WIP Overload!
Posted by annastan on November 11th, 2009. Filed under: NaNoWriMo, WIP, Writing Rants.As I’ve been crawling my way through my NaNo book (only at 11,000 words at the moment), I’ve been wondering how many projects is too many. In addition to the fairy tale retelling I’m doing for NaNo, I have another WIP, and two manuscripts I plan to revise. Is four too large of a number?
I usually like juggling projects, but I think part of the problem this time is that I have too many that are at similar stages. The NaNo book and the other WIP are still in the first-draft stage, while the two other manuscripts are ones I thought were complete but upon further reflection realized they still needed some tweaking (and perhaps some major revision).
It’s hard to know what to focus on when I have so many projects pulling me in different directions. For now I’ve decided to really focus on NaNo and get the first draft finished. Then I’ll move on to the second WIP and finish that draft before going back and looking over the NaNo book again. And somewhere in between all of that I’ll work on revising the other two books. Eek!
How are you all doing with your writing? Got any helpful tips for juggling multiple manuscripts?
November 11th, 2009 at 6:49 am
I got this tip of Lynn Veihl, who publishes something like 5 books per year. She said that she has a particular day she works on each genre. For example: Romance on Monday, Sci-Fi on Tuesday, Urban Fantasy on Wednesday and so forth. Apparently she has a lot of novels in all sorts of stages. Some of them may even be in the same stages. I believe she said she always uses Friday for research.
So if you want to do that, I guess you’d set a few days for WIP A and a few days for WIP B and so forth.
I also recommend Lynn’s book The Way of the Cheetah for some super tips on improving your productivity. Try Lynn’s blog (Paperback Writer) for more information about the book if you’re interested.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Interesting technique! Thanks for the advice – I’ll definitely check out Lynn’s book.
November 11th, 2009 at 7:20 am
An interesting conundrum. I’m not sure the actual number of projects is a problem, though I think you’re right about too many at similar stages. It could just be you’re tired, too. That’s a possibility.
I have a NF PB that was requested and is out. I have three NF PB’s that I want to work on and have the first in a close-to-final draft. And I have my MG chapter book I’m working on. (Not to mention the other WIP’s that I’ve aban… um, let go of for now.) Having both F and NF, I think, helps. At least for me. I don’t think I could keep going if my projects were all fiction or all nonfiction.
The Lynn Veihl suggestion about different days is an interesting idea and may be a good one to try. Ultimately, I think the right idea is the one that works for you.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Andrea, I can see how working on such vastly different projects would make for a nice balance. I was doing something similar for a while: working on a very dark, heavy YA and a light, funny MG – it was fun to switch back and forth, especially when I got stuck on one. I’m sure there’s a way I can make my current manuscripts balance each other out.
Good luck with all your projects!
November 11th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I try to keep mine at various stages. I’m in early revisions on one, close to final revisions on another, and somewhere in between for two more.
I keep wanting to write something new, but am forcing myself to wait.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Smart approach! I’ve done something similar in the past, but this time around it all kind of fell apart. I’ll follow your example and try to be a little bit more strict with myself from now on.
September 20th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Kick the tires and light the fires, problem offciially solved!