Forum: Author Hangout

Sometimes I stop writing a novel to write a short story, but I completely put a halt on the novel until the short story done. I can only write one story at a time.

That's like me, except I've got separate 'creative writing', 'revision' and 'editing' hats that I can switch between. But I find it too distracting getting into one story to jump out and have to change all my thought processes. Since the actions in one chapter lead directly into the next, I'm afraid if I jump from one to another I'll lose what's supposed to happen next.

Ernest must be a better multi-tasker (if such a thing actually exists) than we are.

Quiet_man, I'll drop everything if I get a new book idea. I'll outline it, write the general story description and maybe even design a cover, but then I'll put it aside while my brain works on how to resolve the story as I go back to my main story.

Ernest must be a better multi-tasker (if such a thing actually exists) than we are.

CW,

It's not so much mutli-tasking, as multi-hattings and switching between hats.

To me multi-tasking is like that old pat your head while walking and chewing gum at the same time as you juggle a ball - doing multiple things at once. With writing I only do the one thing at a time, but will move between them. For example I'll be writing a new story, and run into an issue with a scene, so I put the story away to let my mind work on it, and go work on another story, or I'll move over to edit a story, or I'll go through an from an editor and see what to add into the master file or change on the master file. I move between tasks as need be.

But I find it too distracting getting into one story to jump out and have to change all my thought processes

I get characters mixed up (names, characteristics, etc.) when I'm working on more than one story. And even story line. But the most difficult thing for me has to do with "becoming the character." Like a method actor (e.g., Marlon Brando), I become the character(s) when writing a story. I stay in character. To jump from one story to the other causes the characters to behave, well, uncharacteristically.

Like a method actor (e.g., Marlon Brando), I become the character(s) when writing a story. I stay in character. To jump from one story to the other causes the characters to behave, well, uncharacteristically.

Ditto. My characters, especially my secondary characters, begin acting like the characters from the other stories. I don't 'become' the characters, but I do inhabit the characters' heads, and switching between them screws up my thinking process.

Story hopping has caused me a few problems in the past. In one case, I got my main character's name wrong by using the name of the main character in another story. My readers were quick to point out that mistake.

Don't sweat name-switching. It happens. I do that whenever I switch stories, whether I'm working on one story or several. Typically, I'll switch the main female characters between past and current stories. You just have to learn to do global searches on occasion.

I typically overlook a number of mistakes in my stories so it doesn't bother me much. The stories are free, so if my readers have a problem with my errors they can pass on future stories.

What caught me by surprise is, I never thought to check that I used the wrong name for my main character. I have been checking for that since it happened, if I think of it. I've a list of things I globally search for before posting. I don't recall if I added that to my list.

I typically overlook a number of mistakes in my stories so it doesn't bother me much. The stories are free, so if my readers have a problem with my errors they can pass on future stories.

There are a number of good editors who work on stories at SoL for free. I find they do make the finished story better. The only thing you need to watch out for is if you write a story that squicks them, so you need to check your editor's preferences. However, what you write should be good with most editors.

The only thing you need to watch out for is if you write a story that squicks them, so you need to check your editor's preferences.

Yeah, I had a heck of a time trying to find editors for my single gay romance story. Despite only having a couple quick sex scenes, I couldn't even get editors to review the non-sex chapters!

Luckily I finally found one who was excellent, so he made up for the rest! He's not into gay stories himself (like me), but reviewing them didn't bother him like it did everyone else.

Something that puzzles me is why nobody seems to be using the 'View Edit Requests' option on the authors/editors page. In the last few weeks the only requests posted there were (a) one from an author who had been looking for over a month. I agreed to try the edit, but the task for too large for me at my slow speed; (b) one request I made. I got no reply, but deleted it after a few days when I worked out a way to satisfy my need.

There's a long history to that. In short, over the years, the majority of the listed editors have either died or quit visiting the site, thus most requests for editors are never responded to. As a result, most authors/editors have learned, over time, to avoid the location like the plague. It's probably good to check, but it's generally not a productive use of our time.

When asked, I generally suggested this forum as a better place to request edits, though most newbie authors don't know where to look, and often overlook the "Editor Request" page as well, simply stumbling along in the dark until a reader suggests better options.

Personally, I'd love to see Lazeez retire the page and ideally replace it with a date-stamped or a limited-time offer page, but that's ultimately a low priority item for lazeez as it doesn't affect readers, who help keep the site going. Newbie authors either figure it out for themselves, or they disappear in frustration. :(

For a couple of years I answered edit request. Never got a reply so I just quit looking or replying.

A better solution is to build personal connections, reaching out to existing authors while offing your services to new, promising authors. As you gain experience, those authors can recommend you to others looking for more specific skills.

Many of us milk our readership. Watching our responses for suggestions and corrections. By encouraging corrections, we see whether anyone offers decent advice over the course of several chapters and then offer then a job. That way we know the editors like and respect our stories and styles of writing, they're already familiar with the stories, and more editors means more mistakes recognized and corrected.

By and large, from what I've gathered, editing is a terrible profession, as it's extremely labor intensive (long hours, always under pressure to crank out results, followed by long stretches of no work dealing with whiny authors always upset about not being understood. By doing it on a volunteer basis, hopefully those will less intense training can enjoy contributing to the story creation basis more.

I also built myself a database using OO/LO that I use to keep track of stories and characters

Me too. That's what I use to verify the name of the character is correct. It also has a summary of each chapter (done after I wrote it). If I wanted to, I could read the summaries to see the flow without reading the entire thing. It also helps me find what chapter something is in.

I find that re-reading the whole thing gets my mind back into the story better.

Ernest Hemingway did that for consistency. I can't read fast enough so I only start at the beginning of the current chapter. But when I'm done, I re-read the whole novel multiple times until I'm satisfied.

I've got one "active" story, one in the background

I have a story in the background too. I started it, but around 3 chapters into it, I had an idea for another story. That's the one I'm writing. I'll get back to the one I stopped, so it's in the background, but I don't consider myself writing two stories at the same time.