The Project Finishing Mindset

Get Your Book (or Story, or Article) Done, Already

Get Your Book (or Story, or Article) Done, Already

Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash

A couple of years ago, on my other blog, I wrote this:

So, I’m four scenes away from finishing the most terrible Shitty First Draft ever, in the history of man, written. I started this novel on a sunny afternoon in Collioure last September when I got a sudden inspiration. I’ve been working steadily on it since then, taking pretty much the whole months of December and February off to deal with more pressing tasks.

The big news about this draft is that it is so bad I nearly abandoned it. I even wrote a blog post about it. I felt I’d made so many changes in the book that it wasn’t worth it to continue, that I should just start over.

But then I started thinking. As one does.

And I remembered various bits of advice and quotes I’d read.

Like these:

“Finish your novel, because you learn more that way than any other.” James Scott Bell

“Whatever it takes to finish things, finish. You will learn more from a glorious failure than you ever will from something you never finished.” Neil Gaiman

And then there are Robert Heinlein’s Rules for Writing, the first two of which are apropos to our topic here:

1. You must write

2. You must finish what you write.

I felt bad about the prospect of abandoning my poor crappy baby. A baby born in France, no less. So I heaved a heavy, tortured sigh and went back to the horrible WIP, telling myself to just hit the high spots and get something, anything, on the page.

Flash forward to today.

That poor, crappy baby really was as horrible as I thought. The story meandered, the plot didn’t hold together, the characters changed midway through.

But I love the main character. I loved the situation she faced. And so one day last fall, just before I got a new hip, I pulled the story out and started tinkering around with it. And in January, I started a new draft.

And guess what? I’m four chapters away from finishing it.

And it is not a poor, crappy baby. It’s pretty good. It is so different as to be nearly a whole new novel, but the main character is the same and she’s even more awesome. The book needs rewriting and polishing, of course, but it’s pretty damn good.

I never, ever would have gone back to it if I hadn’t finished it. If I hadn’t put all that effort and energy into it I would have figured, what’s the use. And it would have landed in the file of half-finished posts and dead ideas.

So I am a big fan of finishing.

Even when you hate your project.

Even when it is hard.

Even when you have no idea where it’s going.

If you’re struggling to finish a project, here are a couple of ideas that might help:

Try to Remember Your Initial Enthusiasm

Try is the operative word here. I know, intimately, how easy it is to grow weary of a book. Sometimes this happens in the middle, sometimes near the end. But somewhere inside you that same starting spark remains. See if you can’t dredge it up. Maybe, like me, you love your character. Maybe you love the story. Or the setting. There’s got to be something you love about it or you wouldn’t have gotten this far.

Just Freaking Do It

I know. It’s painful. But you can do it. Set yourself a small modest goal, say 250 words a day, and commit to it. For most writers, that’s less than a thirty minute time commitment. You can suffer through anything for that long, right? It will be so worth it when you finish because I’ll bet you anything when you’re done you won’t think the project is so bad.

Think About How Much You’re Learning

If you subscribe to the view that novels should be written start to finish, in one draft, before going back to rewrite, every draft is a huge learning experience. And here’s the deal: you will know so much more about your story by the time you get to the end. More than you can imagine as you slog through the middle. Even though it doesn’t seem like it now, finishing is going to make you a better writer.

If you’re struggling through a draft that you feel you’ll never finish, I feel your pain. I have faith that you can finish it. And that you’ll thank me when you do!

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