I have often written multiple books at the same time. It’s a part of life when one of your hats is professional writer. But it can also be a real part of the writing journey when you’re getting started writing. The challenge is learning how to juggle the multiple characters, plots, and timelines. Ā Here are a few tips I’ve developed over the years to let meĀ doĀ exactly that:
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Use different music to signal to my brain that Iāve switched times/genres/etc.
Right now Iām writing suspense to an Avengers/movie soundtrack channel Iāve built on Pandora. As soon as it comes on my brain settles down. I use different music for cozy mysteries or WWII historicals. This has worked really well for me over time which is why I listed it first. There’s something about the music that lets my mind know immediately which book to focus on in that moment.Ā
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Always stop mid scene so I can easily get back into what I was thinking when I stopped writing.
One way to smooth out this process of transitioning from book to book is to make a few bullet point notes of where I saw the scene heading before I end for the day. That alone saves a lot of time and helps me get started quickly when I start the next day or week or whenever I can come back to the story. It also allows me to end knowing that I know where to begin, alleviating the blank page syndrome.
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Edit what I wrote the day before to get back into the story flow.
This is a great way to get right back into the story. It also helps me to let go of the editing details while I’m writing. If I know I’m going to come back the next day and clean up the spelling and grammar issues, it lets me focus on words on the page. It also helps me get immediately back into the story.
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Occasionally I will alternate days, but I donāt always have the luxury.
My friendĀ Lenora Worth does something like this consistently. I loved how she put it:
When I’m working on more than one project, I compartmentalize them. I might work on a suspense in the morning and a romance in the afternoon. Or I pick days and stick to that–suspense on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, other things on Tuesday and Thursday. For a while, I wrote novel length books on weekdays and turned to Indie novellas on the weekend. Ā Or I’d work on longer books all day and save one precious hour for other projects at the end of the day.
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Research one while writing the other.Ā
This last one works well. I like to let my brain think about one book by writing another. It may be researching an idea, reading background books, locating sources, but it’s a different kind of creative work that writing. It also allows me the break from an intense focus on one book and allows my subconscious to work on the second book. This process works really well for me.Ā
If you’re feeling the pull to work on two books or have multiple deadlines, I hope these tips help you make that process work. Do you have a different way for writing multiple books? I’d love to read about your tips and strategies. Be sure to leave them in the comments below! Thanks for joining the conversation.
Comments 11
Great tips! I do the music one but the others are helpful too!
Author
I’m so glad they’re helpful! Good luck writing your books!
Thanks for the tips. I was overwhelmed just thinking of taking on two books at a time. The editing tip helps with just 1 book. I always reread previous chapters before moving on. Now I just need to remember to keep moving since I know I’m going to reread them the next time and can make edits then.
Author
Just keep moving, just keep moving š
Cara, I was just wondering about this two days ago! I tackle two projects at once all the time, but it’s usually copyediting one book for a client and writing one of my own. My own usually gets put on the back burner the closer I get to my copyediting deadline, but I think these tips might help a lot! I really do need to find a better balance to things. Thank you!
Author
It’s a reality of writing š
Thanks it really helped. Im grateful.
Author
I’m so glad!
good info. I’m trying to both of my novels. Each one is different from its counterpart.
I’ve been writing since the 90s. I thought that I would have “got it” by now. Two stories at once seems like a pandora and has having me deal with despair.. 25 years writing novel and thoughts of personally failure. So I am trying two stories that mean a lot to me. I was hoping to jump into it– and I have– only to bombed out. Seems that when I’ve done the 2/ but if feels that I can’t get either story. Since I’m not “published” author, it’s hard to determine which deserved the most attention Thank you.
Iām writing like ten š¬. This really helped
Ten books, I mean