Work in progress...

Write a story, publish a story, write the next story, publish the next story...
A writer doesn't work on one single story at a time, normally. Most writers I know have several written works buried under staples of paper on their desks. It takes time to publish, sometimes days, sometimes weeks, sometimes years, sometimes a lifetime. Would a writer wait for being published before he writes the next story, most of us wouldn't be writing any longer.
So we do write, and most of us (me included) write more than one story at any given time. Stuck with the plot of story number one? Go and finish chapter 37 of story number two.
Let's have a look at my desk. (Virtual desk, on my computer, as I tend to write mostly there).
There are about a dozen stories which exist with their title alone.
Another dozen of which I finished a rough plot.
Two or three which are well developed.
Several short stories in various stages.
Two completed novels which still need some editing.
One story on it's way to a publisher for submission.
As far as I know from talks with my fellow authors, that's more or less typical.

At the moment I'm working on some sexy fairy tales...