Today, we’re tackling another mailbag question. Natalie G. asks:
How do you keep yourself motivated to finish a story? I write anything that comes to mind but I can never stay on it. It’s difficult for me to keep writing, any tips? I’m really trying on this story I’m working on.
First of all, let me set your mind at ease, Natalie. We all deal with motivational problems. Sometimes we’re just not feeling it. Sometimes we’re tired of the same old thing. And sometimes we’re distracted by a bright shiny new idea.
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been writing or how many books you have on the shelf, you will go through seasons where it’s difficult to find motivation.
The challenge when you’re early on in this–when you’re young or very new to writing–is that, at some point, new habits must be built.
Maybe that’s not now. Maybe you’re busy with school and extra-curricular activities. Maybe you have some adventuring to do. All of those things will only enhance and help you later on. If that’s where you find yourself, that’s okay. Enjoy it. Write when you can and plant seeds for slow, steady growth.
But if you’re ready to form new habits, I have some bad news. While I wish I could wave a magic wand and gift you discipline, that’s something you have to earn. And there’s no better way than setting yourself a schedule and sticking to it.
But before you bust out the calendar and black out time-slots for your writing sessions, you must answer this simple question:
Do you love this project?
No seriously. Do you love it? Not just the idea of writing a book, but this story in particular. Because the truth is that writing a book takes a long time. If you’re just looking to first draft it, that will take you months (at the very least), and if you’re looking to see it all the way through to publication, it will take years.
You’ll read this manuscript from beginning to end so many times that even if you love it, there will be days when you never want to look at it again.
I don’t think every project warrants finishing. Some projects exist for us to practice on. Some are helpful in processing the world around us. And some ideas arrive to entertain, distract, and uplift us. These are all good things and are appropriate as you grow in your craft and desire.
But if you have a story idea you’re in love with and characters you want to spend hours with and a desire to discipline yourself, you just might be ready to see a project through to completion.
If that’s where you’re at, then I would suggest scheduling yourself a consistent writing time, multiple days a week. Whatever works for you and your schedule. And I would commit to working on this project, at those times, as often as possible. Even if you’re not feeling it. Even if you’d rather work on a shiny new project.
The truth about new projects is that they’ll have their problems too. You just can’t see them yet. Discipline is doing the hard work of showing up, growing your craft, solving problems as you can, and getting to the end.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll know if this project is one you want to live with through revisions and rewrites. My guess is you’ll have setbacks, but nothing at all can replace the consistent grind of sitting in the chair and creating.
Start with a project that you love. No use committing to something you only half-like. Give yourself the freedom to start and stop as often as you need to until you come across a story problem that simply must be solved.
When that happens, it’s not magic but discipline that gets you to the end.
Thank you for your question, Natalie. If you have advice for Natalie, please leave it as a comment. And remember, if you have questions for us, you can always drop us a line. There’s a link on our home page.
Shannon Dittemore is an author and speaker. Her books include the Angel Eyes trilogy, a supernatural foray into the realm of angels and demons, as well as the fantastical adventure novel Winter, White and Wicked. Its sequel, Rebel, Brave and Brutal is due out January 10, 2023.
Shannon’s stories feature strong female leads grappling with fear and faith as they venture into the wilds of the unknown. She’s often wondered if she’s writing her own quest for bravery again and again.
It’s a choice she values highly. Bravery. And she’s never more inspired than when young people ball up their fist and punch fear in the face.
To that end, Shannon takes great joy in working with young writers, both in person and online at Go Teen Writers, an instructional blog recognized by Writer’s Digest four years running as a “101 Best Websites for Writers” selection.
For more about Shannon and her books, please visit her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Hi Shannon and Natalie!
I completely understand your plight when it comes to finishing projects, I have tons of half written short stories and novel plots and characters. However, recently something that has helped me finish is writing prologues and backstories of my characters. Basically, when I start feeling discouraged, I start spending time them. This gives me so much insight into my story, and feels like a break because I’m just writing a little paragraph about a character.
