Finishing a novel, or a short story, or any kind of creative project, requires a certain element of commitment to the project as a whole. The project may need you to spend a long period of time with your attention focussed on that one thing - it's hardly surprising your creative mind starts to wander, and terrified of stagnation, it starts trying to distract you. You're like the Lothario who thought he'd been finally tamed by the buxom brunette from the tavern by the beach, only to find himself eyeing up the local ladies after a few months of passion with his paramour. You want to stay faithful, really, you do, but those new ideas are just so exciting!
I tend to find that when I'm working on one particular project, I'll indulge in short but sweet side projects. So I might be working on a novella or a serial, but I'll still write my weekly Friday flash, or blog posts. They're such small projects that they're hardly projects at all, and doing them means I get to pay scant attention to the smaller ideas while keeping myself focussed on the larger idea of the work in progress.
Having said that, the Fuel Your Writing post does contain one particular point that comes from extremely personal experience. That point is the third reason why people may find it difficult to finish a project.
I'm scared. If I never finish writing it, or I never make all of the changes to the draft, then it'll always have the potential to be amazing. If I do finish it, then it loses that potential and just becomes a 'thing' I've done. It might not live up to expectation.
As some of you may know, lately I've been working on a novella, The Guns of Retribution. It's a Western, and clocks in a couple of hundred words shy of 30,000. I've had my trusted and highly valued beta readers give it the once over, and now I've made my changes based on their feedback, I'm pretty pleased with it. Having said that, for the few days before I actually finished it, I kept finding reasons not to make the changes. I told myself I "didn't want to ruin it" but when I really stopped to think about it, I realised that I didn't want to finish it. The moment I did, it wouldn't be a "work in progress" with the potential to be the book I had in my head. It would be done (or as done as it can be until I get feedback from "higher up").
What a stupid way of looking at it! Rather than being grateful for being able to tell the story, and excited by the prospect of having it finished and getting it out there, I was worried that it would fall short of both my expectations, and everyone else's. I was sabotaging my own efforts! Of course, with the novella as a work in progress, any flaws can be smoothed out, and I can always tell myself it can be improved. With my novella finished, I have to stand behind it and say "Yes, I did this."
Well you know what? I do stand behind it, and I'm damn proud to say I did it.
Posts
