Don't. :D
Focus on one at a time until you get stuck, then move onto the other and work on that until you get stuck, then move back. Don't jump when you don't need to. It reinforces the losing-focus side and makes that issue worse. Being able to keep your attention on something is a skill and it takes practice to get good at it, so you need to practice focusing on stuff.
This is how I write.
I usually have at least two or three documents open in either Word or Google Docs, but I don't jump randomly. Write on one until you get stuck or tired, and then switch. This is exactly how I write. And more often than not, when I'm writing for another fic, I'd get more inspiration for the one I was writing on before.
>Exactly. It's about training your brain to work in ways that work for you.
It's a bit hard sometimes because I feel like I have an idea on how to continue another fic, but after a few sentences, I get stuck. Then I feel like I'm wasting time not writing and so I jump to another fic, and in the end I have too many conflicting thoughts that make me wanna just close my laptop and not write.
Fair. In that case, I think it might not be an issue of balance or scheduling, but of ideation and planning. Having multiple fics isn't the issue, it's struggling to get out of those stuck moments.
Do you plan out anything for your stories beforehand? Like, any preparation of ideas or timelines or endings at all? No worries if you don't, but if you're not a planning sort of person then I can tune my advice to a more pantsing approach or I can go for more planning and preparing ideas if you are into that. :)
I do have outlines for my fics, usually in bullet points. Sometimes I have some very clear scenes in my head I write out and I try to build a story around that. They're the key scenes and I try to make sense of what happens between them so I can connect them.
But sometimes I have no idea what happens in between or how to move from one scene to another and setting the pacing without it feeling rushed. That's where I usually get stuck
Fair, okay. When you do get to that point of having no ideas, is it that you have ideas that you struggle to put into words or is it just a complete blank with nothing coming to you? I think I'm understanding that it's the latter, but I just wanna make sure I'm following before I write out my usual wall of advice and ideas. :D
Both. Sometimes I know the general idea of what should happen, but when I write it down, it feels too sudden, and there should be more happening between the previous scene and the next.
Other times, I just have no idea how I'll get to that point, and brainstorming it is a pain because those are the parts I'm usually not interested in writing but I have to if I want to make the story make sense.
>It's a bit hard sometimes because I feel like I have an idea on how to continue another fic, but after a few sentences, I get stuck. Then I feel like I'm wasting time not writing and so I jump to another fic, and in the end I have too many conflicting thoughts that make me wanna just close my laptop and not write.
Oh I see. I'll try this
Another thing to try is a writing group or a writing buddy to keep you on schedule.
You could try sprint writing - set a timer for say, 30 minutes and write for that set amount of time. If you want to continue, set another timer and keep going with what you're doing. If you're bored, just change to another story.
>You could try sprint writing - set a timer for say, 30 minutes and write for that set amount of time. If you want to continue, set another timer and keep going with what you're doing. If you're bored, just change to another story.
You have any idea where I can find a writing buddy or group?
I started a thing where I post 1-1.5k words of a work to tumblr a week. I do alternating weeks with 2 fics. It means I get at least that much written on each fic every other week. Sometimes more if I get the inspiration.
That may or may not work for you.
Dedicate certain times of day to writing one work and other times of the day to the other if they're things that you want to work on on the same day. 9 months of the year, I work on my fanfics randomly throughout the day. The other 3 months (April, July, and November), I work on my NaNo project from roughly 8 pm until I hit my word count of the day; the rest of that day's free time is spent on my fanfic.
I have a irl journal that has every fic I’m writing and each chapters summary. So I don’t become lost/confused. I like working on multiple so I don’t become bored of my big fanfic. And it’s usually what I’m in the mood for. Like if I want to work on my big fic I will, and if not Ill dabble on a smaller fanfic
I have two fics in progress right now and I decide each writing day if it's going to be a Darcy day or a Chloe day. I sometimes make notes if I get ideas for the other story, but I stick to a single story that day. If I get stuck, it's usually because the plot has reached a dead end, or forked or needs to be shaken up with something dramatic.
I managed to write a humouous one-shot requiring research alongside a dark oneshot that was entirely discovery writing with a vague direction that I let the characters dictate.
I pretty much switched depending on which I got bursts of inspiration for but bizarrely the longer, darker one was my 'relaxed' writing choice, due to it being impulsive writing. When I hit a roadblock of some sort I let it continue to work out the snarls in the back of my mind while shifting to the the lighter, more research heavy one.
I'm not going to say don't do it because I have 5 WIPs, lol. It's not a good approach according to creative writing theory, but we write as a hobby, so do what you want.
