How to Balance Multiple Writing Projects

Hey, guys. Sorry, I ghosted on everybody last week. With much reluctance, I had to put down my beloved beardie, Thorin “Pancake.” I wasn’t up for much of anything, especially not writing.

Without further ado, on to this week’s post.

 

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Plot bunnies. Plot bunnies everywhere! A writer’s worst nightmare, right? Maybe not. Sometimes it’s an ideal when we just can’t get the ideas to come. Whatever the case, writers are often encouraged to pick one project and stick with it. After all, that’s the only way to actually finish the thing. Or is it?

Writing, I’ve found, is not so simple. Many concepts we often call “writing rules” are more like guidelines. Take the stick with one project rule. I apply it sometimes, but more often than not, I bend it. Look at my past projects. I took on two stories for NaNoWriMo last November!

Here are just some of the ways I balance working on multiple projects.

 

Don’t Chase Every Plot Bunny

Stick with you selected project(s) instead. I know it’s tempting to chase new ideas. It really is. Especially when I’m in trudging through the middle of a book and I come up with another interesting story idea, and I just want to quit what I’m working on and chase after it.

That’s not to say that you can never work on that project. Just that it’s better to finish whatever stage you’ve started, whether its outlining or the rough draft or editing draft 5. I do allow myself to write down the idea, so it doesn’t fully get away. Then, once I’ve finished my current stage, I may chase that plot bunny.

 

Have a Plan of Action

When it comes to finishing multiple projects, it helps to have a plan. For example, if I’m working on two projects, I’ll decide when I’m going to work on one, for how long, and when I’ll switch back to the other project. This way, when I finish the rough draft of one story, I can immediately start editing another. Besides, then I can put some distance between one story so when I come back to it, I have a more objective view.

It would be really cool if I could get into a rhythm of outlining one project, then jump into writing another, then jump into editing a third. Who knows? It could happen!

Ideally, I’d like a writing plan to look something like this:

 

January-February

• Write rough draft of WIP 2
• Schedule blog posts a week in advance
• Write some poetry

March-April

• Rewrite draft of WIP 1
• Schedule blog posts a week in advance
• More poems!

 

In reality, though, my plan ends up more like this:

 

January

• Stuck on that one scene of WIP 2
• Last minute blog post edits
• Lots of poems

February

• Slowly plodding through the rough draft of WIP 2
• Forgot to write a blog post!
• No poetry whatsoever

March

• Finished the rough draft of WIP 2 in three days
• Blog posts are scheduled for the next month and a half
• That one week where I couldn’t write a thing

April

• Two weeks of writer’s block
• SCREAMING!!!
• Back to WIP 1
• I’m okay now

 

Whatever the case, there are some general timelines I apply to different writing stages. The following are estimates based on my past projects:

 

• Outlining and research: 1-3 months
• Rough draft: 1-4 months
• Let it sit: 3 months*
• Rewriting: 1-3 months
• More research: 1 month
• Editing: 1-3 months
• Querying: 1-1.5 years

 

*This is the one I’m not flexible with. Ignoring a project so I can come back with an objective perspective is easy.

 

Shelve Projects

This step can be rather tricky. After all, how do you know when it’s time to set a project aside and call it quits? Honestly, it depends. By project, I mean a story I’ve completely drafted, not a partial. I’ll shelve projects for three main reasons:

 

1. The rough draft was so bad I never want the story to see the light of day. Seriously, some of my stories are just plain terrible. However, writing itself is never a waste. We learn from experience. About half of my rough drafts get shelved.
2. I’ve lost excitement with the story. That’s not to say that I will always be excited about every story at every moment, especially when it comes to editing the same paragraph over and over and over again. But if I no longer care about the story, it’s going to be far too difficult to make my readers care. I only remember shelving one such novel, but it was a while ago.
3. I’ve reached at least 100 rejections from agents. Only two of my novels have made it to the querying stage, but both have been shelved.

