I know I’ve talked about this before, but would-be teachers of writing always seem to say that once you’ve started to write one book, you should never allow yourself to get distracted by another project.  It breaks the continuity of the mental story-telling process.

Well I’m sorry that just doesn’t seem to be how my mind works, and I doubt very much if I’m the only one.

Oh, to be sure, I do agree that if you can keep going, then so much the better.  That way you’re far more likely to keep all the little details of what you’ve said and what you plan to say in your memory.  Things thus have a better chance of flowing smoothly so the reader only sees the story, not jolts in the writing process.  But there will inevitably be times when you get stuck.  What then?

Well, if you believe the teachers, you should just keep banging your head against the wall until it gives in.  In my experience though, this can be hugely dispiriting if the log-jam doesn’t shift quickly.  Few things are more depressing for an author than staring at a blank sheet of paper (be it actual, or computerised), possibly for days on end.  There are tricks for letting the mind turn over.  I find walks help, work on my character database, or extra showers.  But these can very easily degenerate into work avoidance rituals if they don’t get the job done quickly.  So if you’re on your sixth shower of the day and your skin’s getting crinkly, it might be time for another approach.

In my case, I almost always have ideas for future books in the pipeline, so if I’m truly stuck, then why not see how one of those goes instead?  The one you’re meant to be writing will still be mulling about in your subconscious while you work on the other so, with luck, you can hit the ground running when you get back to it.

I’ve just had a classic example.  My next book is called ‘Debbie’s Gift’, but I got badly stuck with it.  Luckily, I had the idea for another one called ‘Wyeburn Station’ and that one did fully cooperate.  In fact I’ve gone from nothing more than a list of ideas to a full ninety plus thousand word first draft in just a few weeks and now it’s time to get back to Debbie.

Now, I’m not saying the teachers are wrong, only that everyone is different.  What works for me may not be what works for you.  Indeed, it might only work for me in the right circumstances.  So it’s a judgement call that needs thought and discipline.  Just don’t get too hung up on how you’re ‘supposed’ to do things.

Of course, I have the added problem that I’m writing a series, rather than one-off stories.  The issue there is that the books still have to be published in the right sequence, no matter what order they’re written in.  For example, ‘Red’, which is No’ 5 in the Saltbury series, was actually the first to be written.  It was followed by ‘Haze’, which is No’ 1, but then by ‘Gold’, No’ 14, which won’t be published for another year.  It worked for me, so don’t feel too guilty if it works for you too.