multiple keyboards imageI must confess, when I started writing geek books I thought it was rather insane when I heard/read author interviews where they uttered the phrase

I’m writing two books now . . .

How could anyone keep it all straight? Of course, my geek books had a logical progression and I had to retest all of the code presented in the book. Why? Because I really hate it when geek books give you only a snippet of code which won’t compile without a whole bunch of other code around it that you don’t yet know how to write. Yes, I’ve spent way too much money over the years buying computer books from big name publisher which had outstanding reviews only to find their contents shit. Just a way to charge $45 for mostly blank paper which taught nothing . . . unless you count learning the lesson of _never_ spending money on a title from that publisher again.

When I started out in computing, multi-tasking on a PC meant using multiple PCs. It was, and still is nothing to find me sitting in a cube with 3-5 computers around me. Sometimes they are all hooked up to the same keyboard and mouse, but more recently, they each have their own.

If you’ve been reading the bits from “Twenty of Two” I’ve been dribbling out here, you know the first time I tried to write multiple books at once, I failed miserably. Why? Because I was trying to write 3 books which interlocked all at the same time. Way too big of a project for me to keep contained in my skull, especially since I don’t believe in outlines. Maybe I will create a list of the chapter titles, but an actual outline would too horribly restrict what the characters wanted to say.

Then I met Ollie. Well, figuratively met him through this little group of authors we have. It seems he’s always writing 2-4 books at the same time, and Ollie can really write. “Marsh Island” and “Blind Marsh” are two of the best books I’ve read in a long, long time.

Now I’ve learned the trick. Actually, I’ve seen the wisdom behind it. I’ve told you before of changing out your keyboard to one with a markedly different layout to jar loose some creative thoughts. Well, when done correctly, writing multiple, unrelated books at the same time is a bit of mental lubricant to keep the wheels turning.

If this is the first post of mine you’ve ever read on here then you might not know I have two books I want to complete and publish this year. Life keeps getting in the way of getting them done, but, now that “The Phallus of AGILE and Other Ruminations” is tipping the scales at nearly 300 pages with lots of sections ending with

// TODO:: finish this

I’m pretty certain it will be completed in 2018 even if I do take another one of those 7-day per week contracts. There are very few new essays to write. Mostly just need to go back through polishing and finishing the essays I got interrupted on. That book, being one of my non-programming geek books, does tend to use a big chunk of the brain. When I do manage to spend a full 8-12 hour day on it, I’m a bit burnt for a few days.

Enter your second, third, n-th book. Trying to limit yourself to no more than 4 hours at a shot (unless it is really going good) helps a writer fight off the urge to check email or look something up on-line. It also feels like it uses a different chunk of the brain so when one chunk is about out of gas you switch to the one which still has a full tank.

So, when you think you have that mythical thing called “writer’s block” and rotating through your supply of “spare” keyboards doesn’t help, simply start writing another, completely unrelated book. That’s how “Twenty of Two” is getting so much new content. Actually, it is the reason the project is once again alive. I can think about geek things for a chunk of a day then spend the rest of the day listening to Melony and the other characters tell me their personal stories. Yes, to those of you who have been reading, Ingrid has been talking but it does not yet feel as if she has told her story.

Keep your keyboards close and your stories closer!