Juggling Pots: Working on Multiple Writing Projects
I once had a professor explain to me that having multiple projects was a positive thing. It helps you enhance your skill for time-management, your ability to deal with stress, and allows you to take breaks from other things you’re working on. He described it as something similar to having multiple pots on the stove. It can be overwhelming, but the key is to find out which pot you should have on the front burner and which ones to let hang in the back and simmer.
One key factor in dealing with more than one writing project is time-management. It’s important for you to know how much time needs to be spent on each of your works. Look at it through this perspective: you’re hosting the Thanksgiving dinner party – yes, we have a long while to go before November, but recall any stress you felt prepping it. You have to know when your guests are arriving and which dish to start cooking first. You want them done at the same time, but don’t want anything getting cold. You have to plan it out. It’s the same when working on numerous projects. Some will have stricter deadlines that require them to be submitted before the others. Those will be the ones you want to prioritize first.
As simple as that sounds, I actually didn’t learn this little nugget of wisdom until I was going through my senior year in college. That was when all my English professors—and I had quite a few—decided to start scheduling written assignments around the same time. I prioritized which assignment to work on based on its due date, length, and available resources. The greatest challenge in this particular scenario, however, was overcoming the urge to work on the ones that interested me more. It didn’t dawn on me to worry about the ones due first until I found myself staying up till four in the morning, trying to finish an assignment due the next day. I brought that pot to the front burner and put the rest to the back. You’ll want to find your own strategy for utilizing your time. Consider factors like research, idea development, and state of mind. These can influence which work you want to focus on – or which pot to let heat up and which ones to let simmer.
I confess that it can be very stressful juggling different works-in-progress. You have to be flexible and able to adapt to any changes and switch from one work to the other. Look at it this way, you’re in the middle of making desserts for Thanksgiving when you realize that the buns you had warming in the oven are now burnt and no longer edible. You can’t run to the store because it’s closed early for the holiday. What’s your solution? Do you make biscuits using the mix you have in the pantry, or do you toss some bread in the toaster and hope that’s enough? Maybe you go without any rolls so the ones that didn’t go in the burnt batch are enough for everyone else. You have to be able to work with last minute changes that come your way. It’s similar to working on two different writing projects. Let’s say you’re writing a fiction piece for a contest that you’re excited to submit to. On the other hand, your professor sends out an email stating that he or she wants your essay to be three pages longer with another two sources. The pot you were letting simmer on the back burner must now be switched with the pot you were just stirring. Be sure to stop at a good spot – you don’t want to be lost on where you were when you come back to it – and begin working on what now has priority. You need to be able to adapt to changes in your plans. Once your assignment is finished, then you can go back and do work on what you want.
It’s normal feeling overwhelmed when the projects begin to stack up. There will be times you get stuck on one idea and can’t move forward. When you spend too much time on one work, the others can begin to catch up to you. This is where switching the pots and working on something else comes in handy. Let’s go back to our May Thanksgiving dinner. Let’s say you’ve opened a bottle of wine while cooking. Before you can take that first drink, you have to allow the wine to breathe. Maybe focus on the green beans for a second or check on the potatoes. When you come back to the wine, you’ll be able to taste all the flavors. It’s the same for writing. Taking a break to allow your eyes and mind to freshen up will help you find any contradictions or underdeveloped ideas. You’ll see what needs to be worked on. You’ll then be able to explore those conflicts and find solutions.
Admittedly, I didn’t fully grasp the point of moving between projects at first. I hated the idea of working on a project that wasn’t under a time-crunch. To me, that was what would lead to unfinished works piling up. But I began to look at it as a technique I could use to better organize my time and enhance my writing. Coming back to work after giving my eyes and mind a rest helped me explore my ideas more in depth.
This became clear during one of my writing courses. I had been working on a short story and I couldn’t figure out where I needed to go with it. Did my characters make sense? Was the plot headed in the right direction? I was stuck. The short story was due within the next couple days and I hated waiting till the last minute to finish any assignment. But I took a break from that short story and began working on another fiction piece I was writing for fun. I let my brain rest by throwing myself into my other projects. In the end, I decide to start the whole story over and wrote something that worked better. It amazed me how much taking a break helped with developing ideas and moving through multiple projects. I spent less time on contemplating what should happen next and more time writing.
One of the best feelings is how accomplished you’ll feel once you’ve finished with the juggling act. When your guests tell you how much they enjoyed your dinner party, you’ll feel that the stress of finding your way through the work was well worth it. You just have to remember to take it one project at a time. And if you need to switch up the pots so you can let one simmer, then do it. It’ll help you hone your ability to move from one project to the next and make it easier to manage your time.
