I'm notorious for having about a dozen different little projects going at once, and for being a flake in general when it comes to switching projects. Here's what I've had to do to rein in these frustrating tendencies.
1. Pick a main project that's expansive enough to incorporate a wide variety of different "stuff." 2. Set myself an inviolable rule that there is one and only one main project. One setting, one system. Unswitchable. 3. I can have as many side projects going as I want, but nothing can replace the main project under any circumstances.
In most cases, something new occurs to me or catches my eye and I do a bit of work on it. Then I remember that I have only one main project, and I get back to work on that. This seems to prevent burnout while still keeping me focused, and I can usually cannibalize something from my sidetrack for use in the main project.
So my advice would be: Pick one of the two and put the majority of your energy into that. As long as you keep your main project foremost, there's no harm in going down other rabbit holes, and doing so may actually help your main project.
But you should be mainly working on one thing, and you should absolutely forbid yourself from switching it. :)
I agree with Scott. Whether painting or writing, I find that my work is better, more original and more inspired when I have an "off-project" I can devote some of my time to. When I have only one project on the go, I eventually lose interest. Without another project to switch to, I fall out of the writing/painting habit. When this happens I find it extremely difficult to get back into the groove. Even after the return of my original enthusiasm. I still have a hard-drive (and shelves) full of unfinished projects from before I started alternating projects. Just to illustrate: when I was 18 I was published twice. Between the ages of 18 and 27 I can recall submitting only one piece of finished fiction to a publisher. Now I'm averaging two or three magazine submissions a year. That's despite working in a very demanding profession. I get six days off a month in (theory). In practice, between overtime and court appearances, I`m lucky if I get three. Even so, I accomplish more now with multiple projects on the go at once than I ever did when I had more free time. Heck, when I'm made redundant in March, I might actually have time to finish that book I started writing eight or nine years ago.
I like both ideas, but I fear that working on both may either distract or burn you out quicker than you would like...
ReplyDeleteIf it comes down to it, I would choose Nightwick.
My vote is one of the NOs, but mostly because you didn't have the above as an option heh.
Cheers! Love your work.
I'm notorious for having about a dozen different little projects going at once, and for being a flake in general when it comes to switching projects. Here's what I've had to do to rein in these frustrating tendencies.
ReplyDelete1. Pick a main project that's expansive enough to incorporate a wide variety of different "stuff."
2. Set myself an inviolable rule that there is one and only one main project. One setting, one system. Unswitchable.
3. I can have as many side projects going as I want, but nothing can replace the main project under any circumstances.
In most cases, something new occurs to me or catches my eye and I do a bit of work on it. Then I remember that I have only one main project, and I get back to work on that. This seems to prevent burnout while still keeping me focused, and I can usually cannibalize something from my sidetrack for use in the main project.
So my advice would be: Pick one of the two and put the majority of your energy into that. As long as you keep your main project foremost, there's no harm in going down other rabbit holes, and doing so may actually help your main project.
But you should be mainly working on one thing, and you should absolutely forbid yourself from switching it. :)
I agree with Scott. Whether painting or writing, I find that my work is better, more original and more inspired when I have an "off-project" I can devote some of my time to.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have only one project on the go, I eventually lose interest. Without another project to switch to, I fall out of the writing/painting habit. When this happens I find it extremely difficult to get back into the groove. Even after the return of my original enthusiasm.
I still have a hard-drive (and shelves) full of unfinished projects from before I started alternating projects.
Just to illustrate: when I was 18 I was published twice. Between the ages of 18 and 27 I can recall submitting only one piece of finished fiction to a publisher. Now I'm averaging two or three magazine submissions a year. That's despite working in a very demanding profession. I get six days off a month in (theory). In practice, between overtime and court appearances, I`m lucky if I get three. Even so, I accomplish more now with multiple projects on the go at once than I ever did when I had more free time.
Heck, when I'm made redundant in March, I might actually have time to finish that book I started writing eight or nine years ago.