Sunday, April 17, 2016

Multiple Topics

I know many writers that swear by the notion that one project at a time is the best way to proceed when making your way through your books. At most, they tell me, you should be writing one and editing one at a time. The few that are traditionally published, or hope to be, may also add one more to that list. For them there is writing, editing and submitting. I tried to do it that way but as it turns out  I am far to A.D.H.D. to make it very far trying to follow a schedule like that.

For me I do my best to only work on a few projects in each stage at one time. I currently have one book that has been submitted, three in the editing process and two that are being written. One of the books in editing is also in the research stage simultaneously because I am looking into information I may need for the rest of the series. That is one part that while I am definitely still learning, I truly enjoy.

I struggled in school because I had to learn what the curriculum stated instead of what was interesting to me. Now as I learn about the subjects relevant to my books I find I can easily get lost for hours. When I finally make my way back to reality I have learned a great deal but I have also spent more time than I had allowed to do so. At that point I have to play catch up choosing to either back burner writing or editing for the rest of the day or if I am determined to do both still I must sacrifice sleep to get it all done.

If I have the next day off then losing sleep may be the better choice but if I must be at my day job I have to prioritize and pick the most important project to work on. The problem is that if I choose writing I will see my binder that contains the book I should be editing and if I am editing my mind will wander to the novels waiting to be written. Sometimes no matter what I choose to focus on I will be struck with an epiphany for a completely different book altogether and have to make a quick note and try to get back to my current work.

It is a chaotic way to work but for some of us it is best to have enough choices that we can always focus on something in order to maintain productivity. I am learning to fit time management into the grand scheme of things but I enjoy my chaos for now.

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