Author: Ink_Scars206
Category: Writing Tips
Should you write more than one book at once?
There's pros and cons to each answer. Maybe you wanna come up with a list. Go on. Off you go. I'll give you a few pros and cons while I'm waiting. Pros: helps with writer's block. Cons: creativity and inspiration is split. Neither has enough.
You've got your list. Maybe the pro list has twenty-eight and the cons have none (or one if you took into account my suggestion). Maybe it's the opposite. Or maybe it's equal.
So what is your answer?
You've got a thousand pros. Obviously, it's yes. You've got 8893001 cons (very specific, Vicky). Obviously, it's no.
No. Both wrong. The answer is and always will be maybe.
The pros and cons don't really matter. Sure, it's helpful. But in the end, whether you succeed or not doesn't depend on a con or a pro; it depends on who you are and how you write. You may have never written before in which case, I'd recommend you focus on one. You may be extremely organized. In that case, maybe you can write two or more. Or maybe you can only write one.
It all depends on you.
So have you decided to write more than one? If it's no, bye! I hope you had a lovely time here. If it's yes, let's keep going. If it's still a maybe, you're all the more welcome to stay. Actually, people who said no, you are also welcome. It might help in the future! And who knows, some of these tips might help you with writing just one novel.
Now that that's out of the way, how do you write 2 or more books at once?
1) Make Word Goals
This is an extremely important one. This one is important whether you have two, or three, or one, or five hundred and seventy-six books. Or even if you're only writing one.
Daily word goals.
Word goals help you focus and they make sure you know how much you have to write today. They make sure you stay motivated. For example, say you're writing your novel... Mystic of the Pies (or something), and you are so bored with this scene. You've been dreading writing it for weeks.
What do you do?
Give up.
Or take Vicky's outstanding advice and check the word count.
You've chosen to check the word count. Congratulations! You've have common sense! (Seriously, though, if you ever consider giving up, that is entirely okay. Everyone feels that way sometimes. In fact, just last week, I was considering giving up writing for good. I'd lost my drive. But thanks to this awesome writing program I was in, I got my motivation back. So if you find yourself wanting to quit, don't hesitate to contact me in PMs. I'll be happy to talk to you about it.)
You check the word count. 983. You smile. Thank goodness you have a word goal. Now, you know that you just need to write... (Vicky frantically finds a calculator) 17 more words... I think.
Yay!
After you write those words, then you can relax and wait until your next session of writing. Which leads me on to the next tip.
2) Schedule
Scheduling is arguably the most important thing when you're writing more than one book at once. To make sure you fulfill your word goal and write regularly, you need a schedule.
It's extremely helpful in keeping you on track.
So... you have twenty minutes a day you can write. What do you do? Split it into two parts, ten minutes each. No! Ten minutes is not enough to write. Instead switch between books on different days. So does that mean Monday you write one book, Tuesday you write the other and so on? No again! You need to keep consistent because after you write for one book, you'll probably have ideas for that book so that book will need another session.
Instead, say Monday and Tuesday are your first book, Mystic of Pies and Wednesday and Thursday are your second book, Chronicles of Ainran. But woe! There's only five days you can write each week! One book will get less.
But which one? Helpfully, this leads on to my next tip.
3) Prioritize
You have to have one book that you prioritize over the others. This is critical if you ever decide you only want to write one book at a time. It's also important to decide which one you'll be writing more often.
Which story are you more invested in? Which story are you more able to write? Which story is more important? That's the one you prioritize.
4) Don't Write Similar Books
If you write too similar books, you're going to get confused. Say you've got three story ideas. The first story idea that there's a sorceress that controls all the pies is your priority. It's an urban fantasy.
You have two other ideas. One is a silly urban fantasy called House of the Ties. The other is a dystopian Romeo & Juliet.
Which one should be your second story? Not House of the Ties. They are way too similar; they even sound similar, ties, pies.
Anyway, that's all I have to you today, but feel free to ask questions in the comments; I'll be happy to answer.
One last tip: if you're posting them on Wattpad, have an update schedule. There's a terrific article by NykkyBee which talks about this. I'll post a link in the comments.
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Thanks for reading, and I hope your go at writing more than one story at once goes well!
Editor's Note
A huge thanks to Ink_Scars206 for writing our first article since Writing Tips and Wattpad Tricks hit 5K views! And another round of thanks to all the viewers that make this book the awesome community it is. Here's to you! <3
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