By Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

I hear it every conference. It’s not uncommon for conferees to ask, “How many projects do you work on at once?” The number varies but I continually have numerous writing projects that keep me busy.

The question that follows is, why?

The short answer. I’ve learned that when one project is complete, it’s time to move ahead. The long answer is, any writer needs to have a back pocket filled with possibilities and those possibilities need to be developed enough that they make sense if a publisher requests them.

It’s important to have a file ready if the current project just doesn’t work. For example. My agent recently presented a full novel and proposal to my publisher. They liked the work but didn’t see that it was a current fit. “Does she have anything in the back pocket?” And my agent was happy to present them a second project “idea” that the publisher contracted. Are you seeing the importance of working on more than one idea at a time? 

Rather than have the deer in a headlights look on your face, the next idea is there. It may not be completed but there is enough that the publisher gets a strong idea about the project. Back pocket work is valuable and every writer needs several.

These back-pocket projects may not be fully written but you do have a nice synopsis and three chapters that you can present. A proposal is not necessarily important at this time because publishers are simply looking at a style twist they like and if there is a project that can develop into a work that fits their needs. 

I frequently see writers with one completed project who pitch the same manuscript year after year. I know what they are bringing to me before they sit down. There is a time when an author accepts they have done their best on the project and they move ahead. Stop spinning their wheels. It doesn’t mean you give up on the project, but you lay it to the side and begin a new project while you wait for the opportunity for project one. As the song says, let it goooooo! You begin project two. You’ve learned to write even better in project two and maybe that project lands you an agent. That agent is going to ask you if you have any back pocket ideas? The why goes back up to paragraph three. Project two may be a great idea, but it doesn’t fit the publisher’s needs. Still, they love your writing and your twist on things – it’s fresh and unique, so do you have any other projects? It would be a grave disappointment to have your agent say, no to the publisher. When you hear conference teachers, agents and publishers talk about moving ahead, understand this is why. 

Work on your main project to completion, but along the way, entertain those new ideas that are spurred as you work. Take a day to write one to three chapters while the idea is fresh in your mind. Put a temporary synopsis together that describes the plotline brewing in your head. Name the characters, so you will remember. Title it. Save it in your back pocket file. From time to time, take a break from project one and let it percolate. Work on a back pocket chapter or even a new idea. Build that reserve. Too many times, we have an idea that slips into la-la land because we don’t give it enough respect to develop it enough so it’s useable.

When you develop back pocket projects you are expanding your writing career. It may not be a novel or a non-fiction book, it may be articles or a children’s story idea. Give it life and allow it to brew. 

It’s easy to write one work and then get hung on just that one, never making an effort to move ahead. I’ve heard, “God told me to write this” a zillion times. And though I never doubt that God has placed that story on your heart, it doesn’t mean that this is a story He will move into publication. It may be cathartic for you, or it might be a tremendous series of articles instead of a book. It may actually be a subject that is dear to you and you’ll stick to it to completion and “learn the craft.” The point is, continue moving. God may tell you to write something but don’t put words in His mouth as to the use. Write. Write. Write. Turn the projects over to Him and then trust that His timing is perfect. 

Keep those back pocket projects growing. You may be pleasantly surprised how your career begins to grow.

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conferenceteacher. She is the cofounder of ChristianDevotions.us and the executive editor of ChristianDevotions.us and InspireaFire.com. Cindy is the managing editor forStraight Street Books and SonRise Devotionals, both imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She is an award-winning and best-selling author and the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com. @cindydevoted