Pebblepup's Writing Den

If you are like me then you are juggling multiple projects. As I write this, I am developing 2 novels. They are vastly different, but they’re both fantasy. I’m at the preliminary stages with research. On the 1 and I have and I’m at the stage where I’m doing the plotting on the other one. I do a broad outline so. I know where I’m going and where I want to be. I just make up where I’m going, how to get there as I go along. In short. You know, stop A&A, no, stop B, How I get from A to B is totally different. That’s where I become a Pantser.

Doing this means that I need to figure out which one takes precedence over the other. In juggling projects, you need to prioritize things. Look at your projects. Where are you in each of them? What stage of writing are you at? Figure out the next steps and determine whether it’s important enough to go first or not. This is prioritizing. You cannot control your projects if you do not prioritize the steps.

You need to develop a plan of action on how you’re going to handle these projects in relation to one another. Once you finish a certain number of steps, you can turn your attention to the other one and bring that up to date. It’s kind of like dancing. Step, step, turn, step, step, turn.

That’s an oversimplification, of course, but that’s basically what you’re doing. It often helps to create a schedule. Work on project A for two hours and then work on project B for an hour. You adjust the time as you have projects. This is why you need to determine which project is the most important to get done first. You do that by setting deadlines for the project.

Depending on the number of projects you’re juggling, it’s simple enough to keep them straight and organized. You just must Prioritize them. Then make up a schedule. Set some deadlines. Set up your schedule. Then get to work on them. That’s how you’ll get it done. Keep your To Do List up to date and you’ll be fine.

Looking over what I wrote, I realized I have three projects that I’m juggling. One is in the revision stage. Once that’s finished up, I can finish the work on the other two a lot more easily. It isn’t hard to do this once you get your system set up. It’s getting the system set up, that’s the most complicated part of it. Do that early enough and you’ll be fine. As a revision work finishes off on the third project that will drop off. Then I can focus on the other two. Well, I can focus more on the other two. That’s my process. Yours may be different.

So, if you have multiple ideas for stories, don’t fret, Assign them priorities. And add them to your list. Then you can work them into your schedule. Just make sure you set the deadlines far enough in advance to where you can get it all done. That’s the trick. Good luck and keep writing.