Managing Multiple WIPs

[BellaLestrange87]

There are probably some of us who have enough self-control to start a WIP and finish it without starting any other WIPs. One at a time.

 

I am not one of those people. I currently have at least 6 WIPs on the go, all of them in varying stages of nowhere-near-completion. And the reason they are nowhere near completion is because I can't come up with an effective system for rotating through them.

 

For those of you with multiple WIPs, how do you manage to update each on a steady schedule? Do you put your WIPs in a list and work in a list? Write a whole bunch of one story at a time and then keep a backlog of finished chapters? Write whatever story you have muse for?

[Bat Stitch Crazy]

I'm supposed to manage my WIPs?!?! I have so many I've lost count but I usually work on them when the mood strikes and attempt to have a couple chapters written before I upload one so I have a slight backlog. (Not that this always works)

[TreacleTart]

If you find out how, please share. I have 20 WIPs, 7 of which are novels, all of them nowhere near completion.

[Archer Rose]

I have three WIPs and currently only one has an final chapter so I find it easier to write that one as I know what the end goal is so I tend to write that one more as I have the muse for it more.

 

One that I really liked the idea for was a love triangle which I always had planned to be one person to get the girl and suddenly as I'm writing it that I realise the other character has more chemistry with the female OC so I can't decide what to do.

 

I think I always try to assign some time to each story to either write/brainstorm ideas but if the muse isn't coming for that story in that time then I move on to another one.

 

I'm currently writing a one-shot for a challenge that I want to finish before I start on another chapter of one of WIPs. I think it's nice to chat to people to get ideas and feedback which is pretty motivating.

[scooterbug8515]

Presently I only have one WIP loaded to the archives but if you look up scooterbug8515 on HPFF you will see several WIP's.  I never managed them well and kept jumping where the muse leads.  What I have started doing now is I am not allowing myself to post another WIP until the first one is done.

 

My muses aren't always happy with this so I will periodically write a few chapters of another WIP if the muses demand and save it in a file or on my personal forums to come back to once my current WIP is completed.

 

It kept me on track to get 13 chapters done of my current WIP sadly I haven't been inspired to finish yet though I know the end and have since about chapter 3

[lovegood27]

I don't have that many WIPs currently (not that I want to). Actually, I only have one atm because it annoys me if I see the word WIP too many times on my AP Weird reason, I know.

 

I would say to just write whichever story you have muse for. If you try to write a story which you have no ideas for, it doesn't end up being fun- which isn't good. For me at least, I tend to have ideas for different stories at different times, so I would just write whatever I have inspiration for.

 

If this doesn't work...write what you feel like writing! Maybe one story will end up getting updated a lot if it's your favourite, but it doesn't matter too much. In the end, you're still getting something done

[hedwig1751]

To be honest, I'm one of those strange people who only has one WIP and is afraid of starting another one for fear of not completing it, you know? No? . It just bugs me a lot when I see that a piece of work is Abandoned, because I just think if you've started something and put the time and effort into it, why not finish it?

 

I have a Novella (my first fic) which is still a WIP, and I've been working on that, but if I enter a challenge, or get an inspiration for a new story, that story tends to just be a one shot, that are always completed, so I can continue working on my WIP.

 

I tend to prioritise my one shots to get them completed before I start on a new chapter of my WIP, but I'll always come back to it to eventually complete it, no matter how long it'll take

[Guest Tanda]

I have some.

 

I've started Tengu and Ninja for NaNo project  and I have the last scene in my mind, but RL and my English ability prevent me from finishing it.

 

I've already finished my first multi-chaptered ones (First Mission, a Daughter of Druid and Broomstick Makers ) at ffnet as A Daugher of Druid, which has 52 chapters, but most of them not betaed yet. I'll edit them and have already started posting edited one at hpff (it's easier for me to post there than hpft, 'cause I'm a trusted author at hpff. In the future, I wish I could get the same status at hpft as well.)

 

There are more, "Attack on the Death Eaters", "Out of the Magical World", "Beyond the Waves and "Cygnus Black and His Three Daughters".

 

To continue the stories, I pick the right story challenge on the forums for each story and work hard to submit it by the deadline.   

 

 

[MegGonagall]

After a twitter discussion, I feel it’s a good time to bring this topic back to life.

How do I manage multiple WIPs? Simple answer - I don’t. ? 

But no, I try to work on a story, then an annoying blot bunny will hop along, I’ll try to ignore it, but they’re persistent little buggers. So then I’ll begin a new fic, try to focus on that, and then a new little plunny will hop along. It’s a vicious cycle. 

I do have a few completed stories, but there are too many WIPs on my AP that I have been working on for far too long now, and really need to tell the new plunnies to go away, until I finish the WIPs I have. 

[belgian quaffle]

I am terrible at managing multiple WIPs so my solution has been to post only one in hopes that will force me to attempt to focus mostly on that one. That being said, while I have one WIP up and running, I have multiple docs saved on my computer that are other fics I've begun because I definitely agree that WIP-->plot bunny-->new fic is a vicious cycle I'll never escape

[Pixileanin]

Up until last year, I never left a story unfiished.  I'd hammer away on that puppy for as long as it needed until it was done.  But then I started getting interested in OF and expanding current stories into other things.  

So now I have a few proejcts.  Some are half written, some are half plotted.

And I am not managing them.  In fact, I've finally is he'd several rather larger projects that have nothing to do with them.

This summer is the time when IL go back arena sweep through them and prioritize.  Ah, I wish I had a plan for this!

[lebensmude]

Lol, I'm really bad at managing all of my WIPs to be honest. I don't know if it works for other people but personally, I can no longer just update whatever I get the muse for because I tried that and I either ended up not updating anything at all or updating too much of one story and everything else just got left on like chapter 1. I've forced myself to just stick to 2 or 3 WIPs at time ... per fandom at the moment. It's much more manageable than the 30+ I had going before. I have found that planning chapter outlines in advance for all of my WIPs helps to keep me writing even if my muse has deserted because I have an outline ready for what I had in mind so it just becomes a matter of getting it down in words. I also keep a list of what I'm going to update when, and it's really helpful especially when you have as many ideas for oneshots as I do.

[GotNoJamsss]

Are the words 'managing' and 'WIP' meant to be used in the same sentence? I feel like this is one of those things the world tells you should happen, but we all know is false - like how we're supposed not supposed to eat cookies for breakfast...LET ME LIVE MY LIFE!  

I am definitely a multiple WIP at all times sort of writer because I get bored or stuck so easily and need to change up what I'm doing. I guess that's how I sort of rotate through them, what am I vibing with at a given time? I've also written before that I fight writer's block by just writing whatever does come to mind and usually it's just a sort of plot word vomit that pours onto a page and needs CRAZY revisions. This is another way to rotate through stories; sometimes I write dialogue for one story and narration/plot for another because that's where the inspiration strikes.

I'm a big believer in not forcing creativity, but creating space for it to naturally flow. You might start a story because you were feeling a kind of way or experiencing a head space that you needed to put to paper and you just aren't in that place anymore so the story doesn't flow, don't force it.