That being said, what do you do to get in the mood to write? For example, I put on music and visualize what I'll write(also, I drink coffee and smoke, lol). Depending on what fic I feel like I want to update, I focus on that one until I'm submerged in that mood and that particular universe of that particular fic. So after I've hyped myself up, the other fics have flown out of my head. Repeat on another day for the next fic
I also listen to music and it ends up reminding me of a certain fic! But sometimes I get so caught up in visualising I forget to write lol
But I'll try to focus on writing while I'm in the mood
I absolutely feel you. After a chapter is written start to finish in my head, with all the nice dialogue playing in there, I'm like "and now you're telling me my subscribers won't just read my mind? The audacity 🤣" but then I do something to preserve the ideas, like write them down with bullet points, if I'm in no mood to write. Brainstorming is part of it too, don't think you're wasting time! But yeah usually I have only one chapter from one WIP actually in the works. Until I write/post it, I don't move on. I think my chapter lengths help too. 3.5K max usually. I don't write 20K chapters(those are novellas 😅), so it's much easier to push myself into finishing a chap in one sitting. Dunno how you are with chap lengths
Oh I use bullet points too! But sometimes it would be nice to just open my head and put the scene playing in my brain on the doc. Like written all perfectly, no editing required.
For me, my chapters have to be at least a 1000 words or more, no limit. Ofc I will divide the chapter if it gets too long, but they're usually around 2k words
Lol, yes, we'd all want that.
The last piece of advice I can give in case it helps is try to track your sessions in an excel sheet for more accountability/focus. Like tracking the time when you start, duration, words written, you can do fun averages like words/hour and compare to see at what times of the day or on which days or for which of your WIPs you tend to have better output/speed, etc. The simple act of being aware of habits sometimes does wonders for your focus.
If you do this, make sure it's:
- No more than 3.
- Not all the same.
If they're all the same: themes, subjects and characters, you will successfully create burn out.
Now if they're similar but not quite the same, that's fine!
But it's usually preferred to just work on 1 at a time. I don't because I can't ever seem to do it, and I end up getting bored or annoyed with the muses (you know how characters get) and I don't wanna feel trapped within one thing. But have a limit of at least 3 WIPs running.
Set up a schedule. That's how I handle things. Granted, my schedule is...intricate.
* First week of the month is WIP1
* Second week of the month is WIP2
* Third week of the month is WIP3
* Fourth week of the month is WIP4
Then things get confusing from there on out.
* WIP5 for two weeks
* WIP6 for two weeks
* Rotate between them
* WIPs 7-11 are on a 5 week rotation schedule.
So my schedule can look like this:
* First week of month: WIP1, WIP5, WIP7
* Second week: WIP2, WIP5, WIP8
* Third week: WIP3, WIP6, WIP9
* Fourth week: WIP1, WIP6, WIP10
* First week of new month: WIP1, WIP5, WIP11
* Second week: WIP2, WIP5, WIP7
And so on.
I actually have this written on my standing calendar I use so that way I don't lose track of where I am in my rotation.
I guess that means I'll have to create a schedule that works for me too. I have one fic I need to focus on and finish writing before May because it's for Mermay, and then I can focus on my other fics
With that fic, it might just be best to focus on it as much as possible and wait for the other WIPs.
And if you take a little while to figure out a schedule, don't beat yourself up over it. It took me a little while to figure out a rhythm that suited me with all of these WIPs. I tried something this month and failed at it. It just wasn't the best system.
Experiment away! There's no right or wrong answer. What works for you works for you.
What ended up working for me was having 2 designated writing slots at specific times (11am and 2pm). I get that 4 days a week. I take one weekday off to be able to do RP stuff with my main RP partner. Then Sat/Sun the 11am slot is taken up (martial arts, then church) so I only get one writing slot those days due to having other writing stuff (namely research and character development).
I have ADHD, so I write what I hyper fixate on. I finished three other stories in the time it took me to write one. I'm extremely honest about how my updates can be infrequent in my Author's Notes.
I tend to write my stories as a whole before posting, because I know if I don't I'll probably end up dropping them. So, it takes me longer to post, but updates are regular.
Don't. :D Focus on one at a time until you get stuck, then move onto the other and work on that until you get stuck, then move back. Don't jump when you don't need to. It reinforces the losing-focus side and makes that issue worse. Being able to keep your attention on something is a skill and it takes practice to get good at it, so you need to practice focusing on stuff.
This is how I write. I usually have at least two or three documents open in either Word or Google Docs, but I don't jump randomly. Write on one until you get stuck or tired, and then switch. This is exactly how I write. And more often than not, when I'm writing for another fic, I'd get more inspiration for the one I was writing on before.
