Writing Multiple Stories

[Lazerou]

I was just wondering if anyone has had experience with, or the inclination to, write multiple stories concurrently. I have started to do this and was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom. I am working on three very different stories so I do not feel I will have any problems with story bleed but what other potential problems should I be on the lookout for.

Thanks

[Polecat]

Many writers, I think write several stories concurrently. I know Asimov did; he had three stories going one, on a different typewriter each (Yeah they had those back then) and as inspiration waxed and waned he moved from one to the other. Not to compare myself to him but I usually have two or three stories going (or not going anywhere) at the same time.

[leo9]

I very rarely manage to focus on one work-in-progress enough to not switch to another now and then. There are always a stack of fragments in my files tempting me to get back to them.

[Venom]

I am working on two narrations right now, one long, the other very long. In between I wrote a short story. And then there are the ideas for phrases or passages for the next very long story.

I hate it!

I wish I could sit down and write one after another, but just don't have the time to finish one story before I am seized by the inspiration for another.

[lucy]

Me too. I'm currently working on two longer ones, finishing a German short story and have also a half finished short story in English.
Like Venom I would prefer to write (and finish!) one piece at a time, but I always have some other idea which I want to follow and so I end up working on several.
It's usually no problem, but once I had too many running and it caused some sort of writer's block.

[Miss Irene Clearmont]

I have been messing about with this. Writing shorts with a long one in progress. Then I find that I cannibalize the ideas from the short stories into the long. I also rewrite, sometimes almost totally. The whole thing ends up a little confusing but it has some advantages. Firstly I decided long ago to overlap characters between stories and this method keeps the kettle boiling. Secondly I get ideas that at first do not fit and write a short story (perhaps 1000-2000 words) and then realise a way of melding it with the novel length ones. It must all sound a bit haphazard but it works for me.

I keep a text file of notes that include situations and ideas that I have dreamed up, read about or seen in pictures. Plots from soaps, films and TV can provide inspiration for plotting structure or character development. I enlarge these in the text file until they reach a detail level that means that they are no longer a set of bullet points or list but become a separate piece of prose. These then get picked up. I reckon I've thrown more away than I have used but when I am feeling creative ideas are better than prose and the other way round.

The biggest drawback is continuety because it requires constant re-reading to continue and find a thread. The up side is that the re reading exposes the text to continual checking.

[IAN 2411]

I very rarely manage to focus on one work-in-progress enough to not switch to another now and then. There are always a stack of fragments in my files tempting me to get back to them.

Good point leo9, i have lots of fragments or should i say chapters and i usualy canabalise them for a longer story. then at a later date regret it after realising the complete story at a later date.

Be Well IAN 2411

[10K]

I have a handful of stories that I've started, but haven't continued. I think it makes sense to get something down when you first get the idea.

I need a bit of help with my work though...

[ntripper85]

I sort of write the same way. My first story is real, its a detailed even of my first real time encounter. Everything else will be made up fantasies of mine from mild to wild. At this point all the really need is proof reading and they are done.

[Kynetic01]

I've been toying with this approach myself. I find that sometimes an idea that won't fit with one story, will be perfect for another or vice versa. I keep a notebook where I jot stuff down to keep it for later and find myself continuously coming back and re-working stuff into one story or another. I find it helpful to be working on more than one story at once as it helps prevent writer's block or dead ends with a single story.

[TheDeSade]

At any given time I usually have three or four storylines in varioius stages of development. Some may simply be fragments of ideas jotted down while others may be well into the process. As mentioned previously, I move from one to the other depending on mood, inspiration and timing.

[Kynetic01]

That's exactly the same for me, DeSade. I find focusing on one can be limiting, especially when inspiration is fleeting.

[TheDeSade]

MY brain works in really strange ways. I can be really into writing a section of one manuscript and all of a sudden something that I have written will trip a relay in my brain that cascades ideas in a whole different project. I usually write at the keyboard, but I find I need to keep a pencil and pad handy to jot down random notes.

[Kynetic01]

That's how mine works too, I find an idea might not fit exactly with one story but with a tweak here and there it can be adapted into another. I also had a few ideas where entirely seperate stories overlap in a single chapter or scene. Like the two main characters of each story might pass by each other at a fetish party or one might be used to pleasure the other while wearing a mask, so they don't actually know or interact all that much.

[TheDeSade]

The idea of concurrent timeline in different story lines is often used in the science fiction world. Robert Heinlein is one writer that comes to mind (mainly because he perhaps my favorite.) I know that he had a huge chart in his office on which were kept the times for his various story lines. Very often his characters would overlap and sometimes even show up in different story lines as minor or incidental characters. It can be very interesting when story lines intersect, especially if you have a dedicated reader base who follows characters and story lines.

The down side is it adds to the complexity of keeping time lines in order and not introducing problems. Readers will spot such conundrums and they will become a nuisance. Too many of them and you can ruin what would otherwise be a great story due to the contradictions it can introduce which can affect the believability of the whole concept.

I timeline but not until I have an almost complete manuscript mainly because doing the timeline while doing revisions just gets to complicated and time consuming. WHen I have a manuscript that has gone through a couple of proof reads and most of the revisions are done, I will timeline it. I can then fix any problems with the timelines for the characters at that time.

For me, the creative part of the writing is the easy part. The stuff that goes on after the story is finished is where the real work begins. Editing, proofreading, timelining, are all necessary evils to produce a first rate work that people will read and enjoy.

[Kynetic01]

I've seen the same technique used in a few movies recently. I think it's kind of cool, if done right and not overused.

With my own work, I had a chance encounter worked out for a scene with two characters from separate stories but it developed into another, then another and another. I realise I can't have them all in a single story, but instead am working on a single instance where two characters are at the same party as slaves. One is being used along with a few more slaves for a sadistic game of cat and mouse, while the other is a relegated to lowly beverage serving/sexual-toy sissy-maid.

I hope to give the feeling of the same party from two very different, yet similar perspectives. Each character will be doing their own thing so to speak, but the same events and location will be constant in the chapter.

I really must get to brain-storming ideas again, I have high expectations for this chapter.

[TheDeSade]

The technique of observing the same scene from two different character perspectives is always interesting but can be challenging as well. I have never done any work that allowed me do do cross character inter-action. I have enough trouble keeping up with the characters in one work at a time, much less getting the entangles in multiple plot lines and story streams.

[Kynetic01]

I've no doubt it will be tricky, but it's a challenge I would like to attempt. I love spotting other character references in movies and want to try similar, albeit on a much smaller scale in my own work.

[TheDeSade]

Go for it. You won't stretch your skill without stepping of into new areas

[Kynetic01]

Exactly. But first I need to properly brainstorm the chapter, then adapt it to both perspectives.