Writing more than one book at once?

Did it during NaNoWriMo 07.

My 'real' story, and just a light one to get my ideas flowing and as a break when I didn't feel like doing the big one. The 'fun' one ended up pretty weird, but I changed it a lot and submitted it to my school creative anthology as a short story and got accepted.

Yeah. I'd recommend doing a light story beside your proper one.

I haven't done so during NaNo, but I'm usually working on more than one project at a time. Usually they are in different stages, like one is being drafted, one edited. But I have an ongoing one that I work on just one day a week, so that's pretty much always going on alongside another story being written.

Advantages: if I'm blocked on one, I can pick up the other, so I'm never twiddling my thumbs.

Disadvantages: I can use one to put off working on the other.

Solutions to the disadvantage: Designate particular times/days/sessions to work on one or the other. Then I don't have guilt about neglecting the other one, its turn will come tomorrow, or whenever. That's why the once a week project works nicely. I never think "I should be doing something for that one" outside of its designated day. If I have some free days, maybe another project has just finished and the next hasn't started, then I work on it on other days, but I never feel I have to.

If I had a dime for every project I was working on right now - seventy-five percent serious work, too - I would already be retired. I've got probably a dozen different projects goign right now.

The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everyone else.

- Umberto Eco

You're gonna retire once you earn twelve dimes? ;)

I'm working on several different things right now, but (as someone else said) they're in different stages. One is still in the planning stage, a few have the first draft done and need to be edited, another I've just begun writing. It keeps me busy and helps me get over writer's block. Most of the time, when I think I have writer's block it's just I either don't want to write a story I'm working or I'm having trouble thinking of what to do next. Sometimes, writing something else for a while clears up that problem - either by giving me a break or making me think in a different way.

The disadvange is that I'll sometimes get so caught up in one project that I don't finish the other ones. That's one of the reasons I like things like NaNo - they force me to finish what I've started. Even if I start other stories, I know I'll finish at least one.

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NaNo 2006: Steel Bars - 59,233 words
Screnzy 2007: The Enchanted Forest - won
NaNo 2007: Turning Beetles into Buttons - 51,949 words
Screnzy 2008: Simple Gifts - 43 pages total & Butterfly - 9 episodes

Oh, yes, I'm writing more than one book at once. Right now they're all interconnected, which keeps things interesting, and it also lessens the chance of major inconsistencies. The biggest disadvantage is that it takes much longer to finish, since I jump to whichever story catches my eye that day. On the other hand, there's no such thing as writer's block, since I've got so much going at once.

These stories are in different stages -- some fairly well developed, others still in planning stages, some with whole scenes written out, others a rough outline.

I agree with Twin. It does keep you on your toes, especially when I can write about one character going from the age of 10 to 46.

"Be nice to the imaginary people. Don't kill too many." -- e-mail from my youngest sister, June 23, 2008

It's just a figure of speech, and 'dozen' is a rough estimate. I rellay don't know how many I have going, but it's a bunch. Most people look at me like I'm nuts when I give them a roundhouse estimate of how many projects I have going.
The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everyone else.

- Umberto Eco

The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everyone else.

- Umberto Eco

It does keep you on your toes. I'm working on a history of my world (unnamed again) and I've got ten books right now that have all been written for- three seriously (as in more than three chapters). And I have about twenty more stories I want to develop.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor."
"In the place of a Dark Lord you would have a Queen! Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the Morn! Treacherous as the Seas! Stronger than the foundations of the Earth! All shall love me and despair!"- LotR

w--ow. Twenty? I bow down to Your Insaneness.

Currently, I've got two projects going. One is my WIP, the other is the early development stages for what may end up being this year's NaNo. I'm not even ready to plug in any characters, just a bare bones idea of a zombie outbreak recorded in a journal. I figured I'll finish my rough on my WIP by the time November rolls around, so this is perfect since I'll be setting aside one while fully digging into the other one. :)

I've never tried writing two serious books at once (or any two at once). This is because I think that for me it would take away from the stories for me. When I'm involved in a novel, I become consumed and excited by it. I think it would overwhelm me if I felt like I had to think up plots and new ideas for more than one story. I think one story at a time makes me happy enough...

I do have one novel that will be edited one day, so I guess you could call that mid-project, but I'm not thinking about the story at all at the moment. My focus remains on the current novel.

I'm a one-novel kinda gal :)

I would like to think I'm a one-novel kind of person, and I'm trying hard to be a one-novel kind of person so I can at least FINISH ONE!

But the truth is, even when I'm concentrating on just the one story, in my mind there's at least three or four others subconsciously being worked on (in the back burner, as they say), so that every now and then I get this mad inspiration totally out of the blue, to go and write scenes (or sometimes entire outlines) for other stories, and I just have to, otherwise I'll forget those ideas forever.

Doesn't help when my characters start crossing over from one novel to another...

But as others have mentioned, advantage is if I start to get bored with my current project, I'll just pick up whichever other novel seems interesting and write a bit on it. Disadvantage is I never seem to be focused long enough on anything to finish...

