Small Steps Writing: Multiple Projects, Multiple Pages

[image error] Going to conferences and talking to other writers, I'd often heard some talk about working on more than one project at once. This seemed impossible to me. When I'm in the story, I'm in the story. I couldn't imagine switching from one set of characters to another because I always felt like I needed to be right there with my characters as the story unfolded.

Going through the Great Slump of 2010 really made me open to trying some new things since it was clear what I had been doing up to that point had stopped working. So I decided to give this multiple projects thing a go.

And it is working beautifully!

Since I'm trying to get 5 new pages a day, it's a great tool. I wrote 30 pages on WIP #1 the first week, then got to a point where I needed to backtrack and re-evaluate a few things that could be a problem later. But I wanted to press ahead with 5 new pages. So I started working on WIP #2 during the second week. I didn't get as far in that one, far various reasons, but  was insanely excited about how the story was flowing. AND while I was using my creative juices to create new pages of WIP #2, I figured out what I need to do to fix WIP #1. It's strange, but when I'm writing I get more great story ideas than when my mind is clear and I'm actively trying to think up new ideas. It's like once the creative gears start churning, more and more ideas pop out without that much concentrated effort. I just keep a notebook handy and jot them all down for later.

My main motivation for concentrating on one project is the fear of wasting time. With four elementary-aged kids, scouts, school, husband, house, and, oh yeah, a full-time job, I just don't have the time to waste. The hour or two I have carved out during the day for writing needs to be productive. I need to keep moving forward. I can do that with the multiple projects technique, even if it takes longer to complete one project.

For me, this multiple projects thing works on two fronts: 1) I keep moving forward, adding to my weekly page count and getting closer to "The End" 2) I'm more creative with both my projects, since creativity begets creativity.

Here's the other paradox. I don't know if I would have ever tried this if I hadn't fallen into a slump, but if I would have been doing this the whole time, the slump may never have happened. So what I'm saying, writers, is if your usual method isn't working, shake it up. Try something you never thought would work for you, something that sounds nuts and is totally contrary to how you work. It might just be the earthquake you need to shake free of your slump and get moving again.