Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Watcha Say Wednesday: Are You a Juggler?


I have been a busy little bee since we last spoke. I've got the new YA up to about 15,000 words. I've nicknamed it The Hunting Moon (working title). I've retrieved Iron Thirst from exile and started revising. I've become addicted to Twitter thanks to all the funny, clever people that hang out there. Think the last one is not helpful? Well, when you receive horrible critiques, surprise emails, or are just having a bad day and great friends pull you off the ceiling, calm you, and put you back on your feet - you'll see. (Love you guys!) Like the blogosphere, it's a great support system - but more instantaneous.

Now, what was I talking about? Point. I had a point. *scratches temple* Oh, yeah.

In the past, I've had a problem balancing multiple projects. I will be flying by, typing away on a new WIP. Then I'll decide to go back and revise Iron Thirst. I become so involved with my first love that ideas stop flowing for the new WIP, and it gets dropped by the wayside.

This go round, I am more focused (or so I'm telling myself), but I fear it will happen.

Which brings me to this week's Watcha Say Wednesday.

How many balls do you keep in the air? Do you only work on one WIP at a time, or are you a polynovelist (I think I just made that up. I wrote this in religion class.)

Do you wait until your MS is near perfection before you start a new WIP, or do you have a process such as revising one while writing another?

Answer what speaks to you; ignore the rest. But do tell - I'm quite curious.

8 comments:

  1. Well, I have one manuscript being critiqued and revised, and two manuscripts being written in first draft on actual paper in notebooks.

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  2. General bitch: Love the new layout. Very pretty, full of light. Not so much I can't see the text box; I'm a blind old bat, you see!?!

    But, I hate reading the post, then scrolling all the way to the top to click on the header be able to post a comment. I decide if I'm going to leave a comment at the END of a post, not at the beginning.

    Maybe I'm just peckish; loads of people comment, not lurk.

    Guess I'm in a mood Aj.

    I am so thrilled you are writing a new project. Yay!! Always good to keep moving forward.

    No, I'm not good at balancing. I wrote my first three novels as a trilogy - well the first two were one, and later split. But, I pretty much had to put them aside to write some short stories. And now I'm starting a new novel, but can't work on revising the first book and the new thing.

    I did write the second and third in the trilogy kinda together, as what I put in the third affected story line in the second.

    Confused? Imagine how I feel.

    Kudos to you if you can focus on both revision of an old favorite and creativity on a new concept.

    Lots of writers out there have several WIPs; and do them all justice. Not me.

    Good luck honey. You do seem well equiped to handle the challenge.

    ........dhole

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  3. I have to juggle projects to keep my writing fresh. also, When I get stuck on one, I can still work on my word count for that day with the others.

    But I always have one major WIP and a few shorts or ideas for others that I jot down.

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  4. I'm generally a one project at a time kind of girl--i get completely absorbed. So I try to fully complete one and do an edit before starting another one. However, I can have one going through critique while rough drafting another.

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  5. I try and stay on one work at a time but if I get stuck, I'll go back to something else. I've got seven in various stages so I've always got something to work on. Right now though, I'm trying to stay focused on my newest.

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  6. Polynovelist? Love it! :D

    I attempt to work on only one thing at a time, but if I'm stumped on a chapter, I've been testing out the short story waters. That seems to make a nice sized productive distraction that allows me to get back to my current novel project without creating yet another half finished something to haunt my hard drive.

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  7. Good question.

    I work only on one WIP at a time, except that I started to sneak and write my current one while I was working on my last one (which I have now shelved in favor of the current one).

    I think I just confused myself.

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  8. I have in the past juggled multiple projects but I'm really trying hard this time to not do that. I'm approaching my current WIP with a more disciplined attitude. We'll see how long that lasts because I've had 3 new ideas already this week. *sigh*

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