One Book at a Time? – by Liisa Kovala

Happy Saturday! In today’s newsletter you’ll learn:

📚 Whether writing more than one book at a time could work for you

📝 How I handle working on multiple books

☞Tips to keep your work moving forward

Let’s be clear. I didn’t have a strategy when I started writing seriously back in 2012. I was just trying to write my father’s incredible story of surviving a Nazi concentration camp. But, while I was writing and revising Surviving Stutthof and working on a Creative Writing Certificate at the University of Toronto, I was taking classes in a variety of genres in addition to creative non-fiction and memoir. One of those courses, a fiction course, required me to write a short story, and those pages became the early idea for Sisu’s Winter War. Before I knew it, I had one book I was finishing, and another book idea emerging. I liked it. Since then, I’ve always had a few projects at various stages on my desk (or my laptop).

Not everyone will want to have more than one book idea going at the same time. I get it. One book is hard enough to write. But it turns out, for me, having two or three projects on the go is actually helpful. Generally, I have a book I’m revising, a book I’m drafting, and a book idea I’m researching or planning. For instance, the Donovan novel is currently with the publisher, and eventually I’ll need to pause to work with an editor. I have another completed manuscript (I rarely have two manuscripts at the near-completion stage—this is a first), a draft of a historical novel that needs major revisions, and pages and pages of scribbled ideas for a future contemporary series.

Does that sound overwhelming? It’s not, actually. Writing one book while planning or researching another gives me a chance to flip between projects and keeps me from that dreaded sense of despondency when I’m feeling stuck. As I wrote in a previous post, I don’t subscribe to the notion of writers’ block. Instead, I move on to something else that will move a project forward while I ruminate on the issues that are challenging me on the other.

I don’t have a regular writing schedule. Instead, I favour time blocking. A daily writing practice has never worked for me. As it turns out, I don’t know many writers who write every day, despite that worn piece of advice. Instead, I block off times in the week for different tasks. One block might be for writing fresh pages. One block might be for editing. Another block might be for researching and taking notes. Depending on how I’m prioritizing any given project, or the deadlines I’ve created for myself, some blocks will be longer than others. Using time blocking in this way keeps my week fresh and interesting, and I’m less likely to put off my writing-related tasks to the next day, because I already have time blocked off for other things. Can you tell I’m a task-orientated person? It’s how I approach most of my day-to-day activities, including social media posts, house chores, and client work.

If you are a person who reads one book to completion before starting another, or needs a project to be completely done before starting a new one, this strategy might not be for you. I frequently have several books at various stages, often a novel, a non-fiction book, and a book of poetry. Perhaps it’s something about my brain that enjoys moving from one idea to the next, but I’m no expert when it comes to how this old noggin works.

The wonderful part is seeing all the projects move forward incrementally, even when it feels like progress is slow. Do you have more than one project on the go? How do you organize your time?

Here are a few suggestions for multiple projects:

• Prioritize your projects and allot time accordingly

• Create achievable, stress-free goals

• Keep files neatly labelled and have separate places to store materials for your projects

• Leave yourself notes about next steps for a project when you flip to another one

• Know that moving from one project to the other will move something forward instead of stalling out altogether

• Know that sometimes one project will get more attention while the others rest patiently

• It’s natural to feel excitement about a new idea, but the old one needs your attention, too

• The longer you are away from projects, the more difficult it can be to return to them, so revisit them frequently

• Try time blocking and see if it works for you

The Women Writing Circle meets on the second and fourth Monday of the month from 6:30-8:00 PM EST. This offering is for paid subscribers ($8 USD/month). You can learn more about the benefits of subscribing here. I’m looking forward to creating a magical writing community with you, and getting some pages written in 2025.

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ENROLL NOW

Join my 8-week Spring Group Book Coaching. This session is ideal for individuals who have an idea for a novel or memoir and need guidance to get started, or who have a draft and need a plan for revision. You will receive a weekly group book coaching session and individual feedback every week on submissions, as well as weekly goal setting. This is a hands-on, interactive, and personalized coaching program that will help you:

• ​Clarify your book idea and goals

• Develop your ideas and hone in on your point

• Participate in craft exercises and discussion

• Create a plan to move your project forward

• Get honest and compassionate feedback from me and your peers

• Stay motivated and accountable to your deadlines

• Find the joy in your writing practice

Work with me

Happy writing!