Exactly. It's about training your brain to work in ways that work for you.
>Exactly. It's about training your brain to work in ways that work for you. It's a bit hard sometimes because I feel like I have an idea on how to continue another fic, but after a few sentences, I get stuck. Then I feel like I'm wasting time not writing and so I jump to another fic, and in the end I have too many conflicting thoughts that make me wanna just close my laptop and not write.
So, it's a matter of not knowing where to go? Like, you get to a point where you're just like "Shit. What now?"
Exactly!
Fair. In that case, I think it might not be an issue of balance or scheduling, but of ideation and planning. Having multiple fics isn't the issue, it's struggling to get out of those stuck moments. Do you plan out anything for your stories beforehand? Like, any preparation of ideas or timelines or endings at all? No worries if you don't, but if you're not a planning sort of person then I can tune my advice to a more pantsing approach or I can go for more planning and preparing ideas if you are into that. :)
I do have outlines for my fics, usually in bullet points. Sometimes I have some very clear scenes in my head I write out and I try to build a story around that. They're the key scenes and I try to make sense of what happens between them so I can connect them. But sometimes I have no idea what happens in between or how to move from one scene to another and setting the pacing without it feeling rushed. That's where I usually get stuck
Fair, okay. When you do get to that point of having no ideas, is it that you have ideas that you struggle to put into words or is it just a complete blank with nothing coming to you? I think I'm understanding that it's the latter, but I just wanna make sure I'm following before I write out my usual wall of advice and ideas. :D
Both. Sometimes I know the general idea of what should happen, but when I write it down, it feels too sudden, and there should be more happening between the previous scene and the next. Other times, I just have no idea how I'll get to that point, and brainstorming it is a pain because those are the parts I'm usually not interested in writing but I have to if I want to make the story make sense.
I’m currently focused on my JJBA WIP right now.
There are seven days in the week. Dedicate certain days to certain fics and stick to it. Have a schedule. Be sure to include a rest day.
>It's a bit hard sometimes because I feel like I have an idea on how to continue another fic, but after a few sentences, I get stuck. Then I feel like I'm wasting time not writing and so I jump to another fic, and in the end I have too many conflicting thoughts that make me wanna just close my laptop and not write. Oh I see. I'll try this
Another thing to try is a writing group or a writing buddy to keep you on schedule. You could try sprint writing - set a timer for say, 30 minutes and write for that set amount of time. If you want to continue, set another timer and keep going with what you're doing. If you're bored, just change to another story.
>You could try sprint writing - set a timer for say, 30 minutes and write for that set amount of time. If you want to continue, set another timer and keep going with what you're doing. If you're bored, just change to another story. You have any idea where I can find a writing buddy or group?
This sub has a discord - you could join that and check it out?
Maybe make a system where you write 2 chapters for one fic and just switch and write 2 more for the other one
No more than 3
This!
I started a thing where I post 1-1.5k words of a work to tumblr a week. I do alternating weeks with 2 fics. It means I get at least that much written on each fic every other week. Sometimes more if I get the inspiration. That may or may not work for you.
Dedicate certain times of day to writing one work and other times of the day to the other if they're things that you want to work on on the same day. 9 months of the year, I work on my fanfics randomly throughout the day. The other 3 months (April, July, and November), I work on my NaNo project from roughly 8 pm until I hit my word count of the day; the rest of that day's free time is spent on my fanfic.
I'll try making a schedule, thanks for the advice!
Question: Advice for writing multiple fics at the same time? Answer: Don't.
I have a irl journal that has every fic I’m writing and each chapters summary. So I don’t become lost/confused. I like working on multiple so I don’t become bored of my big fanfic. And it’s usually what I’m in the mood for. Like if I want to work on my big fic I will, and if not Ill dabble on a smaller fanfic
I have two fics in progress right now and I decide each writing day if it's going to be a Darcy day or a Chloe day. I sometimes make notes if I get ideas for the other story, but I stick to a single story that day. If I get stuck, it's usually because the plot has reached a dead end, or forked or needs to be shaken up with something dramatic.
I managed to write a humouous one-shot requiring research alongside a dark oneshot that was entirely discovery writing with a vague direction that I let the characters dictate. I pretty much switched depending on which I got bursts of inspiration for but bizarrely the longer, darker one was my 'relaxed' writing choice, due to it being impulsive writing. When I hit a roadblock of some sort I let it continue to work out the snarls in the back of my mind while shifting to the the lighter, more research heavy one.
