Embrace the Chaos!

Dear Maggie,

Do you read more than one book at a time? Do you write more than one book at a time?

Sincerely,

A Multitasker in Missoula

Dear Multitasker,

If you’d asked me this question several years ago, both answers would have been a resounding no. I would have said that I didn’t have time to read more than one book, and I couldn’t keep multiple books straight in my head even if I had the time. As far as writing projects, I felt the same. I’d only ever worked on one book at a time, until recently.

My answer is completely different now. I have to read a novel a week for school, and I’m in a new book club. Currently, I’m reading a print copy of the science fiction novel (Dark Matter by Blake Crouch) for class, I’ve got my book club read (The Women by Kristin Hannah) queued up on audio for travel days, and I have a steamy romance (Burn the Wild by Ava Hunter) downloaded on my Kindle for bedtime. It actually makes me happy to have so much good stuff at my fingertips!

As far as writing projects go, the picture is much the same. Now that I write fiction under both my given name and a pen name, I have two novel drafts under construction, one a romance and one a fantasy. I’m also working on whatever short fiction story or writing sample that’s due for class. I know, I know. It’s a lot. So, how do I keep them straight you might ask, and this would be a very good question. Sometimes, I don’t. Sometimes, one project will get neglected in favor of the other because I want to meet a certain deadline. Sometimes, I need a break from whatever I’m working on, and having another different kind of story to dive into keeps my creative energy flowing. Sometimes, I feel completely overwhelmed.

My biggest tricks are to not read or write more than one thing in the same genre at the same time, to plan out my writing time and stick to my schedule, and to build in time to ‘switch gears’ from one kind of writing to another. I’m not sure how sustainable this model is, but at least while I’m in school and still have to keep up with my professional writing, I’m embracing the chaos!

If you have a question for me, send it to maggie@msmaggieclare.com, and I’ll share it here on the blog.