Focus

For the final in our first week of things you really shouldn’t be doing, as a writer, I want to talk a little bit about myself. Yeah, yeah, we bloggers do that a lot. It’s pretty normal, right? Well, what I’m going to talk to you about isn’t as normal as I think it should be. And that’s what I want to discuss.

Don’t Focus On Only One Thing

Seems a little backward, doesn’t it? Most people will tell you that you should really be focusing on one thing at a time, on getting this one short story done before you work on that novel, or on finishing this novel before you can start on the next new thing. But I don’t think they’re right.

See, as creative people, we tend to have a mass of ideas in our heads. We have so many ideas, a lot of the time, that we’re nearly full to bursting. We have ideas about our ideas, and so many projects lined up that we can’t even count. We say things like, “someday, I’m going to write a story about this,” or “when I’m done with this book, I’ll work on one where this happens.” And really, we should.

For me though, working on only one project at a time, is impossible. I just can’t do it. I can’t sit here and only work on one book, only think about one thing that needs to get done or wants to be made into something new.

Ask anyone who knows me.

I always have at least two projects going at a time, and it’s where my creativity thrives. I get the best work done when I have a lot to do, when I have a mass of projects on my shelf, and I’m working on them all at once. It’s a process to keep them all straight in my head, but it’s really a lot of fun, and it’s a great challenge for my creative mind.

So really, I don’t think we should only be working on one project at a time. I think that’s limiting, lacking. It prevents us from really exploring the depths of our minds, the gravity of our creativity. And I know we’re capable of more than that. We’re capable of writing two books at a time, of editing one book while we’re writing another. We are.

People may tell you that you’re not. You may even tell yourself that. But I think you’re wrong.

See, creatives thrive when they’re creating. We just do. So how much more would you thrive, when you’re creating multiple things?

I’m serious!

If you’re creating, creating, and creating, would your brain be doing better for itself? Wouldn’t you be growing and stretching yourself beyond what you think possible? And wouldn’t that make for a better version of you, and greater versions of your work? 

I think so. 

So do it. Don’t just work on one project at a time.

Try it out.

I like it. A lot.

[love]

{Rani Divine}