 

If so many projects get shelved, then what is there left? New stories of course! Because I set aside so many projects, it frees to me up to work on something new. To chase that plot bunny. And because of the rest periods between drafts, I always like to have a second project to go back to.

 

So there you have it! Just a few of the ways I balance multiple writing projects.

Let’s chat! How many stories do you usually work on at the same time? Do you have any tips for writing multiple stories? What does your writing schedule look like?

 

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Similar posts: My Process for Writing Poetry, Stages of a Plot Bunny, and Three Methods for Outlining Your Novel

Editor vs. Anxiety

Of all the stages in creating a story, editing gets a lot of mixed opinions. Writers either like it, or they don’t. Many even complain about editing. But I’m one of those strange writers who likes the editing process the best. Brainstorming is fun, sure, but I quickly get bored with it and just want to write. Then writing a rough draft can be fun, especially when I’m in the zone, but half the time I am consciously aware that my style or my dialogue or whatever stinks.

Editing allows me to combine the elements I enjoy most—writing through rewrites and clear prose. When I see something wrong with a story, I sit down, or pace, or go for a bike ride, then fix it. Sometimes it’s a challenge, but that’s what makes it all the more enjoyable. I like it when something, particularly a story, challenges me. Life would be too boring otherwise.

But every now and then, life gets difficult. That’s just the way it is. Sometimes, the stress threatens to overwhelm me. Often times, dealing with stress is not so easy as cutting down a word count or fixing some character development. It’s much, much more difficult.

Nearly two years ago, I missed the opportunity to celebrate my brother’s birthday with him because I was studying in England while he was studying in the United States. I went to fencing that particular February evening without my usual enthusiasm to stab things. (When it comes to sports or reading or whatever, I’m either all in or I don’t care. As a result, I scared all my fellow beginners.) That particular day, I lacked motivation and form. As a result, I strained my Achilles tendon and spent the next month limping everywhere.

On another bad day, I was moping in my room about my inability to walk without pain (but I could still bike just fine). So I put on a movie to try to take my mind off myself. Of course, I picked a particularly sad one and had a good cry. Finally, some pity that wasn’t self-pity. I can’t exactly say that was the exact moment, but I soon realized I needed help, and not just for my ankle. Over Easter Break, I learned that I was struggling with depression and anxiety and sought help.

Flash forward to last January. My dad took me on trip to go skiing in the Black Forest per my request. The snow blanketed the evergreen trees, and sometimes enveloped me in a white out so I could hardly see more than ten feet in front of me. When I first got off the ski lift and surveyed the slope from the top, the clouds cleared enough for me to catch a glimpse of a golden sun amid all the white.

But what if I lost control of my skis, flew down the mountain, and slammed into a tree?

My breath caught. And I froze.

I started hyperventilating, and my yellow glasses fogged up. (Never wear yellow glasses skiing, by the way. The snow kept blowing under the glassing and getting into my eyes. Go with ski goggles.) My dad, who was just a bit further down the slope, turned back to me and said, “Come on, Azelyn. You can’t stand there forever.”

Of course, not. I came there to ski, not have a panic attack on the top of a mountain. So I swallowed my fear, angled my skis downhill, and inched down the slope, bit by bit. It was painstaking work, and I took a break in the ski lodge before noon to settle my nerves with a cup of tea and copy of Moby-Dick that fit in my pocket. After lunch, I had enough courage to follow Dad at an adequate speed down some more challenging slopes.

I never ran into a tree or went flying down a slope, but I fell down. A lot.

Of course, some panic attacks are easier to get past than others. Physical situations, like standing atop a ski slope are easier for me to overcome than social anxiety. With an encouraging word from my dad, I can work up the courage to overcome my fear of heights, but encouragement doesn’t always help with my fear of people.

