Last May at the Storymaker conference Kevin J. Anderson was the keynote speaker. He'd given us timeline of his writing history, stressing how many times he was working on multiple projects at the same time.
Then he introduced us to his popcorn theory. Back in the old days, before microwaves, we used to heat up a pot on the stove and put oil in it. We'd add popcorn to the bottom when it got hot enough, cover it, and slide the pot quickly back and forth over the stove.
Kevin said that writing is a lot of popping corn. It doesn't make sense to put a single kernel in the pan, pop it, and then do it again with another kernel. He said that if writers want to make a living at writing they need to have a lot of kernels in that pot, heating up and popping away.
Now, I'm a one-thing-at-a-time person. I do one thing to completion, and then I start something else.
Well, I used to be.
I used to read a book, and I wouldn't start another until I'd finished it. As you can tell to the right of this blog, I've learned to be a bit more flexible.
But I've got a goal to get my R&R done and submitted by August 1st. I'm only halfway through the YA fantasy that stars my my granddaughter as the main characters. While she was visiting last month, she read what I have and offered me some great feedback. As a result, I realized there'd need to be a book after her book. The longer I've been thinking about it, the more I've wanted to write that story.
It's like that itch you can't scratch.
So, with Kevin's suggestion nagging at the back of my mind and these other projects in various stages of editing, I've decided to make the leap into lotsa popcorn.
I just signed up for Camp NaNo in August. I hope it works out okay since I've got family coming for vacation.Eeek! I wonder how many words I'll have to come up with on the other days to make up for the days I can't write.
How about you? Do you juggle multiple projects?
