Part of the joy of writing can be the immersive nature of the beast. Digging into a story, poring your way through research and developing logic and rules for your world. It’s absolutely a blast to build, to create, and thrive in the fiction.

It can also turn into a chore.

There is that fear. Time slips away when working on what can turn out to be a multi-year project. For all your building, the rules might go from enjoyment to confinement. So how to break out of your doldrums? How do you step back so you can return to appreciate your creations instead of harping on their faults?

Multi-tasking projects

Take that angst, that aggression, and put it toward a new endeavor. Maybe it isn’t writing a book. It could be building a website or copyediting for a commercial site. Use that creative need and keep working, just on something else.

Taking your mind off your long-term project isn’t a crime. Sometimes – and this tends to be more true than not – the work is better for it. Figuring out a new puzzle helps you crack the one you’ve left on your word processor for a day, a week, a month. Not forever. Merely a small amount to gain perspective that immersion tends to obscure in the process.

How to make time for both…

This is the tricky part and everyone will tackle this differently. Some writers have the full day (LUCKY) and can break it up by morning and afternoon.

If you’re like me and can only dream of a full eight to ten hours per days writing your heart out, then you have to be a little more creative – and way more flexible.

Create milestones. Make them small, maybe even weekly goals. Once you reach a certain point on one project you move onto the other tasks. I set up a weekly checklist. Once my writing goal is met I now have time for blogging, e-mail clean up, and the dozen other jobs I tend to push off until the last second.

In terms of multiple book projects, I break down the process by draft.

Outline, Script, Readthrough, Draft, Self-Editing (x3) and then Done.

Once I complete one step in that process I turn to another project. For the DSA Season 2 I outlined all six books first then went back to script each one in turn. In between scripts I continued to self-edit Season 1, using what I learned of where the story is heading to dictate certain changes to the narrative.

When all six scripts were done, I put Season 2 away to focus on completing Season 1 edits.

Don’t overwhelm your schedule

Multi-tasking projects, especially different series of books, can prove to be quite challenging. Your voice in the narrative might be different and switching between the projects can prove difficult and frustrating.

Know your limits and let them guide your schedule instead of burying yourself. Once you get overwhelmed it is tough to find your way back so that the work becomes enjoyable again.

I had a third series I was hoping to take on this year. An awesome project I can’t wait to dive into, but it required too much time to get off the ground. Hours I couldn’t possibly find unless it pulled me away from the DSA and Greystone. It’s tentatively scheduled for next year on the writing schedule.

Understand what you can handle and how it will affect your story. Then map it all out so you can find your way.

Get to it.