Any multi-tasking writers here?

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WannabeWriter

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Let me clarify the question. Is there anyone here who is a writer for two or more different things? For example, I am an aspiring novelist, a freelance writer for Suite101.com, and an amateur film critic for which I have a web site. Oh, and my day job involves plenty of writing.

I imagine that plenty of you are writers in just one aspect, but how people here do multiple writing gigs and still love it? :)
 

maestrowork

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I write movie reviews for pay, freelance (currently working with the regional tourism office), and fiction (a novel and some short stories published). I'm working on my second. I'm also a professional actor. Non-professional I write screenplays and am an aspiring songwriter. So, a little bit of everything.

Actually, I think you will find a lot of writers do many different things.
 
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Birol

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That's a good question right now.
Most people who write professionally write in multiple areas. It's not at all unusual. Most times, it's necessary.

What I would ask you, given the areas that you're writing in, how are those areas benefiting you as a writer? Are they helping pay your bills? What's the return on the time you've spent contributing to those places? Are there better ways to spend your freelance writing time?
 

inkkognito

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I don't just multi-task with writing but with pretty much everything in my life. In addition to being a freelance writer, I own a travel agency that specializes in Disney cruises and am a doc. of psychology with both online and in-person counseling practices. On the writing front it's mostly magazine work for now, but I have two fiction short-shorts I've been shopping around and a few non-fiction book proposals that I need to get serious about this year.
 

Arisa81

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I do write a variety of things.

I need to very carefully manage my time though, if I want to get anything done. Often I will start one thing, move to another, then another. So what I do now is focus on one project at a time, before actually moving to another. Focus is a problem for me anyway, so I need to stay on track as much as possible. :)
 

JoNightshade

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I started out writing short stories (did that as a kid, kept doing it as I got older) and sold a few. Then in college I made the switch to novels, which I find more satisfying. Now I work as a travel writer for $$$ and write novels for... uh, well, hopefully I will get money for that someday. :)
 

steveg144

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Let me clarify the question. Is there anyone here who is a writer for two or more different things? For example, I am an aspiring novelist, a freelance writer for Suite101.com, and an amateur film critic for which I have a web site. Oh, and my day job involves plenty of writing.

I imagine that plenty of you are writers in just one aspect, but how people here do multiple writing gigs and still love it? :)

I do non-fiction political/philosophical essays (the bulk of which wind up getting picked up and published); I do stage plays and belong to a playwright group; and I write short stories to decompress from all those other things. Oh, and I work 45+ hours a week at my "day job" as a software developer, which involves writing, except it's not "human-readable." :tongue My perennial sad lament: "So much to do, so little time."
 

ATP

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Multi-tasking..? Or diversifying/diversify?
 

KTC

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I write whatever.

Things I have written:
poetry
novels
short stories
memoir for radio
radio commercials
ads
articles for newspapers, newsletters, magazines, etc
speeches
essays
PR
plays (including a musical)
screenplay
song lyrics

the list goes on. I wouldn't call it multi-tasking though. I just love writing in all of its forms. If people ask me to do something, I say 'yes'... and then figure out how to do it.
 

WannabeWriter

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Most people who write professionally write in multiple areas. It's not at all unusual. Most times, it's necessary.

What I would ask you, given the areas that you're writing in, how are those areas benefiting you as a writer? Are they helping pay your bills? What's the return on the time you've spent contributing to those places? Are there better ways to spend your freelance writing time?

My day job is the one that pays the bills. I do the others mainly for fun, though I do strive for the extra cash. And why don't I write other things? Because I'm enjoying what I'm doing now. :)
 

maestrowork

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the list goes on. I wouldn't call it multi-tasking though. I just love writing in all of its forms. If people ask me to do something, I say 'yes'... and then figure out how to do it.

I do multi-task, and that can be a problem. I lack focus already, and when I multi-task, I get even more distracted. That may explain why it's taking me over 3 years to write this novel...
 

robertmblevins

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I'm not the king of the multi-taskers, but I'm definitely a hanger-on at the castle.

Okay. (takes deep breath) This is my idea of multi-tasking.

I run the AB of Seattle column over at Newsvine/MSNBC called 'Straight Talk'. We have over 134 published articles there, all illustrated.

There are some sci-fi books. 'Say Goodbye to the Sun', 'The Corona Incident', 'The 13th Day of Christmas', others. Sometimes I edit other people's books along the way. Last year, I re-edited the entire unabridged ms. from 'Robinson Crusoe' into a new version just for the heck of it.

Geoff Nelder of Great Britain and I co-edit an illustrated sci-fi mag called 'Escape Velocity' that hits deadline every three months.

'The AB of Seattle Sci-Fi Podcast' broadcasts entire novels in parts. We usually do a thirty-minute episode 3 to 4 times a week.

I'm a member of the Northwest Science Fiction Society and spent a lot of time helping out with the convention and then covering Norwescon 31 for the magazine.

On top of all THAT...I also have a day job. I own a small housecleaning business, which is what actually puts bread on the table. I still clean five houses a week personally. Most are upscale homes, greater than 3,500 square feet each.

How I signed on for this ridiculous workload, I'll never know. But I love it, anyway. :Shrug:

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Straka

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I find once I'm in the creative mode it spreads to many things. I write novels, games, articles, draw manga... all from a Fine Arts major who did photo and metal working in college.
 

StephanieFox

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I write on multiple unrelated projects in many styles as often as I can.
 

Mayntz

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I definately multi-task -- it pays the bills better than not doing so. Constant projects I'm working on include...

- Weekly stringer for local newspaper: school features and news
- Online content writer for LoveToKnow.com, 30-45 articles per month
- Online editor for LoveToKnow.com, managing 5 sites
- Weekly feature writer for daily paper's real estate section, advertorials
- Freelance queries for different publications -- magazines and ezines
- Freelance editor for fiction and nonfiction manuscripts, open to any interested party

So yeah, I'd say I multi-task just a bit.
 

SPMiller

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Unlike other people, I "multitask" in the same sense that single-core CPUs multitask.

That is, I can only really focus on one thing at a time, and it takes me time to switch my attention between them. The more things I have to do, the more time I have to spend switching between them to make sure stuff gets done.

Therefore, I try to minimize the number of things I have on my plate at any given time.

I have friends who can truly multitask, doing several things at the same time, such as writing an essay while talking on the phone with music in the background and the television at high volume. And they devote little chunks of their attention to each thing. It's infuriating. I wish I could do that.
 

Robin Bayne

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Definitely.

I write Christian and "sweet' romance, have several devotional book proposals circulating, write a quarterly column for SpiritLedWriter.com (writer's ezine) and articles for writer's publications.

I like variety : )
 

Michael Parks

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Nope, no multi-tasking in writing... my current book is my first, and the rest of my time is spread out between being an IT manager, a father of two (one teen, gah!), and a husband.

There's a lot of multi-tasking in there, but nothing extraordinary. 8]
 
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