My dogs provided me with an amazing insight about writing and productivity the other day. Like most pooches, my dogs sometimes get chews to play with, often in the form of antlers. Cleo, my littlest dog, often decides that the most desirable chew to have is whichever one Jack has and not the one she’s currently chewing. So, as most pooches do, my dogs end up lovingly fighting over them the like wolf cubs over a scrap of meat.
Though their tactics are generally more refined than a wolf cub. They prefer to distract each other from the antler with a favorite toy and then swoop in and steal it, laying claim to both antlers. The other will then sit and stare forlornly at the lost antler until devising their own clever scheme to trick the other away from the chewy prize. Cleo is usually much easier to distract than Jack. While she can at times have a laser like focus on one single thing (such as when its time to go outside and throw the ball) just as often she bounces from one thing to another, a furry little pinball in the arcade machine that is the living room.
Take the other day as an example. I had just given them their antler chews and for a few minutes they were both happily chewing on their own antler. Then Cleo decided, as is her wont, she’d rather have Jacks. She spent a few minutes on her belly staring intently at him, her own perfectly good chew entirely forgotten at this point. When her plan was formulated she dashed to the back room where she’d left the stuffed animal and began mouthing the squeaker.
Jack looked up, ears going to the alert position. He did not immediately abandon his prize. Cleo had to drag the toy within his sight and by degrees closer and closer to him, increasing the temptation as she continued to sound the squeaker that is like a siren’s call to poor Jack. At last he could take it no longer and got up to lunge for his toy.
That’s when Cleo took her chance and dashed for the antler and set to chewing.
Jack realized almost at once what had happened, but rather than letting it bother him he simply went over to Cleo’s and started chewing that. Of course, as soon as he did that, guess which chew Cleo decided was the better one.
Executing another distraction, Cleo managed to claim her original chew back from Jack. Only this time she snatched it up and took it over to where Jack’s original chew was. Lying down on top of his, she proceeded to triumphantly chew her own.
Jack needed a distraction of his own. He pretty much has Cleo’s number on this so it didn’t take long at all. Fetching a squeaky tennis ball, Cleo’s favorite thing in the world, he squeaked it once and then sat back. She abandoned both chews immediately to go claim it and Jack took her place, perched atop his chew while happily munching on hers.
This kept going back and forth, but I noticed something. Overall, Jack was the one who actually got to spend the most time enjoying chewing, whether it was his own or Cleo’s, and this is because Jack focused on chewing, except when something was preventing him from doing so, rather than on always trying to get a better chew. Even when his attention was diverted, he made best use of his time to insure that he got as much chewed as he could while still enjoying the other things.
This reminded me a lot of how writers tend to bounce between projects, even if its just inside their own heads. Sometimes this prevents them from getting much of anything done on any project. Having too many projects going at once, or simply bouncing between projects with too much rapidity, can be the death of productivity. Sometimes writers do this because it fuels their creative process. Some do it because they always think their next book will be better than the one they’re working on. Some do it because they’re easily bored or distracted.
Now, does this mean that all writers need to work on just one piece of writing at a time to be successful? No, not necessarily, though for some writers this is absolutely the case. Legend Terry Brooks operates in that way, focusing on one book until he completes it before moving on to the next, and many writers operate the same way.
But there are writers who find ways to work on multiple projects successfully, like my friend Lindsay Schopfer. How does he do it? He structures his time very carefully so that each project has its own dedicated writing session, and then makes himself focus on that piece during its session and not be distracted by his other projects. Then, once his schedule of writing sessions is set, he sticks to it.
Bob Mayer, the thriller and science fiction writer, talks about always having two books in the works. One that he’s actively writing/revising, and one that he’s working on the outline for so that, once he finishes the book he’s currently writing, he has another ready to go immediately and there are no gaps between books. Then, shortly after starting the writing on a new book, he starts working on the outline for the next.
The fundamental all three of these writers are adhering to is structuring their time and then sticking to their established structure. Whether that structure calls for one book at a time or multiple is entirely up to the that author. Though I don’t claim to speak for any of them, I imagine Terry would probably argue that trying to write or outline more than one book at once provides too many things to focus on and risks mixing up pieces from one book with another. Lindsay has spoken about how having multiple projects is necessary to his creative process because a project worked on solely will grow stale after a while and he can generate more ideas and better writing if he has several to work on. Bob Mayer’s focus on one book and one outline is a result of his desire for maximum output and time efficiency in his creative process without sacrificing any part of the creative process to achieve it. But all three have a structure, and all three adhere to it, unwavering.
Canine Writing Lesson #2: He who focuses on chewing, chews the most, regardless of what or how he chews.
Human Translation: Regardless of how many projects you have going or how your process works, have a structure for how you’re going to use your time and stick to it to maximize your productivity.