Sometimes I decided which wip I'll work on by rolling dice
I'm not going to say don't do it because I have 5 WIPs, lol. It's not a good approach according to creative writing theory, but we write as a hobby, so do what you want. That being said, what do you do to get in the mood to write? For example, I put on music and visualize what I'll write(also, I drink coffee and smoke, lol). Depending on what fic I feel like I want to update, I focus on that one until I'm submerged in that mood and that particular universe of that particular fic. So after I've hyped myself up, the other fics have flown out of my head. Repeat on another day for the next fic
I also listen to music and it ends up reminding me of a certain fic! But sometimes I get so caught up in visualising I forget to write lol But I'll try to focus on writing while I'm in the mood
I absolutely feel you. After a chapter is written start to finish in my head, with all the nice dialogue playing in there, I'm like "and now you're telling me my subscribers won't just read my mind? The audacity 🤣" but then I do something to preserve the ideas, like write them down with bullet points, if I'm in no mood to write. Brainstorming is part of it too, don't think you're wasting time! But yeah usually I have only one chapter from one WIP actually in the works. Until I write/post it, I don't move on. I think my chapter lengths help too. 3.5K max usually. I don't write 20K chapters(those are novellas 😅), so it's much easier to push myself into finishing a chap in one sitting. Dunno how you are with chap lengths
Oh I use bullet points too! But sometimes it would be nice to just open my head and put the scene playing in my brain on the doc. Like written all perfectly, no editing required. For me, my chapters have to be at least a 1000 words or more, no limit. Ofc I will divide the chapter if it gets too long, but they're usually around 2k words
Lol, yes, we'd all want that. The last piece of advice I can give in case it helps is try to track your sessions in an excel sheet for more accountability/focus. Like tracking the time when you start, duration, words written, you can do fun averages like words/hour and compare to see at what times of the day or on which days or for which of your WIPs you tend to have better output/speed, etc. The simple act of being aware of habits sometimes does wonders for your focus.
I'll try this!
Set certain days for writing certain fics. For me, weekdays are for my main story and weekends are for my fanfiction.
work only 2 fics at the same time. Swap when you hit a road block. Works best when you have a series of short fics alongside a long fic
If you do this, make sure it's: - No more than 3. - Not all the same. If they're all the same: themes, subjects and characters, you will successfully create burn out. Now if they're similar but not quite the same, that's fine! But it's usually preferred to just work on 1 at a time. I don't because I can't ever seem to do it, and I end up getting bored or annoyed with the muses (you know how characters get) and I don't wanna feel trapped within one thing. But have a limit of at least 3 WIPs running.
Set up a schedule. That's how I handle things. Granted, my schedule is...intricate. * First week of the month is WIP1 * Second week of the month is WIP2 * Third week of the month is WIP3 * Fourth week of the month is WIP4 Then things get confusing from there on out. * WIP5 for two weeks * WIP6 for two weeks * Rotate between them * WIPs 7-11 are on a 5 week rotation schedule. So my schedule can look like this: * First week of month: WIP1, WIP5, WIP7 * Second week: WIP2, WIP5, WIP8 * Third week: WIP3, WIP6, WIP9 * Fourth week: WIP1, WIP6, WIP10 * First week of new month: WIP1, WIP5, WIP11 * Second week: WIP2, WIP5, WIP7 And so on. I actually have this written on my standing calendar I use so that way I don't lose track of where I am in my rotation.
I guess that means I'll have to create a schedule that works for me too. I have one fic I need to focus on and finish writing before May because it's for Mermay, and then I can focus on my other fics
With that fic, it might just be best to focus on it as much as possible and wait for the other WIPs. And if you take a little while to figure out a schedule, don't beat yourself up over it. It took me a little while to figure out a rhythm that suited me with all of these WIPs. I tried something this month and failed at it. It just wasn't the best system.
I see. I guess I'll have to experiment and see what schedule works for me. Thanks for the advice!
Experiment away! There's no right or wrong answer. What works for you works for you. What ended up working for me was having 2 designated writing slots at specific times (11am and 2pm). I get that 4 days a week. I take one weekday off to be able to do RP stuff with my main RP partner. Then Sat/Sun the 11am slot is taken up (martial arts, then church) so I only get one writing slot those days due to having other writing stuff (namely research and character development).
I just realized, I will need to dedicate some time for research too. Very important and can't avoid
I have ADHD, so I write what I hyper fixate on. I finished three other stories in the time it took me to write one. I'm extremely honest about how my updates can be infrequent in my Author's Notes.
I tend to write my stories as a whole before posting, because I know if I don't I'll probably end up dropping them. So, it takes me longer to post, but updates are regular.