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars
Kahlil Gibran

I'm always a serious writer. It's just how I am. And I also always have multiple WIP at any given time. I think right now I have about 15-20, not including the multiple books in a couple of serieses (sp?) I'm writing. I know that makes a lot of people's heads spin, but I've never had a problem with it. I've been writing like this since about 7th grade. My brain is just built to be able to fully handle multiple storylines at once. I actually think it helps more than anything because if I get stuck in one story I can just go to another one for awhile, and it keeps me writing.

NaNoWriMo 2006: A Raven's Song — Miserable failure. We don't talk about it.
NaNoWriMo 2007: Karina — WINNER! (51K)

Writing Blog: http://xxdaqu.blogspot.com

Let's see, off the top of my head, I have...

-Four novels currently being written (including a collaboration)
-Four novels in early concept stages (including another collaboration)
-Two novels currently in stasis (both collaborations where the other party has lost interest)
-Three scripts in early drafts
-Two ideas for graphic novels
-At least ten short stories that need some TLC
-Three fleshed-out ideas for novels that I'm trying to restrain to keep them fresh for JulNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo and Three-Day Novel Contest.

...Why yes, I like keeping busy as far as writing goes. ;)

I go by a certain hierarchy of priority: if one of the books that I've written is too far ahead, I go on to another one to let it catch up. When it outruns the other or if I lose interest in it, I go onto another. Usually I think of my books three or four chapters ahead, so writing them is just a matter of getting it on paper and making sure it comes off well. I'm able to keep dozens of characters and plots straight.

Ironically enough, my last NaNo novel is furthest ahead, but I'm fired up to finish it, since it's the most inventive one I've put to paper, and the ideas for it just aren't stopping. I'm also fired up to work harder on that collaboration, since the guy I'm writing it with thinks I'm slacking off and he's losing interest; I need to whip him back into line.

NaNoWriMo 2007:
WHIZ-BANG FANTASTIC - 51,296 words (and counting!)

I can't write only one story. I run in to writer's blocks or I get bored of it after a while. I constantly have more than two stories being juggled to maintain a constant writing flow instead of being stopped. As long as I have my notebook, I'm completely fine. I have timelines, character profiles, etc so I don't lose my place in anything.

2005: NanoHell (failed)
2006: the Gravity of Love (won)
2007: Oblivion (won)
# of sleepless nights: 2
# of cans of caffeine: 9
Sanity level: low

If it works for you then go for it.

The only time I've seen it recommended was to avoid dentist's block. If your main story dries up, it helps to start something else to keep you writing until the mood strikes again.

Improve what is - create what isn't
http://www.betternovelwriting.com

*bows deeply* I've got the time for it- I'm 14. And I've known I was insane for quite some time, thank you. :-)

"One does not simply walk into Mordor."
"In the place of a Dark Lord you would have a Queen! Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the Morn! Treacherous as the Seas! Stronger than the foundations of the Earth! All shall love me and despair!"- LotR

ha- that's exactly what i thought.
you must be vair easily pleased. XD

Wow- this globe is kind of shaped liked the Earth!

Let me slip into something more comfortable... like a coma.

I think I'm always writing at least two books at a time. It keeps me from getting bored like I do if I just stick with one project. The only time I only focus on one project in during NaNo.

Currently I'm working on rewriting my NaNo, which was a fairly serious book. And I started writing another book, that was going to be my summer project. Until a group of people I know came along and decided I should write a novel for young adults. A good clean adventure novel and all that stuff. It was strange, I had two teachers and a boatload of kids request this after I read one of my short stories to a group from my school. At first I was all, no way do you have any idea how much work that would be, I write for adutls. But the idea started growing on me, and now I'm doing a NaNo session this June to work on that book. Hooray for the insanity! I'm still working on my other books too.

I like busy summers. :)

SoCNoC '08

Title: Erm, I'll get back to that...
Progress: 32,125 / 70,000
Cups of coffee consumed: a lot
Sanity left: 70%

Me, I'm working on, oh three or four stories right now-all of which are doing their level best to become novel-length. One is also trying to spawn a prequel, a companion piece of roughly equal length, and two novel-length sequels. If I don't have a better idea by November, I'll probably do the first sequel-the companion piece is for JulNo (sp?).
Personally it's just easier to flip between stories-if I'm stuck on one working on another can get the ideas flowing again. Which makes the other novel/story/whatever unstuck. It doesn't work for everyone though-some it's easier to work on one at a time.

I think the smallest number of stories I've been working on at one time is three, and I was pretty proud of myself for that. I generally have at least two novels going and about a dozen or so short stories (which tend to be more novellas than anything). It CAN be done, although insanity is probably imminent.

The good thing about it is that if you're bored with or stuck on one story, you can switch to another one and still be productive. But it takes much longer to finish anything, and I tend to go long stretches without working on one of the novels/novellas and I lose a lot of momentum. Two or three at a time is pretty manageable, though - though I wouldn't recommend more than two at once during November unless you're really hardcore.

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If I had to compare my writing to something, it would definitely be an octopus. A plotopus, if you will. Sure, it's intelligent and it has great camoflauge and everything, but in the end it's just got way too many arms and is a bit awkward.

If I could compare my writing to one thing, it would be an octopus. A plotopus, if you will. Sure, it's intelligent and has great camoflauge and stuff, but in the end it's just got way too many arms and is a bit awkward.