Last summer, I had a panic attack when somebody mentioned I should behave with more assertion, “like I did in England.” Sure, I may have learned how to talk to my professors by preparing questions about the text before class. But I had a terrible time making friends, and I hardly ever talked to my classmates.

It is one thing to say, “No, I can do this.” And ski down a mountain even though the fear is lurking in the forefront of my mind. It’s another thing entirely to have the fear of the inability to befriend people constantly lurking in my mind.

No matter how many friends I do or don’t make where I currently live, no matter how many half-decent conversations I manage to hold, no matter how many patrons I help while I’m volunteering at the library, I can’t change the friends who stopped talking for no reason.

I can’t change the way I didn’t hang out with my peers after fencing and went straight back to my room.

I can’t go back to England for the same studying experience.

But I can take advantage of opportunities today.

I can be genuine and kind to the people I meet now.

Recently, I was attending the writer’s group at my local library where I met a fellow writer who was querying literary agents. So we got to talking about our stories, and I asked him if he had an editor look over his novel yet. He said he hadn’t, so we exchanged contact information, and I said I could put him in touch with some editors I knew.

Then I got to thinking—I’m an editor. I’ve worked on books of my own before, studied literature, worked as an editor for my school’s newspaper, taught English, and worked with professional editors. Why not offer to edit the book myself? I wanted to go into editing eventually. Why not today?

So I sent him an e-mail offering to edit his novel myself, and we set up a meeting to discuss a contract. Since then, I’ve finished my first round of edits and set up an editing page for other writers looking for an editor. My specialties include Young Adult and Middle Grade Fiction with select Adult Fiction, and my preferred genres include fantasy, science-fiction, historical fiction, and contemporary.

Update (2019): I am currently unavailable to offer editing services as I re-prioritize my work and writing.

Editing isn’t just a way for me to make money. It’s a pleasure. It’s a way for me to deal with stress. It’s a God-given gift, a way for me to deal with something in a life where some things can’t be fixed so easily.

Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had a panic attack. Maybe it was six months ago. I don’t know. I don’t care either. But I would be lying if I said anxiety doesn’t affect me. Sometimes it does. But I can’t let my anxiety, whether social or otherwise, rule me.

Sometimes life is like reading a book, you have to take chances if you want to get anywhere. So start today. Take a chance. You may fail. And that’s okay. Failure is fine.

But what if you succeed? You may surprise yourself.

Let’s chat! Any fellow readers out there who struggle with anxiety? Remember, you’re not alone.

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Similar posts: Anxiety, Depression, and Literature: Studying Abroad in England; Poems: In Season and Pile of Words

7 Facts About Critique Partners (For Writers!)

So you think you’re ready to publish your story? Or maybe you’re not there yet. Maybe you’re just looking for an editor. Did you know even editors like the manuscript as polished as possible? (Deep down, we’re all lazy human beings…) Have you considered having a critique partner go over your story?

What is a critique partner, you might ask? Well, they’re usually fellow writers who can look at your story objectively. Not to be confused with editors or beta readers (who look over more polished drafts and have fewer responsibilities), critique partners have the mindset of a writer and are there to help you improve the structure and logic of your story. Here are just a couple of facts writers should know about critique partners, whether they’ve had them before and need a reminder or in case they’re considering taking some on.

1)      Critique partners do not have an initial emotional connection to your story.

For many writers, their story is like their child. Critique partners, usually other writers, are like teachers. If they don’t like one element of the story, many writers may take it as a personal attack. Please allow me to set something straight. Dear writer, your story is not a human being. You’re going to be okay even if somebody doesn’t like it.

Instead of treating critiques like a personal attack on your favorite pet, treat critiques like an editing exercise. Yes, it’s hard. No, I don’t have it mastered. When I’ve been getting critiques on my story, I often have to take a step back and remind myself it’s not a personal attack. It’s an exercise to build and improve my story. Sure, I vent to one or two of my writer friends if there’s a particular issue troubling me, but I can’t let it rule me.

