Midlist Writer: Two Books At The Same Time

Thursday, 2 April 2009

Two Books At The Same Time

Oh, yeah, every bibliophile's fantasy. . .two books at the same time. Maybe even TWINS! Er, I mean, vol. 1 & 2.

As I mentioned in my other blog, we've moved up to the beautiful university town of Oxford for six months to do research. I'm working on a history book and a novel, set partially in Oxford and London. This week my three year-old isn't yet in school so I haven't been getting much work done, but I have been doing a lot of outlining for both books.

Doing two books at the same time is something I've always done, although I've never started two on the same week. Because one is a novel and the other is nonfiction the two processes don't interfere with each other. Actually they complement each other because they satisfy two aspects of my creative impulse, the need to write stories and the academic in me that my horrible graduate school experience didn't quite manage to kill. I wouldn't attempt two novels at the same time, although I could probably swing two nonfiction books.

Next week I'll be back to work full time and the writing will start in earnest. Oxford is a great place to write, full of beauty and learning, so it should go well. I'll also be blogging more regularly now that I'm settled!

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