Fitting in a New Project

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I usually just jump right into new projects without thinking a lot about it.  I follow my outlines and I write what I’ve told myself to write each day. The big advantage is that these are long-running series and I’m writing another installment.  I know the characters better than I know some family members. I would recognize my settings if I happened to drive through them on a road trip.

But starting a completely new and different project is different.  For one, it’s not guaranteed to be a success, which makes it risky.  I know if I write another Southern Quilting mystery or another Myrtle Clover mystery that I will receive X amount of income from it.  With a new project, it could completely bomb.

Starting a new project is also different because it’s so time consuming.  When you write series, you already have developed characters and a well-established story world.  It takes half the time to write.  When you’re writing something new, everything is new.

To lessen the risk of the new project, I write one revenue-generating project in the morning and work on the new project in the afternoon.  It works out really well, unless the series are similar… in which case, there’s sometimes accidental cross-pollination that has to be edited out later.

In some ways, it’s almost fun writing two things at once.  You never get bored, that’s for sure.  Get stuck in one section? You have another story that needs you to work on it.  Not in the mood to write humor? Maybe your other book needs a dramatic scene written. And you’re much less likely to want to write a Shiny New Thing instead of sticking with your current books.

The hardest part, for me, of writing two projects at once is just getting started with project two.  That’s mostly for the two reasons above: the risk and the time suck.  There are ways to help get past that mental block, though.

First, break down the second project into manageable bits. Your time in setup counts as much as your time writing the story. It usually takes me about a week to outline a book, but it takes longer for a different genre or for a new series.  So create an editorial calendar where you plan to work on the outline for 10 days and research for 3 days, etc.

Then, set the bar pretty low in terms of goals.  That might sound counterintuitive, but when you’re trying to keep a project from getting overwhelming, racking up a string of smaller successes can really help with motivation.

For further reading on working on multiple projects, see:

Matt Bird’s post, “How to Write Every Day: Work on Multiple Projects”

Kelsie Engen’s post, “Multitasking Required.”

Jodi Meadows’ post, “Working on Multiple Projects”

Joanna Maciejewska’s post, “Writing Multiple Projects, Pros and Cons”

Have you worked on multiple projects at once?  How did that work?

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