I always have multiple projects in the hopper at the Evil Day Job — so why can’t I figure out how to manage two or more writing projects? If I could worldbuild and plot one project while drafting or revising another, then I could turnaround projects much more quickly — instead of losing Aug. and Sept to plotting out Victor’s story, for example.
What I fear is losing “the zone.” It was so hard to get Victor’s story into the 1-2K a day rhythm that’s comfortable for me when a project is in full swing. I certainly don’t want to do anything to mess that up. Ideally, I’ll finish Victor’s story by the end of Nov. thanks to NaNoWriMo, edit in Dec. and possibly submit in Jan. But if I don’t get moving on the next project, I’m going to have a lull in Jan., Feb. and March as I work out the next plot.
Of course somewhere in this mess I’d like to complete revisions to Return to Shanhasson and get it submitted too.
TIME. I just don’t have enough to finish everything I want. This next project is relatively time sensitive too. If I dink around too long plotting everything out, I don’t think the idea will be quite as fresh and cool as I think it is right now.
So I guess I’m going to try and apply business techniques to help me figure out a decent balance across multiple projects. Through October, I’ll be shooting for at least 1K a day for Victor and at least 1 hour work on the new story universe. I’ll just have to keep myself from getting too focused on any one thing and losing momentum. I refuse to risk my ability to get Victor’s story done as soon as possible.
Besides, I really don’t want him to use that wicked crop on ME!
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Excel has been a lifesaver for me when it comes to handling multiple writing projects.
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Excel helps me with plotting, but I haven’t been able to find a way that works to help me track multiple projects and keep myself motivated and balanced. I tend to focus on ONE idea and go whole hog, instead of working well on multiple projects.
Excel, IMO, is the worst tool to use to manage projects. As soon as you start having changes, it becomes exponentially complicated to project manage with Excel.
This article I’ve published a while ago, on project management with a real software vs. Excel explains why you should stay away from Excel as a Project Management tool.
Well, as a tool for manging my writing projects, Excel works perfectly fine for me and has definitely helped me stay on track with my all my writing projects, but I’m not using it for anything other than that. I know absolutely nothing about “project management” so I would imagine that, no, it’s probably not good for that.