I’ve been doing the writing gig for a few years now (cough, since 2003) but the only thing that stays the same is getting words on the page. Everything else is always changing. How I write a book. How I get an idea. How I finish. How I track.
Now that I don’t have the Evil Day Job sucking up 40+ hours a week, I have even MORE time to experiment!
Partly from necessity. I can’t just move from 40+ hours of corporate work and 20+ hours of creative/publishing work a week to 60+ hours of creative/publishing work. I wish I could! But my brain needs time to build the framework and characters and dialogue in the background, which is why I was able to write as much as I did while still working.
Now I need to convince my brain to do more of that background work in the foreground. While still being creative. While still finding ways to keep the well filled and primed.
One thing I’m trying is working on multiple projects at the same time. It does not come naturally to me. I keep wanting to hyper-focus on one thing and just grind day and night until it’s done. But what I’ve found over the past few months is that there is a natural set-point I have each day in a given project. Getting beyond that baseline is possible–but those words are harder and slower to get. I’m doing all the foreground and background work at the same time.
Now in the EDJ world, I never got to work on just one thing at a time. We always had multiple projects going on. Meetings every day on a variety of things, from team ceremonies to individual projects to corporate requirements, training, etc. Yet I still somehow always managed to get stuff done. Yeah, it was a struggle sometimes. I learned to block off time on my calendar for deep work a couple of times a week so I could focus on one thing at a time. But then I had to switch to the next project out of necessity.
Same here. I need to switch projects out of necessity–because I’ve written through as far as I can “see” at this time, and my subconscious needs time to percolate on what happens next. If I keep going, I’m going to struggle and slow down while I try to adjust the headlights on my car so I can see further in the fog.
But you know what they say about headlights in the fog. Sometimes you can see better with dim lights than brights.
I keep turning on those brights and then fuming when I’m crawling down the road because I still can’t see.
Since I finished Monstrous Rampage, I’ve been trying to switch back and forth between Queen Takes Darkness2 and Blizzard Bound. Some days are easier to switch than others. If I’m in the middle of a really complicated sex scene, for example, I’m scared to set it aside unless I’m just literally tapped out. I don’t want the scene to go too cold for fear I’ll lose the vibes.
I’ve also been tracking my daily schedule. What’s a natural time for me to start work? When do I tend to get the most interruptions from phone calls or visits from Dad? If I can mitigate the frustration of interruptions – by deliberately using that break – then that helps my mood all day. For example, Dad tends to visit me between 9-11AM most days on his morning walk, weather permitting. If I’m in the middle of a two-hour time blocked sprint, I get a little frustrated when I lose time. It can be hard to make myself start up again. But if I’m doing admin, it’s no big deal.
Or… here’s a thought. Instead of trying to get 4 sprints in a two-hour block before lunch, how about I only schedule myself two sprints before lunch and fill with admin. Because I know I’ll be interrupted. That way I’m not failing every day, which is not good for my mental health.
In the afternoon, I tend to not get as many calls until after 4. That’s the perfect time to shoot for 4 sprints in a two-hour block – in a second project.
After I break for dinner, Molly and I zoom almost every week night. If the second project is still rolling, then I can get 2 more sprints in. But if the last one before dinner was a struggle, I’m going back to the first project to see if I’ve had time to think about what comes next.
Then tomorrow I can choose which one to start the day with depending on how I ended the day.
We’ll see how that works as I finish these next two books. I think at some point one of them will “win out.” They’re both past the 50% mark. We’re on the rollercoaster, slowly clicking up higher and higher, making that climb toward the peak. At some point, one of them is going to tip over the cliff and shoot down toward the finish line. I don’t expect them both to tip at the same time – but that would be a crazy fun ride to try!
Of course the big question mark in November is finding time to get the holiday cards done. I’m hoping I can work on them during longer phone calls because they don’t take as much focus. I’m going to get the November and December birthday cards done ASAP, and then be ready to work on the holiday cards during football games or phone calls.
That’s the plan at least.
Any bets on which book is going to be finished first in November?