How's the Book? Juggling projects by Jane Clamp

‘How’s the book?’

It’s a question I’m asked often by people who

know I’m a writer. But my answer is invariably this: ‘Which one?’

The answer shouldn’t surprise you, if you compare the way I read. The photo is of my bedside cabinet this morning, replete with my stack of books and magazines, all of which I’m reading. (It doesn’t show the pile of magazines on the floor, moved away from the risk of flailing arms in the night.) At any given moment, I’m not only part way through a number of titles that I’m reading, but also what I’m writing.

My Writing To-Do list, revised monthly or so, will include the blogs I need to submit on a regular basis, the short-deadlined articles or features which come in from time to time, plus the two “biggies,” my current novel and the Christian book which has had the full manuscript requested from a publisher.

Now, I realise that this style of working doesn’t suit everyone, but I thrive on the variety. At first, I thought I must be doing it wrong. Writers around me seemed to be focussed on their single manuscript, and there was I with my bitty portfolio. They were finishing theirs off. Mine were fragmented across my laptop. 

Early discussions with a writer friend really helped. “Think of them as your children,” she advised. “Ask yourself which one you want to give the most attention to today.” She made sense, and took the burden from me, as all good friends do. A further tip I instigated myself was to use a different font for each project, so that it looked different from the others as I worked on it.

With more time to devote to writing these days, I find the method even more helpful. After a morning of tapping away at the keyboard, my brain becomes mush, and I could tell myself with conviction that I was too tired to do any more that day. As it is, after a walk and some lunch, I can turn my thoughts to an entirely different project and find renewed energy and inspiration.

Do I dilute my output this way?

Achieve half- and not twice-as-much?

Perhaps, but it works for me.

How about you?

Jane Clamp is the author of Too Soon, a mother's journey through miscarriage; and appears regularly on Premier Christian Radio and UCB.