About a year ago when one of my sons challenged me to try NaNoWriMo for the first time, I confess I was not initially thrilled to accept that ‘write a novel in a month’ gauntlet as thrown down. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I could do a rough draft of a new novel in a month, it was just that I was in the middle of a few things including a near final rewrite of my ninth. The last thing I felt like doing was to put aside one writing project to dive into another. Besides, I hadn’t decided which of my most forward ideas ‘wanted’ to be my next story. Which simmering pot on the back of the creative writing stove should I attack next? I didn’t know yet.

But, you see, to be supportive of my son, and to encourage other writers in the family to join in on the challenge, I decided to just put my ‘nearly done’ 120K words ‘manuscript’ up on a shelf, throw caution to the wind, and just write ‘the next one’ in a flurry. Seize the moment, right? I decided to write like crazy and clean up the mess later. I figured I’d throw a sketchy story together and then I could fix it all up later sometime. NaNoWriMo was worth trying once, right? Besides, I had an almost forgotten 30-something year old idea that I could just throw down to see what it was made of. Wouldn’t hurt to try. So I did.

More than a month later, within days of completing the Novel in November challenge, I began to give my new novel draft a read-through, and found ‘her’ a good deal better than I thought ‘she’ was or would be. Still, ‘she’ was soon on a shelf, waiting to live and breathe again, while I went back to novel #9 and finished ‘her’ up so she could go out into the world to try finding her readers.

Then it was back to #10, which, except for summer vacation time off playing with my grandsons, I have tried to keep working on since. I’m currently finishing off my third rewrite on #10, but instead of digging in and getting ‘her’ ready for publication, I’ve decided to do what I did last year. My tenth novel (near completion) goes up on a shelf to wait while I begin my eleventh in another try at NaNoWriMo. I figure the ‘write a novel in a month’ challenge is a very good excuse and motivator to knock down another rough draft.

To allow for a fresh perspective for every read-through, I always walk away for a few weeks or more between rewrites anyway, so why not write something new instead of doing anything else? Yes, I oft need to organize/clean house, garden, and I like to paint (canvasses rather than walls), have a little fun, and do other more or less important things between rewrites. But, sometimes, you just have to get back to work right away. Since ‘change is as good as a rest’ (so ‘they’ say) it can be applied to writing, right?

All this got me thinking about a new method to write more, faster. Yes, in theory. The mere fact that I will be writing instead of finding other things to do while I step away from my current novel between rewrites, theoretically means I will finish novels faster. (I’ve got a hundred more solid ideas than I have years left to live and write, so I’ve got to get cracking on them, you see.) To make this method work for you, you’ll have to be able to dive from one story into another and then back again, over and over again, without mixing up characters/names and story threads but if you can do it, here’s:

The Toggle Writing Method

Write a draft (novel A), and if you like, then do a quick read-through (rough/relaxed rewrite).

Write a draft (novel B), and if you like, then do a quick read-through (rough/relaxed rewrite).

Rewrite novel draft A. Rewrite novel draft B.

Rewrite novel draft A. Rewrite novel draft B.

Keep toggling your A and B rewrites until you are done novel A and then get that one out for publication (unless B more easily gets done first – then that one becomes A, in its way).

Write a draft (novel C), and if you like, then do a quick read-through (rough/relaxed rewrite).

Finish novel B and get that second one out for publication, or toggle rewrites with novel C until you are done B (and then get it out there).

Write a draft (novel D), and if you like, then do a quick read-through (rough/relaxed rewrite).

Rewrite novel draft C. Rewrite novel draft D.

Rewrite novel draft C. Rewrite novel draft D.

Keep toggling your C and D rewrites until you are done novel C and get that third one out for publication.

Etcetera.

Plow forward, one story after another, toggling rewrites, getting one done, one after another. A, B, C, D, E…