time?

Of course, this can include stories, articles, columns, etc etc. And apologies if this is on the wrong board, it seemed the most appropriate!
 

OctoberRain

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I'm working on two different novels in various stages plus writing a new short story each week for my writing class. So I guess 3.
 

virtue_summer

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I'm working on two. Editing one and writing the rough draft for the other. I don't tend to like splitting my focus so I was going to do the editing on the first one completely before I started really working on the rough draft for the second novel, but I'm finding I miss writing new prose every day so I've decided to work on both.
 

jgold

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Right now? Four. Two novels, one short story, and one novelette. I don't outline, so when I hit a sticking point in the plot, I switch to one of the other projects until I've figured out where the story needs to go next.

It keeps me writing and editing every day. :)
 

stormie

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I have MGD. Also known as Multiple Genre Disorder. Not only do I have several different WIP at one time, but they're all over the board. Humorous poems (humorous because I'm most definitely not a poet), conversational religious essays, horror stories, middle grade novel being worked on.... Right now I have four different projects going.
 

SPMiller

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I'm polishing one novel for betas and four more shorts for submission. Three fledgling novels are vying for my interest as the next primary WIP.

I'm also working on two constructed languages and a programming language (including the formal spec, a compiler, and a tutorial). Since the latter is still just barely outperformed by Python for many use cases (embarrassing) it'll probably never see the light of day.
 

Diana W.

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One I'm working on and 2 I have plans to write and 1 new idea that's perculating in my brain as I type.
 

Chrisla

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I have MGD. Also known as Multiple Genre Disorder. Not only do I have several different WIP at one time, but they're all over the board. Humorous poems (humorous because I'm most definitely not a poet), conversational religious essays, horror stories, middle grade novel being worked on.... Right now I have four different projects going.

So that's what's wrong with me! I'm currently revising a memoir, writing a mystery, plotting a historical YA, and thinking about the germ of an idea for another mystery. I thought about NaNo to get that one off the ground, but don't have anything solid enough to wing it.
 

Ms Hollands

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1 novel being written.
2 novels being thought about but not actively doing anything yet (want to finish novel #1 first).
3 part-time/freelance non-fiction writing jobs on the go.
1 blog.
 

kct webber

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I have MGD. Also known as Multiple Genre Disorder.

I'm with Stormie. I have 4 novels on the burner in different stages--one on final edit. I also have about 12 short stories currently, in various stages. And these are in fantasy, scifi, literary, horror, humor, and hybrids of the former.

I certainly have no excuses for not writing if I get stuck on something.
 

Nakhlasmoke

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I used to, but I found it too distracting for me.

Now I write a quick first draft (if I don't get it down quickly, I lose the drive), and then while that composts, I edit an earlier project.

Everyone falls into a working pattern that's comfortable for them and produces the best results. Do what works best for you.
 

NeuroFizz

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The question everyone with multiple ongoing projects should ask themselves is, "How is it working for you?" By how is it working, I mean are you completing the projects on a regular basis? If the projects are being completed, then there is no problem. You are an individual who can work on and complete more than one project at a time (this business is like all others--there are many "types" of individuals involved). However, if you are a beginning or developing writer and/or an unpublished writer, and you have multiple projects going but none completed, or you are having trouble completing the ones you are working on, you need an honest sit-down with yourself. The object of this writing game is to finish a project and get it out there. Then finish another one and get it out there. Period. If your brain is so scattered that you can't work up a series of projects, each to completion, you may not be fit for this business at this time, with your current approach. By far, the most important trait for any creative activity without specific deadlines is self-discipline. And on these threads, we hear all of the justifications, all of the rationalizations for jumping from unfinished project to unfinished project. My mind just can't stay on one idea. I have to get all of my ideas down or I'll forget them. I'm a good multi-tasker. I jump to another project when I get stuck on the one I'm working on. And my favorite--my muse does this or does that and keeps me from finishing. How convenient to blame a figment of your own mind to explain a fault in that same mind. Beats blaming the person in the mirror, doesn't it?

Easy isn't it? So easy to not finish anything. This isn't a rant, it's a challenge. For everyone who jumps to some other project every time writing get a little sticky on a current project, finish one and come back and shove it in my face. Show me I'm full of sh!t (but just don't tell me). Show me (don't just tell me) that you can finish a project and get it in shape to submit. I dare you. I'll be first to raise the flag of contratulations. But do it. Prove to everyone here at AW that I am full of sh!t. This is my finish-and-submit challenge. Maybe I'll open a thread for it.
 

Appalachian Writer

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I've tried working on more than one piece at a time, but I've found it doesn't work for me. My projects are usually so different that each requires a different mind set. I have one completed novel (that revise and resubmit line in my sig *whoopee*). I have another that's got about 30K words right now. It's been resting for a while because for some reason I lost my muse where it's concerned. The third of my projects is heading toward the finish line. It's at slightly over 89K and rising. If I were to try to work on the 2 WIP's at the same time, I might get them confused. HEY! I'm old and I've had six mini-strokes, cut me a break! :D
 

Williebee

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Usually 6-7

In a couple different genres/lengths/stages of development.
(There's only so much editing I can do before I feel myself getting into "rewriting just to be writing".
 

tehuti88

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I can't keep track of how many things I'm working on at a time, seeing as I don't relegate any unfinished project to total oblivion, I just put it on hiatus, possibly for a long time.

I work on numerous projects but it's usually such that I'm devoting almost all my time to one or two in particular. I haven't been keeping up on it lately, but for a time I was working on two different serials, and in between those I would sometimes work on the occasional shorter story/novella. I also started rewriting an older novel.

But like I said, it's not really like I sit here and do all of them at once. I work on one, or another, sometimes within days of each other, sometimes within months. And it's usually just one project that takes up most of my attention. Right now that's my serial.

I could literally work on more than one story in a day if I felt like it, but I prefer to limit my writing output daily so I don't burn myself out, and that usually means working on just one.

And yes, I have finished some (admittedly not all, but some) of these things that I've started, not that I'm going to take up any sort of challenge on it. My current WIP is the third in a series (two completed previously, while I was also working on numerous shorter stories and novellas which were also completed).
 

Memnon624

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One at a time for me, with novels taking precedence. Between novels I'll flitter and dither over this or that, but all the while I'm taking notes or finishing up research for the next novel (Robert E. Howard called it "filling the well"). Most of those little dithery side projects will never see the light of day; most aren't even intended for public consumption. Once critical mass has been reached with the next novel idea the blinders come on and my one-track mind takes over.

I'll echo what NeuroFizz says: it's not how many projects you work on; it's how many you finish. If you're working on 12 things and not finishing a single one, then you have a serious problem. No one pays* for half-finished manuscripts and unrealized ideas.

Best,

Scott


*I understand some people don't write for pay. Suffice it to say: I don't get that, but it's more a shortcoming of my own than anything else.
 
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