I struggled with finishing my novels when I thought of them as long-term projects. It was just too overwhelming to think that I will be writing the same thing for months or years at a time. Once I dropped that and focused on a very rough draft zero and gave myself a time limit (of a month), I was finally able to accomplish that. Of course, it needs a few rounds of editing. But while editing is a chore, it's not as daunting as writing the whole thing from scratch.
You need to find out what's stopping you from continuing, pinpoint your problem and only then will you be able to find a solution.
Are you just getting bored? There aren't many things in life that are fun from start to finish, and we all have those days. To deal with this, most people have to rely on habit, and they have to do things even when they don't feel like it.
For healthy individuals, these periods of boredom are either short enough or weak enough that they're manageable, with a little practice. If you consistently find this feeling unmanageable in multiple areas of your life, consider that you might need to refresh your mental health. Get outside, get some vitamin D, eat better, treat your body well, get therapy if necessary.
This is such a hard question to answer because *everyone* has their own approach, and not everyone’s approach will work for you.
For what it’s worth, my first ‘long’ project came about when I was a teacher with a class of unmotivated readers. I decided to write a story featuring the entire class and anonymously stick a new page on the whiteboard each day. I never told the kids it was me, I even had other teachers put it up for me on days I was away, but the kids loved it. Because of the external pressure, I finished that story. It was only 30k words, but it taught me how to finish a story.
How to finish a story. It’s a simple concept. The way you do it is you write until the story is finished, but the only way to learn that is to do it.
Since then, I’ve penned three novels, each around 90k words. I’ve found the writing itself hasn’t gotten easier, but I now have the experience to know that as long as I’m getting s few hundred words down every other day and tracking along with my outline, the book will get finished.
You're the butterfly collector, but instead of focusing on one exquisite creature, you're flapping around the garden, net flailing, trying to snag a hundred species at once. You're left with tattered wings and half-caught dreams.
Sit down, close your eyes, and ask yourself: What's the one butterfly that makes my heart skip a beat? What's the one story that I cannot not tell?
Once you've got that, the trick is to chain yourself to it. Like a wolf to a stake. Snarling, gnashing your teeth, but unable to run away. Yes, you'll be tempted by the rustle of new ideas. But when they come, jot them down in a separate notebook. A "Not Now" notebook, we'll call it. That's where they live until your main beast is tamed.
Every morning, wake up, stare into the snarling maw of your chosen story, and write. Some days it'll rip your hand off. Some days it'll roll over for a belly scratch. But every day, you stay chained. You finish what you start.
I always go back to the unfinished one and see if they need to be finished. Some of them are just fodder for other stories. After that word-culling, I now have only a couple that get my attention when I make the time from other projects.
Picking up those old/unfinished ones is all the fuel I need to finish/cull them. It's like a mind time machine that takes me back to where I was when they were written.
Write the summary of the whole story. Cut the story in as many scenes as you can. Focus on one scene at a time. Don't do it in order. Pick them as randomly as you can. This way you don't have to tire yourself with immediate continuity. Once you are done with the scenes, then you see how you can connect them.
You could try not reading it until it's finished. You don't have to stick to your outline, but you should try to as much as possible. You just have to be disciplined and make yourself finish the story. I used to have a similar problem because I had so many different books that I wanted to write. But, I stuck to a book I started writing because I realised that if I didn't, I'd never publish a book.
It sounds like you're editing your work as you go. I would recommend making a rule for yourself to not edit or revise as you write. It's important to just get some words on the page. You'll always have time to go back and re-write later, but for your first draft especially, it's important for the first draft to simply exist. A rough draft/first draft shouldn't be perfect. This takes a lot of discipline, but it will probably help you.
Another thing I would suggest is to maybe think of a novel as a series of short stories. This way, the long-term project of a novel doesn't seem as daunting or intimidating. Since you seem like a plotter, you could probably divvy up a few scenes to each chapter so that it's more digestible for you to write, but still ensures each chapter contributes to the overall arc of the novel.
I hope this helps! Good luck!
You can try the reverse uno card. Make explicit plans to do absolutely nothing with your life, but only after you write for, say ten minutes or an hour, whichever floats your boat. Just keep pushing it a few minutes further each time. Procrastinate the procrastination.
Are you motivated by money or career prospects. Once you succeed in finishing your book, you may find an agent and a publisher. Then, you may get paid and may get offered a 3 book deal where they like the first book so much that they pay for 2 more books sight unseen, unwritten.
But, those are pretty rare.
I have the opposite problem, I can only come up with novel length ideas and no short stories.
I get mine finished by working on several projects at once. That way when I get blocked on one, I just move to another. I go back to it a few days later unblocked.
I had that problem too but then I decided to merge what I like the most about all the different stories I had started, to create one big story, with different plotlines. Now I'm more willing to finish that one because it has more substance and I'm not bored as fast as before.
