Finishing What You Start

Especially when your brain wants something new

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@bibi asked:

Hi Sooz, thank you for all your writing advice and for sharing your life. My question is I'm a great starter but find it hard to finish - any suggestions? I know about time blocking, or breaking writing down into small chunks but sometimes time is not kind to me.

So, my first instinct upon reading your question was that you’re like me: you love shiny new ideas. You love exploring new worlds and new characters. But oh boy, a book is actually really long, and getting to the end is a struggle once the magical newness has worn off.

This might NOT actually be your problem, so feel free to leave a comment if it isn’t. I will try to re-tackle the question if what I’m offering below doesn’t help you.

But if you or anyone else reading is like me, then the issue isn’t a time management one. The issue is a creative one.

Like I said above: this is me in a nutshell. I fall in love with new ideas as easily as my daughter falls in love with new desserts. (She loved cookies most of all until she discovered cake, and then that was her favorite dessert…until she discovered dark chocolate.)

In 2022 alone, I’ve started three different books. Only one actually has a middle and an end—the second Luminaries book, and that’s only because I had to finish it because of a contractually obligated deadline.

In fact, this is a running theme for me. I love to start things, but I struggle to find the motivation to finish them. I usually will hit the end of Act 1 or maybe get a nice chunk into the middle of the book, but I never steam all the way through in one go.

The muse comes! She inspires me to write-write-write…and then she flees and I have zero interest in that idea for a while. Like, possibly a long while. (The Executioners Three has taken me 12 years to write. I have dabbled in it every fall…and it’s still missing an ending!)

I don’t love this creative ficklness. In fact, as you might imagine, it makes finishing things that I am contractually obligated to finish a real challenge. It also makes me feel like the most irresponsible human alive. Why can’t I just hammer through a book from start to finish like my friends? Why do I have to write in one project for a month? And then jump to another project the next month? Why can’t I just focus and commit to ONE THING AT A TIME?

I know it annoys my editors too.

Earlier this year however, I was introduced to all of Becca Syme’s work and through her resources and workshops, I have to come to not only accept that my method of writing is okay…but to embrace it.

In fact, my whole goal this year was to finish Luminaries 2 so that I could finally start leaning into my distractible squirrel nature.

And now that L2 is done (just one more round of line edits to go!), I’m finally able to experiment with at finding my natural creative rhythm.

I spent the last two weeks working on something totally new…until I felt the spark on that idea flare out. Then I shifted gears over to the final Witchlands book this week. I'm going to ride this wave for as long as it lasts…

And when that flares out, I’ll shift to whatever project on my hard drive is calling me next. My hope is that I will find a rhythm that allows me to jump from project to project and never get bored. Or more importantly, to never get frustrated when I’m stuck and force myself to keep working on something that simply isn’t ready to come yet.

I’m hopeful this new approach will allow me to not only finish the final Withclands, but also to work on the other projects I owe contractually (Luminaries 3) and whatever else I might want to sell next.

I mean, look at The Executioners Three. I have enough of a book to sell! So all that dabbling each autumn wasn’t a waste of my time! It gave my. brain necessary breaks from contracted works while slowly producing something I can get paid for!

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Okay, Sooz, that was a whole lot about YOU and very little about the question.

Fair. But I promise there’s a point here + a takeaway message for all of you.

FIRST OFF: Writing something from start to finish, all in one go, is not the only way to write a book. Nor is it necessarily the best way.

You can absolutely work in bursts and spurts and still finish books, sell books, and have a happy writing career. I know plenty of successful authors who work on one project in the morning and then a different one in the afternoon. I also have plenty of friends who immerse themselves in only one thing and plug away on that until it’s finished.

Both approaches work, as does everything in between!

SECOND: If time management isn’t helping you finish a project, then look at other options:

1. Would external pressure help?

   1. A deadline always makes me finish something, even if I’m not at my happiest creatively when I feel external pressure. (I never played team sports for a reason. 🥴 I hate feeling like people are relying on me to perform!)

   2. Or maybe an accountability partner would help—or even a critique partner who is expecting a finished manuscript on a certain day. Could you find someone like that? Or an entire community?

2. Could you alternate projects like I do (and am hoping to do more of in 2023)?

   1. Maybe your brain needs novelty and gets bored easily!

   2. Or maybe your stories just need time to simmer, and shifting gears for a while will give your subconscious some much-needed space.

3. Would some external input help?

   1. Maybe your creative well is empty and taking a break to read, view, game, etc. would help the well replenish before you sit down again.

   2. Or perhaps talking to a trusted friend will help you brainstorm ways to push forward. I never do this as often as I should, and whenever I do I find it unlocks so much I hand’t considered before.

4. Do you need a story roadmap before you can proceed?

   1. Some people can write entirely by the seat of their pants and love the freedom of “not knowing.” Some people can write by the seat of their pants for piece of the book…but for other parts, they have to rely on structure and plans.

   2. I am one of those latter people, and often when I’m stuck, I turn to my favorite craft books.¹ Did I miss an important story beat somewhere in what I’ve written?

   3. Or maybe, by looking at a list of different beats I can create a roadmap to help me finish the book. Will I stick to the roadmap? Of course not, but having it helps get back into the swing of things.

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Another thing I want to mention is that I have discovered I always get stuck at big story turning points. I typically write with “tentpoles” I’m aiming for in a story; I know I’m headed generally, but I figure out all the “in-between bits” as I go.

Almost ALWAYS when I hit a tentpole, I get stuck. Whatever I’d planned next no longer feels right and I have to recalibrate my characters, my plot, my pacing. The tentpoles I thought were coming get tossed and I come up with something new.

Occasionally I can brainstorm my way through this (alone or with someone). Other times, I need to fully step away and refill the well with input. And other times, I just need to work on something else for a bit.

The hardest walls I hit are always the walls between sequels. After I type “The End,” it takes so long before I hear the characters again. Before I can reconnect with them and figure out what their next adventure might be. Yes, I will have open plot threads from the previous book, but because I have wrapped up a character arc and ended the character “happy,” then I lose my propelling sense of urgency.

But that’s okay. I know this about myself, and I know I need refill time and brainstorming time and new projects to work on that will keep my brain busy for a while.

My hope too is that as 2023 progresses and I try to embrace my cycling nature, this hard wall between my sequels will get easier to navigate. I don’t expect I’ll need less time, but I will at least be less frustrated with myself for not "“just finishing the book in one go” like some of my friends.

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The last thing I want to say on this is: sometimes finishing is just hard. Even when I’m leaning into my cyclical creative brain, I still have to make myself sit at the desk daily and put in work and time.

Certainly some writers have an enviable ability to just write freely and happily from start to finish with no resistance along the way…

But they aren’t the norm.

Writing is hard. Writing novels takes a loooooong time. And sometimes there’s just no way around that. I realize you probably already know this, but I do think it’s always worth reminding people—including myself! There will be easy, glorious moments of flow…

And then there will be hard moments where you just have to keep typing even when it doesn’t feel great. For me, the latter moments are more common…but oh boy, the former moments—when they happen—make the hard moments all worth it.

Good luck. 💚

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Bibi, I hoped this help you. Again, if it didn’t address your question at all, please leave another comment and let me know! I’d love to get a second chance to answer in the way you actually need. 😉

And thank you for the question!

🐙 - Sooz

1. My two favorites are The Anatomy of Story by John Truby and The Nutshell Technique by Jill Chamberlain.