Don’t let somebody’s critical comments rule you.

2)      Critique partners don’t like to read first drafts.

Nobody likes to read first drafts. Rough drafts are inconsistent word dumps. They’re messy. Why would you put somebody else through that?

Perhaps one of my favorite pieces of writing advice is to write your first draft just for you. Keep it secret. Keep it safe. Hone your story through at least one round of rewrites and edits. Then you can burn the original if you want.

You get back what you put in. If you don’t put a lot of effort into at least making your story readable, your critique partners aren’t going to put a lot effort into commenting let alone reading.

3)      Critiques are subjective.

Did you know, critique partners are human too? That means their word is not always law. Take what you need, leave what you don’t.

It’s like any book review. Take your top books for example. Maybe you gave it 5/5 stars, but you’ve seen a lot of 4/5-star and 3/5-star reviews, maybe even some 2/5 stars. It’s even more difficult when such a review comes from a friend or family member. How could they not obsess over the same book you do!?

Remember, everybody has their own opinions, likes, and dislikes. I don’t like romance, but that doesn’t mean all romance books are poorly written. They’re just not my preference.

So if you receive comments about how your critique partners didn’t like a certain element, it might be the reader.

4)      At least two critique partners are optimal.

A second opinion is great. A third opinion is better. Remember how I mentioned that critique partners are human too? Even they can miss things. Maybe your first partner is great at identifying character development and points out inconsistencies. But the second partner points out how you skipped over Sunday or that your protagonist hasn’t eaten in 48 hours.

Having more than two people look over your story can give you some well-rounded commentary.

But…

5)      More partners doesn’t always mean better.

Wait a second, didn’t I just claim at least two partners are good? True. But, if you have two or more people in a room, you’re going to have some disagreement. Try putting ten people in a room. Or twenty. Then ask them what they’re favorite color is and try to figure out why it’s not the same as yours. 

The same goes for your novel. You want to have as many well-rounded opinions as you can get, but you have to stop somewhere. The necessary number of critique partners can differ from story-to-story, but I would recommend two or three. After all…

6)      Critique partners might even disagree with each other.

Because I live in Europe, it’s hard to find fellow writers who speak English and have time to look over my stories. So I joined an online critique group, Critique Circle, where you can get feedback on your story and give feedback in return. And I was so excited for complete strangers to tell me what they thought. Until they started contradicting one another.

One reader would enjoy a particular chapter, saying they liked the description and the thought while another person would say they were bored. Wait, what? How was I supposed to make a story better if one person was happy with the chapter and another person was bored?

But such critiques were helpful. They taught me how to improve my story even more, identifying the weak bits and building on the strong ones.

I also learned that when two partners who tend to disagree with each other actually agree that something needs work, I better listen!

7)       In the end, it’s still your story they’re commenting on.

You can’t please everybody. While it’s important to consider others’ opinions to build and improve your story, it’s still your story. No story is perfect. So you might as well write the story for you. After all, who else is going to read it over and over again until they want to set it on fire? If you enjoy your story, you’re less likely to do so.

Remember why you started writing your story. Keep the essence if it’s important to you. Tell your story. The world is waiting to read it!

Let’s chat! Has your story been reviewed by any critique partners yet? How do you find them? Do you hunt them down in your local library and bribe them with chocolate or do you find them lurking in the woods?

Looking for a critique partner for your story? Look no more! Join a critique website or comment below if you want me to look over your story. Check out my Treasured Books page for a list of books I consider excellent. I look forward to hearing from you.

Write on!

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Similar posts: 6 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Got Published, 5 Ways Journalism Taught me to be a Better Creative Writer, and How Editing Flash Fiction Helped me Edit a Novel

How Editing Flash Fiction Helped me Edit a Novel

I really like words. A lot. In fact, I enjoy writing so much that I often have a hard time saying exactly what I mean in few words. Yes, it’s achievable, but I find it much easier to write ALL MY THOUGHTS when I should keep things short and simple. This has pros and cons. For one, writing essays is (sometimes) easier. As is coming up with a novel. Because once I have an idea, I already have 3 or more subplots and a character death or two already planned out.

