Once upon a time, when my daughter was 4, she was obsessed with the idea of getting a robot horse. McKenna was sure that a robot horse was the answer to all her problems. She thought there could be a basket underneath so that the horse could clean her room for her while she rode it. McKenna told us she would ask for this for her fifth birthday.
When I explained that a room cleaning robot horse didn’t exist, McKenna decided that she could just make her own. On her birthday list, she put, “Wood for building a robot horse.” She had a very clear picture in her mind of what this horse would look like, how it would clean her room, and the joy she would have riding it as it did so.
McKenna was stuck on the idea for quite a while. I don’t remember exactly how long, but I do remember that weeks would pass and I would think she’d forgotten, only to have her randomly ask something like, “Could I use those scraps of wood in the basement for my robot horse?” (Fortunately by the time her birthday arrived, she really had forgotten and was quite happy with Cinderella dress-up clothes.)
I say all this because sometimes as writers we have a clear idea of how fantastic a book of ours is going to be. The characters will leap off the page! The themes will resonate with young and old! Readers will marvel at the complexity of the plot!
And then when we get into the writing , we discover we’re attempting to build a robot horse story.
A robot horse story is one that sounds amazing, but then once you get in there you discover there are problems you couldn’t have foreseen with your current level of experience.
I’ve had this happen a couple of times, especially when I’m trying to experiment with a new genre, style, type of character, etc. In my head it works, but on paper it doesn’t. Maybe in the future, I’ll know more and be able to fix it, or I’ll be able to scrap the story for parts. I’ve certainly done that a time or two, pulled a character or plot line out of an old, broken story to use in something current.
Realizing your story idea is riddled with flaws is one of several reasons why you might decide that you don’t want to finish this book.
Another very common reason for young writers is that your skills are growing so quickly, by the time you finish your manuscript you’re a completely different writer.
This happened to me a couple times early on. I would finish a manuscript and plan on editing, only to realize that I had learned so much in the process of writing the draft. Now on the other side of writing the story, I could see deep flaws inherent with the idea itself, and instead of trying to fix those things, the idea of writing a new story with my gained knowledge sounded much more appealing.
Here are some other reasons you might decide that you don’t want to finish your first draft or you don’t want to bother with editing:
- Your goal is to be published, and this manuscript is unpublishable for whatever reason.
- Your energy for this idea completely vanished. You’re having no fun when you work on it.
- You’ve been working on this book for so long and you’re really tired of it. You need something new.
It’s okay to not finish your book.
Sometimes quitting your book is the best thing you can do for you as a writer, honestly. Sometimes it’s the best thing you can do for the book! Two published books of mine (the first Skylar Hoyt novel and The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet) were books that I stopped working on for a while. I really had no intention of completing either of those, and yet now they’re both published. The break was good for us both!
Do you have a hard time finishing manuscripts or a hard time NOT finishing manuscripts? Are there other reasons besides ones I’ve listed that you’ve chosen to not finish?
Thank you for the encouragement, it’s nice to know that you eventually published work you set aside. For me, all my discouragement comes from the fact that my first drafts kind of stink. I found this very discouraging on the first novel (which I did complete) and the one I’m working on now. Both times I have felt I would never be able to get my work to an acceptable level of competence. With my second project, this feeling was much worse than my first, so much so that I quit writing after about seventy pages and worked instead on re-writing. I re-wrote three or four times before I thought my project would work. Now I think the first part of the book is okay, but I kind of hate what I’m writing now. I’ve decided to continue with it because I feel like I’m just always going to hate my first drafts. I hope that as I continue to write, I get to a place where they don’t seem horrible when I read over them, but for now I’m just going to pick up the pieces and keep going. I seem to be cursed with the need to work on my projects A LOT before they become acceptable. I just hope I can refine this one down to something shiny in the end. Cheers and good writing.
Jack, I feel your pain. I’m not a particularly fast writer, and my first drafts often read incoherently. It always takes me several drafts before I get anything solid, so don’t despair!
A lot of times for me, I find it hard to finish a book because I’m either: a) not invested enough, or b) so frustrated about how short my word count is that I don’t think I can make it work. I think I need to just truck through it and then take a break before editing. Maybe that will help.
Yes, I’ve had both those issues arise. Fortunately in my early days I didn’t even understand word count, or I would have been SO discouraged! My drafts have always come in short.
Thank you for the encouragement! I have a tendency to never get past page 40 (or the first chapter). It takes a lot of perseverance to keep going. Oftentimes I’ll be super excited while I’m writing the book, but editing it wears my excitement thin.
Right now, I have a book that’s about a quarter of the way through the editing process that has overwhelmed me a lot. I’ve set it aside while writing the rough draft of my current WIP. I think that sometimes it has been good for me to set my rough draft away for a few months and let it breathe fresh air. I’ve also asked my friends to read through it, even though I rarely go on the document, and their advice and encouragement has helped me a lot.
My advice for everyone would to ask one of your friends to send you some encouragement on those harder days. When I’m frustrated, my sister and I talk about the plot of my books and other random things and it really helps. Even though writing can be a lonely process, we still need people on the sidelines cheering us on!
That’s a really great point, Adi. Sometimes having another set of (encouraging) eyes on your manuscript can really boost your energy!
That IS a very cute picture of Cinderella by the way.
Agreed 🙂
Thanks, guys <3
Totally!!
A robot horse that cleans is really a good idea ?
I’ve been having dreams where I have a great idea & can see it all planned out, this is my book to write, and I’m going to write it down as soon as I wake up… and I wake up & can’t remember anything!! It’s so weird & makes me grumpy the rest of the day.
This is good advice, I often have a hard time giving up on ideas because I feel guilty. I feel like moving on is a sign I can’t make it as a writer or that I’m neglecting/hurting the feelings of my story (weird, I know) but I know it’s something I need to give myself permission to do or I’ll always be stuck.
She certainly thought it was a good idea!
There are many writers who struggle with giving up on story ideas. I’ve started thinking about it more as, “I’m putting this away for a bit and then I’ll come back.” That feels much easier to me!
Im just starting a story for 100-4-100 & know I find myself hoping I grow SO much I cant edit it. What a gift!
I am so glad I’m not the only one who sets drafts aside because my writing has changed/improved! I read the prologue of my current-almost-finished draft, and I can’t believe how much my voice, wording and all that has shifted! I’ll have quite a bit of editing to do on the first half just to make my writing consistent.
Also, to everyone doing the 100-for-100, have an AMAZING first day!
It is SUCH a normal thing!