Working on a few writing projects simultaneously has become second nature to me. When it comes to juggling projects, I love it. I seek it out. I crave it.
What I have to be careful of is not to take on too many projects at one time. The good news for me is that I’m also a finisher. I don’t tend to start projects and leave them dangling. I seek completion and to productize results. I also edit like mad but after maybe a dozen rounds of serious editing for each chapter, I’ll call it a day, hire a reasonably priced professional proofreader at least before I make the very final edits. For short stories, I rely on myself for editing and get feedback on my work from a weekly writers’ critique group and from a small group of trusted beta readers.
Should a writer focus on one project at a time or have 2-3 of them simultaneously in process?
The answer depends on personal style, how the individual writer prefers to work. The advantage of having at least a couple of projects going at a given time is that when you’re working on a big project (like a full-length novel or memoir), you can take a break, divert your attention and craft a short story (maybe in a completely different genre) or even write a poem or a personal essay. This foray into another arena may serve to stimulate your creativity and imagination on the bigger project. It does exactly that for me.
Putting energy into the second, smaller project frees my mind, and refreshes my writing. And often, the secondary project turns out to be a well-received high-quality product. When I get back to my bigger project (the novel or memoir) I’m more inventive and considerably more focused than when I left it.
Some authors work on multiple full -blown novels at one time. Danielle Steel sometimes had five books in progress at once. There are many other well-known authors doing the same. Kristin Harmel definitely cranks out a myriad of amazing novels each year. That would likely be overload for me because having to track so many complex plots and characters in my head at a given time may not produce my best work. Perhaps I’m under-rating myself here. In reality, I have written close to 60 short stories in the past 18 months while writing my memoir and also do a weekly blog for developing writers. So, I definitely mix it up! It’s fun and feels like my personal playground.
Along my writer’s journey, I’ve collected some tips for managing simultaneous writing projects:
- Manage your time and define (before the day starts) WHAT you are going to work on that day (which may include a combination of writing and marketing/social media or submitting to lit journals)
- Be careful not to spread your creative juices too thin. If you’re writing a chapter in your novel for two hours, then maybe edit one of your short stories for the next hour and post on social media for another thirty minutes.
- Avoid falling into the danger zone where you’re not finishing any of your projects. If you have too many open, whittle down the number of separate writing ventures. (I hear a lot of this happening from other writing colleagues.)
- Pay attention to the ‘bleeding’ of characters. For example, having one character in one genre be too similar in traits and characteristics to another character in a different genre you’re working in at the same time. Keep your characters as unique as possible.
- Take a break from one writing project and outline another. That way you don’t lose a brainstormed idea or concept. Instead, you capture it. And you can go back to that outline tomorrow and shape a first draft of the first chapter or write out the whole short story.
An over-riding perk to having multiple projects going at the same time is that you will undoubtedly build your writing portfolio. Because I have ventured outside my comfort zone, I now have a diverse published body of work.
Of course, there are days when I work on only one project. I give it my undivided focus often because I am at a critical stage in the work.
Many authors also have day jobs and/or young children who depend on them so they must do conscious planning and management of their available time to write. I am a Human Resources consultant and teach classes on the subject so I am balancing those work tasks with my writing.
Most important, I need to take care of myself. There’s more to my life than writing stories but I know that writing makes me happy and feeds the creative soul inside me.
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Linda S. Gunther is the author of six suspense novels: Ten Steps from the Hotel Inglaterra, Endangered Witness, Lost in the Wake, Finding Sandy Stonemeyer, Dream Beach, and Death is a Great Disguiser. Her memoir, A Bronx Girl was released in 2024. Many of her short stories and essays have appeared in a variety of literary journals across the globe. www.lindasgunther.com