But there can be beauty in simplicity too.

Although I wrote my first novel at twelve, I didn’t get my first story published until I was seventeen. And it was a piece of flash fiction—less than 1,000 words. While I haven’t stopped writing novels, I went on to publish two more flash fiction pieces before I decided to tackle editing a novel.

I knew such a project would be more ambitious than any I had attempted before. Sure, I had edited a novel before, back when I was fourteen, but nothing ever became of the project aside from my learning experience. So it was that I approached a 72,000-word story and decided to completely re-work it until I was pleased or close to satisfied or ready to give up with frustration because goodness, why can’t novels edit themselves?

During my multi-draft process, of rewriting and editing, and receiving feedback from my beta readers and my editor, I learned a valuable lesson. Editing what became a novel story really wasn’t that different from editing a 1,000-word one. But what, you may ask, could editing flash fiction and editing a novel possibly have in common?

1.     Flash fiction and novels both have word limits.

Wait a minute. Aren’t novels SIGNIFICANTLY longer than short stories? Yes, they are. But unless you’re writing War and Peace or The Lord of the Rings, you’re going to face some restrictions on how many words your novel can have. Too short, and you’re writing a novella. Too long, and your story probably won’t be taken seriously by a publisher/literary agent.

Different novels will have different restrictions depending on the genre. Young adult, for example, can be anywhere from 50,000-80,000 words. But since I like long books, I decided to add some things to my novel and ended up with 90,000 words in draft 2.

That’s where my previous experience editing flash fiction came in handy. I was already used to cutting words, paragraphs, and scenes trying to get a short story below 1,000 words, so I used the same basic principles with my novel. Basically, if it a sentence didn’t contribute to the plot, I cut it. If a paragraph bored me, I cut it. If I questioned a scene’s very necessity and worth, I cut it.

In the end, I managed to trim my bulky 90,000-word novel down to a neat 79,765 words, just within the recommended limits for a YA novel.

2.     Flash fiction and novels both have plot.

I should think this one is quite obvious. But just because flash fiction is short doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the basic structure of a novel. Although the inciting incident and the climax may not be nearly as drawn out as in a novel, short stories still have them.

Personally, writing flash fiction pieces helped me most with these two points. If I couldn’t figure out where to start the story right away, I would write WAY over 1,000 words and have to scrap the entire story. But once I figured out the perfect opening lines, the rest fell into place.

Except for the ending. Writing endings are easy. Writing GOOD endings are the bane of my existence. But trying out different endings over the course of multiple drafts was really helpful in writing flash fiction. It helped me realize how much I struggle with them and how helpful it can be to receive feedback on such plot points prior to submissions. I would not have been able to write ANY good endings without the help of my friends. 

3.     Writing and editing flash fiction and novels both taught me that being a writer is a TON of work.

And I mean a TON. Personally, I worked with a lot of drafts in my novel. So many, I lost count, but I’d estimate close to five. That’s a 1) rough draft, 2) a rewrite, 3) first round of feedback, 4) second round of feedback, and 5) professional and final edits.

Actually, this is pretty decent, considering most of my flash fiction stories underwent five to seven rounds of edits before they were ready for publication. So five drafts over the period of several months felt pretty good.

Of course, every writer is different, so the editing process and time is bound to vary from writer to writer. But if you can’t handle the process and effort of editing a 1,000-word story, editing a 50,000-or-more-word story is probably not for you.

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Basically, the main difference between editing a flash fiction piece and editing a novel is time. Flash fiction can take a couple of hours, maybe a day, but a novel can take weeks if not months. 