It also reminds me why I started the story in the first place. Because I love telling stories about people.
Anyway, thank you both so much for sharing!
Excellent advice. Staying focused on my current WIP has been frustrating this month, so this was a timely reminder for me to keep on keeping on. Thank you!
Sometimes finishing a few short stories or novellas first helps build up stamina and confidence needed to finish a novel length story.
For me it’s also helpful to tell someone close to me about my goal/plan so they can celebrate the little victories with me or give a much needed prod to keep pushing.
I understand this on a deep level. I’ve been writing stories since I learned how to craft sentences, but it took me TEN YEARS to find a project that I could stick with. The thing that helped me persevere with my current WIP was that I found an idea whose ending I could clearly see. Before that, all I had were great beginnings, concepts, and scattered scenes and no idea how to tie them together because I was inexperienced as a writer at the time. When my current WIP came to me, I knew how it would end. I had a clear goal for my characters, and, for the first time ever, a character that I felt attachment to. I felt like I wanted to get to know her, have her back, and make her real.
Nowadays I stay motivated in one of three ways: 1- I remind myself of my promise to finish this book, all the work I’ve put in so far, and all the potential it has 2- I engage in other creative projects related to my book that keep me engaged with the story world (examples include making a book trailer for a project in my video class at school, poorly drawn concept art, picking vines that match my characters’ personalities, and even writing a Brady Bunch theme song parody related to my story… yeah… I’m a nerd) and 3- whenever I get a shiny new idea, I use my free time to jot it down, maybe write a paragraph or create some characters, but I always return to my WIP in the end.
Good luck to all of you. Keep on writing! 🙂
Ohh, I’ve felt your pain, Em! It’s taken me this long to find a story that I feel like I really love, and even then, I do feel discouraged at times. Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way, but sometimes I feel like I have a brilliant idea, but can’t do it justice in my own writing. I know it’s just those pesky insecurities, and like Mrs. Morrill had said in another post, sometimes us writers go into a “self destruct” mode, and it’s crazy how hard we beat ourselves up.
What really helps me when I don’t feel very motivated, is to write a stream of consciousness from one character’s POV, and just say what’s “on their mind” or how they see what’s going on around them. It really helps me see deeper into the story, and not only that, but it gives me insight on how to convey their emotions throughout the plot. I personally write with a lot of symbolism and sometimes it can seem thick and flowery, but I tell myself that that’s okay, and that I can mess with those kinks during my second draft. The first draft is just to get the basic idea\plot out—NOT perfection—so it may look like your worst work during your first attempt at the story, but that’s alright. It’s necessary. If you struggle as a perfectionist, sometimes you just have to tell yourself “No, no, NO, this is normal and necessary.”
But enough of my ranting. xP Thanks so much for your encouragement, and for sharing your personal journey, Em! 🙂
I know this can be seen as bad advice, but what works for me is if I’m really not feeling motivated I’ll write something else. We all need breaks from being in a world or with certain characters too long, and writing fanfiction or short stories is a fun, non-stressful way for me to just write without stressing about whether everything is perfect. Every day I spend away from my novel, I get more excited to write it again and often I will get new pops of scenes I want to include, or even just a moment, and it’ll motivate me to get right on track again. Just don’t go away so long you don’t remember what’s happening in the book! 😉
That’s actually very true. Sometimes when I’m too busy to write for a while, I find that I really can’t wait to get back to it. After tech week for my school’s musical I was practically in writing withdrawal.
I do the same thing! I actually had to step away from a story for a year before I could find the courage and have the ability to make all the cuts I know are necessary. I’ve also got way more ideas for backstories, a better idea for the plot, and a better understanding of my storyworld an how I want it all to go this time around.
I know not everyone does this, but personally I just write one story as long as I can, and then I switch to a different one. Most of them are just for fun, and they will never see a publishing office, but it keeps my skills sharp for whenever I get a brain wave about my main WIP.
Great post! This is true.