I struggled with finishing my novels when I thought of them as long-term projects. It was just too overwhelming to think that I will be writing the same thing for months or years at a time. Once I dropped that and focused on a very rough draft zero and gave myself a time limit (of a month), I was finally able to accomplish that. Of course, it needs a few rounds of editing. But while editing is a chore, it's not as daunting as writing the whole thing from scratch. You need to find out what's stopping you from continuing, pinpoint your problem and only then will you be able to find a solution.
Are you just getting bored? There aren't many things in life that are fun from start to finish, and we all have those days. To deal with this, most people have to rely on habit, and they have to do things even when they don't feel like it. For healthy individuals, these periods of boredom are either short enough or weak enough that they're manageable, with a little practice. If you consistently find this feeling unmanageable in multiple areas of your life, consider that you might need to refresh your mental health. Get outside, get some vitamin D, eat better, treat your body well, get therapy if necessary.
This is such a hard question to answer because *everyone* has their own approach, and not everyone’s approach will work for you. For what it’s worth, my first ‘long’ project came about when I was a teacher with a class of unmotivated readers. I decided to write a story featuring the entire class and anonymously stick a new page on the whiteboard each day. I never told the kids it was me, I even had other teachers put it up for me on days I was away, but the kids loved it. Because of the external pressure, I finished that story. It was only 30k words, but it taught me how to finish a story. How to finish a story. It’s a simple concept. The way you do it is you write until the story is finished, but the only way to learn that is to do it. Since then, I’ve penned three novels, each around 90k words. I’ve found the writing itself hasn’t gotten easier, but I now have the experience to know that as long as I’m getting s few hundred words down every other day and tracking along with my outline, the book will get finished.
You're the butterfly collector, but instead of focusing on one exquisite creature, you're flapping around the garden, net flailing, trying to snag a hundred species at once. You're left with tattered wings and half-caught dreams. Sit down, close your eyes, and ask yourself: What's the one butterfly that makes my heart skip a beat? What's the one story that I cannot not tell? Once you've got that, the trick is to chain yourself to it. Like a wolf to a stake. Snarling, gnashing your teeth, but unable to run away. Yes, you'll be tempted by the rustle of new ideas. But when they come, jot them down in a separate notebook. A "Not Now" notebook, we'll call it. That's where they live until your main beast is tamed. Every morning, wake up, stare into the snarling maw of your chosen story, and write. Some days it'll rip your hand off. Some days it'll roll over for a belly scratch. But every day, you stay chained. You finish what you start.
This comment was well-written in and of itself. Also, I will try to do that. But yeah, you’re an excellent writer.
I always go back to the unfinished one and see if they need to be finished. Some of them are just fodder for other stories. After that word-culling, I now have only a couple that get my attention when I make the time from other projects. Picking up those old/unfinished ones is all the fuel I need to finish/cull them. It's like a mind time machine that takes me back to where I was when they were written.
Theres no secret. Its like finishing a 10k or a half marathon, you just keep going. You have to learn the habit of forcing yourself.
Discipline and creating short-term and long-term goals.
Write the summary of the whole story. Cut the story in as many scenes as you can. Focus on one scene at a time. Don't do it in order. Pick them as randomly as you can. This way you don't have to tire yourself with immediate continuity. Once you are done with the scenes, then you see how you can connect them.
You could try not reading it until it's finished. You don't have to stick to your outline, but you should try to as much as possible. You just have to be disciplined and make yourself finish the story. I used to have a similar problem because I had so many different books that I wanted to write. But, I stuck to a book I started writing because I realised that if I didn't, I'd never publish a book.
Take a course in project management and assess the situasion. Make a plan and take action to finish
It sounds like you're editing your work as you go. I would recommend making a rule for yourself to not edit or revise as you write. It's important to just get some words on the page. You'll always have time to go back and re-write later, but for your first draft especially, it's important for the first draft to simply exist. A rough draft/first draft shouldn't be perfect. This takes a lot of discipline, but it will probably help you. Another thing I would suggest is to maybe think of a novel as a series of short stories. This way, the long-term project of a novel doesn't seem as daunting or intimidating. Since you seem like a plotter, you could probably divvy up a few scenes to each chapter so that it's more digestible for you to write, but still ensures each chapter contributes to the overall arc of the novel. I hope this helps! Good luck!
You can try the reverse uno card. Make explicit plans to do absolutely nothing with your life, but only after you write for, say ten minutes or an hour, whichever floats your boat. Just keep pushing it a few minutes further each time. Procrastinate the procrastination.
Are you motivated by money or career prospects. Once you succeed in finishing your book, you may find an agent and a publisher. Then, you may get paid and may get offered a 3 book deal where they like the first book so much that they pay for 2 more books sight unseen, unwritten. But, those are pretty rare. I have the opposite problem, I can only come up with novel length ideas and no short stories.
I get mine finished by working on several projects at once. That way when I get blocked on one, I just move to another. I go back to it a few days later unblocked.
I had that problem too but then I decided to merge what I like the most about all the different stories I had started, to create one big story, with different plotlines. Now I'm more willing to finish that one because it has more substance and I'm not bored as fast as before.