So if you usually write novel-length projects, don’t be afraid to try something different. Like a flash fiction piece. Or a couple blog posts. All writing is a learning experience. And if you’ve completed a novel-length story but haven’t edited it yet, what are you waiting for?

How many drafts does it usually take you to polish a story? Have you ever considered writing something aside from your usual length? If you have done so, what did you learn?

Enjoyed this piece? Check out my flash fiction: “Blue Ribbon,” “The List,” and “The Lamb’s Brook of Life.”

Scanning Draft 3

There’s a reason writers call plot bunnies, well, plot bunnies. Perhaps they should call them Tribbles. Once you have one, you suddenly have ten and they never go away. Especially when you’re trying to write an essay or trying to sleep. I recently found a black-and-white, dystopian plot bunny wandering about and decided to house it in my little bunny hatch. (Aka my folder of story ideas.) Can you guess what else I found there? A really old bunny that developed into a novel, which I know call Breaking a Thief. I looked back on the original idea and laughed. Wow, had my story taken completely different turns than I had originally planned!

Pfeffer: my writing/editing buddy this summer.
She's not cuddly unless she's hiding from the wind.
Photo credit: Lori Klein

What had started out as historical fiction changed to medieval fiction with my own countries and towns. Characters came and went and others developed. Major plot points changed. Earlier this year, I posted my experiences rewriting giant portions of my novel (You can read about it here: Wrestling with Draft 2.) But the work didn’t stop there. After I set the novel aside for another month so I could take part in Camp NaNoWriMo, I dove right back into editing.

After a whole month dedicated to Visionary, a story with no plot, I was excited to get back to some structure in Breaking a Thief. I enjoyed the characters, the setting, the plot, all of which is vital to working on a story. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have stuck with it so long. In my third round of edits, I decided to try two new techniques to help me catch as many mistakes as I could.

First, I enlisted the help of several beta readers. (Thanks again, you lovely people!) I did this in cycles. After Draft 2, I got feedback from my first beta reader, then got feedback from another reader after Draft 3. Though these readers didn’t edit for me, they told me what they thought of the story and if there were any inconsistencies.

 

Perhaps the three most valuable things I learned from them was that some of my characters needed rounding out, whether or not a plot twist was obvious/plausible, and that my ending needed some serious work. And by serious work, I mean I rewrote it four different times. Though the extra comments meant a bunch of extra work, it was worth it to receive honest, critical feedback from my peers.

Then I read through the whole story again by reading each chapter twice in a row. In no way would I ever recommend this as a way to read a novel for fun, but two readings helped. First, I reacquainted myself with the chapter, getting to know what the story was trying to say. Then I would reread the chapter to analyze each sentence and see what the story was actually saying. Because of this long process, I would get through two or three chapters on a good day (that’s about 20-35 pages a day).

By the time I got to the midway point of my novel, I was sick of reading it. It was tedious, but I managed to look beyond the story and at the grammar and wording. Once I finished this process, I set the book aside and didn’t touch it for three weeks (During that time I worked on another project until my classes started. More on that story later! J)

Then I sent the story off to my editor. I recently got it back, and have been working on more edits throughout the week. Once I’m done editing, I’ll be off to sending out query letters to agents! Until that happens, I’ll keep writing, reading, editing. You name it. Talking about stories and ideas is fun too.
 

In fact, whenever I tell people I’ve written a novel, I get the age old question: “What’s it about?”

After my initial annoyance at this difficult question, I’ve learned to enjoy telling people about my story, which is easier now that I know the story inside-out. So now I say, “It’s about a thief.”

 

“Cool,” People typically say. “What does he do?”

 

I smile. “She seeks to become the greatest of all thieves by challenging a superior.”

 

Then I sit back and watch the shock on their faces as I defy stereotypes one character at a time. Silly readers. Whoever said all thieves had to be guys?

 

Writers, what does your editing process look like? Have you ever employed the help of beta readers?  Readers, what’s your favorite genre? I’m torn between several new ideas for my next story.