For years I only worked on one project at a time. While that's probably a smart move for most writers, it felt a bit like a prison to me. If I didn't feel like writing the novel I was working on I just wouldn't write. Maybe I didn't want to write it for a week, two weeks, more. When that happened I fell out of the habit of writing even a little bit every day. This is something that is essential to successfully completing projects. It's the essence of being a writer!
I wrote my upcoming novel What The Night Brings in a little black notebook with an elastic strap. For the most part I wrote it straight through, a paragraph to a page a day for about a year. Taking Neil Gaiman's advice, I alternated colors so I could visually see how well I did on a given day. This experience has led me to update my methods and iron out some kinks to make me a more productive writer.
Three Notebooks
By the time I finished What The Night Brings I realized that one, and even two, projects was not enough. Three is the optimal balance for me. However, there's a big caveat here which can't be ignored: each project is substantially different from one another to eliminate even a chance of confusion. I guess it's lucky that I like all sorts of genres and styles because it allows a certain freedom creatively.
After much trial and error I found my favorite notebook to be the Leuchtturm1917 A5 notebook as it is fountain pen friendly, has page numbers and an index, feels great in the hand, and has great color options. I color code my notebooks, so blue-green is a novel and emerald green is a collection of short stories. There was a massive sale last year so I may have splurged and bought about 20 of these things at half price. I won't have to worry about notebooks for a while.
Project 1
I consider my novels to be my 'main' project, so let's call that Project 1. Since I've finished What The Night Brings I'm moving onto 'Skin', which is a Noir Science Fiction Thriller set about thirty years from now. I'm about 15-20% done with where I expect this novel to land from a word count perspective.
Project 2
My second project at the moment is a collection of science fiction short stories. I was inspired by writers like Philip K. Dick and TV shows like Black Mirror to write stories that I would consider cautionary tales. In these stories I examine technology and society with the hopes of helping to make sense of where we're at and where we're going. I'm hoping to have this one completed by the end of 2022.
Project 3
My third project is another collection of short stories, but this one is more literary in nature. I'm deep into reading Kurt Vonnegut's Complete Stories and it struck me that there aren't many stories written today which have the same sort of message or tone that his had. A lot of his stories were moralistic, with a clear moral or purpose which stories today lack. Rather than focus on duping the reader with twists on twists, he wrote stories which reinforced a moral code we seem to have lost along the way.
As an example, my family and I were at a pumpkin patch and petting zoo yesterday and noticed that many of the workers were related, maybe cousins. I started thinking about a generational family farm and the economics of running a pumpkin patch. My mind turned to a rather surly worker who was surrounded by kids trying to pet his miniature horse. My imagination kept turning for a few hours after we left as I built a story for that worker. Why was he working there? Why did he hate his job? What would happen if he really saw the joy in those kids' eyes? Children help us to see truths we have been conditioned not to notice. I have the story in my head and will likely jot it down this weekend while it's still fresh.
While all of my writing classifies as a passion project this one really is the sort of thing that maybe only my mom will read. Still, I'll have fun doing it and I'll get to try out some different styles and devices. I honestly have no idea when this one will be finished, but no one's really waiting for it, right?
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