Juggling Ideas - The Creative Process

Juggling Ideas

As I have spoken about many times before, I write more than one piece of work at once (pieces can be found here). I have been asked by a lot of people, writers and readers, how I manage to keep it all straight. I have a system that works for me and the way to do it is to make sure that your system works for you too. I am very aware that I am not unique on having more than one book on the go, and everyone has a different system.

For me it's simple, every month I write a big long to-do list. On that list are a set of four chapters - two for each book - and they are my must-do for the month. I also have a set of bonus chapters, again two of each book. For a long time I was lucky if I managed to get the usual chapters done. It was rare for me to get the bonus chapters. It was only when I made the decision to do NaNoWriMo in 2015, pledging to do a page a day rather than the usual 50K words. I managed to zoom through not only my usual four chapters, but bonus ones AND what I called "double" bonus ones. I made the decision to start my own challenge every month with the hashtag #JoWriMoGo and so far, it's working for me.

Now, what does this have to do with juggling ideas? I find that what works for me is to write two chapters of one WIP and then switch to the other and write two chapters of that one. I'm careful with my outlining - what George R. R. Martin refers to as a gardener and an architect - and I make sure that I have copious character notes. As I switch from one book to the other, I make sure to read the last two chapters so that I can familiarise myself with where I am in the story. So far, it's worked for me, but how do you find a way for it to work for you?

One way is to experiment with a similar set up to the one I use. In the beginning I worked with different amounts of chapters, but in the end I found three left me in a position where I had started a scene and then wanted to complete it, four was too many, the higher risk of getting caught in a writer's block that stopped both stories from moving forward. One chapter was too few. I would barely be getting started and then I had to force my brain to switch over to a completely different set of characters. After a bit of back and forth, I decided that two was the perfect number for me. It may not be for you so don't be afraid to switch it up until you find that balance.

Another way is to not have a pattern. I find that this way doesn't work for me at all. The basic idea is similar to the method I use, but it's a way to avoid writer's block on one WIP holding you up on the other(s). You write as long as you can and then when you are losing motivation for one, you switch to the other and do the same. It doesn't work for me because I like to move along at a similar pace and the two switch and two more means that I start, and finish each book at around the same time. This method lets you have more than two ideas on the go and it means that whatever mood you happen to be in, you'll always have a story ready waiting for you. If it works, more power to you!

And finally, there's a mix of the two. It sounds like it couldn't work by meshing the two ideas together, but I've heard that it's possible. You have a set number of chapters to write, but you have more than two works in progress. (It's possible to do that with my preferred method, but I think it would deter me with more than two). Whenever you sit down to write, you roll the dice or decide which one takes your fancy and roll with that. I can't speak to the effectiveness of this method as it's not one I can implement in my work, but I have heard that it works really well for a lot of writers, so maybe it turns out to be the one for you.

Overall, I have found that if you do plan to juggling more than one WIP at one time, you need to have some level of organisation to be able to keep track of what you're writing and when you're writing it. I am lucky to be someone who needs to be somewhat organised by nature. However, that's not a hard and fast rule, as I said, if you can make it work for you, then that's something to be proud of. As always, your mileage may vary.

Follow Joey on Facebook, Tumblr or here on her blog to be kept up to date with all the latest news regarding Joey and her books. Joey recently started a Booktube channel which you can subscribe to here.

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From Joey's Instagram

A new month approaches and with it a new to-do list. These are just my main goals for each day. Everything else is bonus! This covers the whole of April! Keep an eye out for March's final page and word count! It's a record number! #beingawriter #writing #writerlife #joeywrites #indieauthor #amwriting #goals #jowrimogo #authorsofinstagram

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Mar 28, 2016 at 10:54am PDT

It's Supposed To Be Fun, Right? - The Creative Process

It's Supposed To Be Fun, Right?

One of the most important parts of being a writer is that you should be enjoying yourself. At least, that's the important part of being a writer for me. I may find some parts of it less enjoyable, such as editing - that's never a fun part for me - but there isn't any part of writing that I don't draw some enjoyment from. Yes, even editing has it's fun hidden deep down in there somewhere. You just have to look really hard for it!

The one thing I always told myself, back when I was nineteen and first starting my writer career, was that when it stopped being fun, I would stop doing it. I always felt like I had a whole heap of stories trapped inside me. Picking up a pen that first time and releasing one and then another felt more natural than keeping them locked inside. I have spoken to several people in the past few weeks as I continue to pull myself out of my recent depression, and they all say the same thing: when I'm talking about my books, or my writing, my facial expression and voice change and it shows that I am pretty much living my dream right now. Writing is, basically, my passion.

So what happens when you don't find it fun anymore? What happens when, if you're like me, you hit the down of living with depression and other mental health conditions? How do I judge when it stops being fun completely and when I need to put the pen down and find a different outlet for my passion? It's all about finding balance in your life. There has to be a line between the work and the play aspect of it all. I know that sometimes I find it a lot easier to unwind if I can read a good book, but while I agree with the advice that every writer should read a lot, for some people that becomes too much of the "work" and less of the pleasure. I've been lucky enough that it has never crossed that line for me, but I know some writers find they need to break away completely from the written world of fiction.

It's true that as an indie author, I have to wear a lot of hats (a piece about which can be found here) and because of that, I don't spend all my work time actually writing. I have admin duties, like e-mailing people asking for reviews, contacting other authors about guest blog posts and interviews. I have to play the part of the artist (not one of my strong suits) where I design graphics for my blog and other places that I post. While I don't have the talent to design my covers (my best friend and carer B does that) and I don't have the talent to design my logo (a friend's husband did that), I do find that I have a number of other duties. I review other author's work, which cuts into my own reading time, but thankfully I'm lucky enough to enjoy reading a wide range of genres. There's other small jobs that I have to do, like finding my own editing team. There's also the organisation of promotions, making sure they reach the readers interested in my work. I could go on, but that isn't the point of this post.

I find that there are a lot of times when I look at the blank page of a new chapter and feel the tug of the other jobs I have to do. If you've seen my Instagram, you know that I use the sticky notes on my PC to map out what jobs I have to do during the day. I'm an organised person and while it does serve me well in my writing career, it can have its drawbacks. I don't know about you, but when I click on my desktop and see all these things I have to do staring back at me, in the wrong mood, it can have the opposite effect. It can sap the fun away from writing, so why do it?

I've been clear in the past that one of the many reasons I'm indie is because I don't do well with deadlines and extra stress (pieces found here & here). So why do I set my own deadlines, and put myself through that stress anyway? It's simple, even a train moving on its own towards the goal needs a little push every now and then. Even though they're not solid deadlines, and no one is going to yell at me if I miss them, I still find that the majority of the time, they work at keeping me motivated and keeping the writing on target without sucking out the fun of the job. After all, if you can't have fun when creating from nothing, when can you?

Follow Joey on Facebook, Tumblr or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books. Joey recently started a "Booktube" channel, you can subscribe here.