How To Balance Multiple Writing Projects

Recently, someone had a question that really got me thinking on My Ask Me Anything Page on Tumblr. They asked how to balance multiple writing projects, as well as how to stay focused on just one when you may have two or three other book ideas bouncing around in your head. They referred to it as Shiny Idea Syndrome, which is where you either a) are working on your current book project when suddenly a shiny new idea pops into your head so you drop your old book project to start working on the new one OR b) you have an idea for a new book project, but your current one is taking up all of your energy and you can never seem to find time to work on the new one. I'm guilty of the first one because when I get a new idea that I'm so excited about, I want to drop what I'm doing and focus all of my attention on that new idea. But it's important to remember that your old project was once a new idea, too . . . so how do we make it new and shiny and get excited about it again? And on the flip side, how can we stay focused on our new project when we just can't tear ourselves away from our current project? I've come up with seven tips that I hope will help you stay focused and balance multiple writing projects. If you'd rather watch the video on this topic, feel free to click play below. Otherwise, read on!

1.       Write everything down in its appropriate notebookI used to write everything down in a single notebook and while this worked for a while, the more I wrote down for multiple book projects, the more confused I became. I started flipping through page after page, trying to mark them so I could differentiate what was for Book A and what was for Book B. I'm sure you can imagine that things started getting really chaotic having ideas for one series consisting of three books and another consisting of 6 or 7 books and another nonfiction project that is completely unrelated and having all those ideas in a single notebook. So the first step here is to use different notebooks for each of your book projects. If it's a series, and it's a large notebook, then you can probably get away with using one notebook for it, but for multiple series? Nuh-uh, honey. Grab a new notebook. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.
2.       Organize your thoughtsAs you can probably imagine, it is much easier to organize your thoughts when you have your ideas in separate notebooks. I know I've mentioned this in a previous video, I think the topic was on outlining, but once I have all of my ideas for a book, I'll write them down on index cards. My ideas usually come to me in the form of scenes, so this makes it easier for me. Once I have all of my ideas or scenes written down on index cards, I will start to organize them into a storyline that makes sense. I always keep blank index cards with me so that I can write down new scenes as they pop into my head while I'm organizing my thoughts into said storyline. Please note that this is just my creative process and that it may not work for you. If it doesn't, that's okay. The more time you spend in your "creative zone", the more clear your "writing process" will become.
3.       CompartmentalizeThe definition of compartmentalize is to divide into sections or categories. As the definition suggests, in order to stay focused on your current book project or jump into your new one, you'll have to learn to compartmentalize. FOREWARNING: This is no easy feat and is not something that can be learned overnight. Compartmentalizing takes practice, patience, and energy. For example, say something happens to you that completely ruins your day, like someone flipping you off while driving even though they're the ones who cut you off, or multiple people telling you that you look tired at work when you actually aren't and put a lot of effort into your make-up or outfit that day, or maybe you have a disagreement with your partner, family member, or friend. And yes, if you couldn't tell, these are all things that have happened to me and tend to put me in a bad mood. Now most people would stay in that bad mood all day and write it off as "just one of those days". But the people who can compartmentalize are able to take those negative feelings, put them in a box or compartment in their brain, secure the lid tightly, and shove it back to the furthest depths of their subconscious and go about having a spectacular rest of their day. Compartmentalization is not for the weary, so don't be disappointed if it's hard for you to do. For our writing projects, we have to compartmentalize our ideas for Book A, put them in a box, and shove them to the back of our minds if we ever want a chance to work on Book B with our undivided attention.
4.       One project a day, don't strayThis is something that I still struggle with and am improving upon daily. Every morning when I wake up, I tap into my writing brain to see which project I should focus on for that day. Each day is different, which means I feel different, which means my focus is going to be different. If I'm feeling more analytical, I tend to focus on editing one of my manuscripts instead of writing. If I'm feeling creative with a side of organized, I tend to dedicate that day to outlining. And on the days when I have ideas coming out of my eyes, ears, and mouth, I dedicate that day to writing. Normally, those ideas will only be for one book project, so it makes it easy to pick which one. And usually, I'm only writing one manuscript at a time. Though even when I'm not, my ideas still tend to be for one book project and one book project only. I recommend picking one project a day and sticking with it because you'll be much more productive and get a lot more done if you say "I'm going to work on Book A today" than if you were to bounce around editing, outlining, and writing for all 8 of your other projects. So, when you wake up, tap into how you're feeling and use that energy to focus on your chosen project.
5.       Get in the right "zone"More often than not, things happen to us throughout our day that can throw us off our game, anger us, rile us up, or exhaust us. It's life, it happens. But, as mentioned in the previous step, you chose your book project for the day and by golly, you're going to stick to your guns! So it's important to get yourself in the right zone for your chosen book project. Whether it's music or certain playlists that get you in the mood to write for Book A, or a different writing space for Book A than Book B, or a Pinterest board you created with all things related to Book A, get yourself in the zone. I can tell you that, for me, I actually have different writing spaces. For all 3 books in THE ALPHA DRIVE trilogy, I wrote most of them either at my desk in my home office or in my bed, but for my dark fantasy series, I've written the majority on my couch in my living room. And for my nonfiction project? I've written most of it at Starbucks. Sometimes having a certain "place" or routine associated with a certain book project will help you stay focused on that project. If you don't have the luxury of changing up your writing space, try using different candle scents, different outfits, or even writing outside and being in nature. It may not work for everyone, but I know when I sit down on the couch, it's dark-fantasy-writing-time.
6.       The 10-minute ruleI can't remember who told me this when I was younger, but I do remember it had to do with homework. They told me that when I didn't feel like doing homework, if I would just sit down at the kitchen table and do it for just ten minutes, it was guaranteed that I'd sit there and finish the whole assignment. And it worked. Every single time. I like to think that this is because I'm the kind of person who likes to finish what I start, but I've come to realize that it's just part of human nature. When you start something and you start getting into it, ten minutes go by and you'll think "Well, I'm already a third of the way into this, so I may as well keep going and finish it." If you've never tried this before, I highly recommend it. Sit down at your desk or wherever your writing space is, open up a Word document on your laptop, set a timer for 10 minutes, and just start typing. I can almost guarantee that when that ten minutes is up, you'll want to keep going. And if it doesn't, hopefully one of the other previous steps I mentioned will keep you focused.
7.       Be patient with yourselfWriting a book is a marathon, not a sprint. Oh I know, how cliche, but I don't care because it's true. Learning how to write a book will take time and so will learning how to balance multiple book projects. I hate to break it to you, but getting the first book down is a piece of cake. Each book after that gets a little harder not so much in writing it, but keeping all of your ideas at bay and in line with one another. Storylines get crossed, it takes more creativity to differentiate your characters, and keeping everything straight can feel like an impossible feat at times. But if you can find a way to stay organized, take a deep breath, and focus on one thing at a time, you'll be just fine. I promise.

So there you have it, 7 tips to help you balance multiple book projects. That’s all that I have for you guys today. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to check out my debut novel, THE ALPHA DRIVE, on your way out. As always, I will see you in the next post!


Until next time,