Writing Two Books at Once Tough to Pull Off

Last week, I attempted something I’d never done before. I tried to edit one book and write another at the same time. As longtime readers of this blog know, I stack projects to increase my output. I write one book while my editor is working on another.

Last week, I got back the second draft of Roses Are White while I was in the midst of writing its sequel, Ghost of a Chance. I had just hit a flow on the latter, and I didn’t want to give it up. So I attempted to edit seven a chapters a day of Roses Are White and write a chapter a day of Ghost of a Chance.

How’d that work out?

Not as well as I’d like. The first two days I kept the pace pretty well. But afterwards, it became difficult. Despite my best efforts, I remain incapable of working in a vacuum where life cannot interfere with my output. As the week wore on, the distractions of everyday life wore me down. I couldn’t do both things, no matter how I tried.

By Friday, I was approximately 20 chapters behind on my editing. I did manage to get four chapters of Ghost of a Chance written, but I was not where I wanted to be on the editing process, which was ready to begin the third draft of Roses Are White on Monday.

So, sadly, I put down Ghost of a Chance and devoted a lot of hours on the weekend and Monday to finishing the edit.

I got there. Today, I beginning penning the third draft. My goal is to try to get it done a week from Friday. That should be doable if I work diligently.

Then I’ll be able to get back to Ghost of a Chance. The truth is, flow or otherwise, my execution was starting to fray. I’m not convinced things are happening in the right order and that I haven’t left out important stuff. In a couple weeks, I’ll be able to concentrate fully on looking at what I’ve got, rearranging as necessary, and then forging ahead.

The experiment wasn’t a total failure. I may try it again sometime. For the moment, though, I need to be working on one book at a time. I’ll hit my deadlines better that way.

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Roses are White and Ghost of a Chance are the next two books in the Wolf Dasher series. Marrying James Bond-style action adventure with a traditional Tolkienesque fantasy world, the series weaves exciting stories that are both familiar and fresh. Pick up a copy of the first book, State of Grace, at the links below:

Click here to get the Kindle edition of State of Grace from Amazon.com for just $2.99.

Click here for get the print edition of State of Grace for only $12.99.