Unfortunately, I rarely finish what I start when it comes to writing. Though the length of time it takes me to complete something is never an issue, I tend to decide it is and abandon projects when it feels like I should be done with them already. To make matters worse, I can be quite slow when it comes to writing, which means I don’t feel as though I’m making any progress and then thanks to the decision that I’m taking too long, I stop making any altogether. Whether seduced by a new story or intimidated by a current one, I can’t seem to bring my stories to their conclusion.
I’ve noticed this mostly happens with any longer novels or stories I write, whereas very short pieces don’t seem to pose the same problem. I’m not incapable of finishing stories, just awful at it. In this post, I want to look at exactly what might be holding me back from finishing my stories and how I might go about changing that.
Why I Can’t Finish What I Write
Thanks to a combination of observation and self-awareness, I’ve narrowed it down to three general areas that influence whether I manage to finish a novel:
Finding New Ideas
I can’t resist the pull of a new idea. There is a lot of writing advice out there that encourages writers to ignore new ideas until they’re done with their current project… but I don’t think I’m capable of doing that. Once I get a new idea, I can’t stop thinking about it until I write it down and find out if it’s viable or not. The more I resist thinking about it and try to focus on my current project, the more I find myself thinking about it. Then progress on my current writing project will stall because I’m eager to write down or figure out ideas for the new one, which inevitably leads to two unfinished projects, which is infinitely worse than one.
Getting Stuck
Occasionally I stop making progress in a story because I’ve found that I’m unsure of where to go next or how to get through a particular scene. This is probably the most irritating hurdle I face because it’s not always easy to find a way through a piece of writing that you’re unsure about. The longer I take to get through it, the less likely I am to persevere, and then I’ll abandon it for another project and the cycle continues.
Lack of Confidence
This is probably my biggest issue when it comes to writing in general, but it has quite a significant impact on finishing what I’ve started. There have been many occasions where I’ve made it around three-quarters of the way through a story and stopped, knowing exactly where I want to go next and exactly how the story will end. Despite feeling prepared as I approach the end of my project, I run out of steam. The inspiration I’d previously had will quickly be replaced with fear and uncertainty as I wonder ‘Is this worth it? Is it even good enough?’ Lacking confidence is crippling with most things, and when it comes to writing, it makes my projects grind to a halt, never to be completed, and it’s frustrating, to say the least.
What I Plan To Do About It
Since I’m tired of knowing exactly why I struggle to finish writing things and not doing anything about it, I’m eager to put some strategies in place to put a stop to it. So, here they are:
Make more Detailed Plans
I make plans, I do. I just find out that they’re not always as detailed as I hope by the time I get to a scene and am not quite sure what to do with it. With my plans, I usually only put down the big ideas of my scenes: what will happen in general, what’s the outcome, and what’s the point. But I don’t usually go into enough detail about getting into and out of the scene or what exactly is going to happen, and then I get to it and wonder, what on earth did I mean by that? If my plans had a little bit more padding, I could iron out issues before I get to writing them down for real, which would prevent me from breaking my flow and feeling stuck.
Have Writing Goals
I write most consistently when I have something to achieve. I cannot write aimlessly, ambling towards a distant, undefined finish line. I need some kind of structure and a definitive aim, which is fine. While I’m not about to make every day feel like I’m sprinting to finish enough words to hit an impossible goal, I would like to have some kind of weekly or monthly goals as to where I’d like to be in my project. I think that could help keep me on track.
Get More Accountability
Unfortunately, making myself proud is not always enough motivation for me to finish something. While I write primarily for myself, I’m also not particularly bothered enough to write for myself all the time, which means I can do it whenever. Maybe I need to lean on a friend or two to keep me motivated, or at the very least convince myself that they care deeply about when I finish my stories even if it’s not true, just to keep myself going.
Stop Switching Stories
It would take me a lot less time to finish my stories if I could stop jumping from one to another without making much progress in either. Ideally, I would quit cold turkey, and remain loyal to one story from beginning to end. However, I’m not convinced that’s possible for me. Switching between stories when I have time to write helps keep me motivated, so I don’t think I can stop altogether. Rather than not doing it at all, I think that if I am going to keep jumping stories, I need to do it in a balanced way, ensuring that I have a set goal before I leave it to go back to another.
Ultimately, I don’t want to be concerned about how long it takes me to finish writing projects, just that I do it eventually. There’s no deadline, no rush, just a desire to see my ideas in a complete form. How can I practice bringing a longer novel to a decent ending if I never get to that point? Hopefully, in a few months, I’ll have finished one of the novels I started in the last couple of years thanks to implementing the changes above and have a positive update to share. If not, I hope I’ve made a little progress at least!
Do you struggle to finish your writing projects? Do you have any tips to share?
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