I recently visited Mount Rushmore in South Dakota with my family. While there, we toured the sculptor’s studio, where Gutzon Borglum and his team of 400 artists worked when not on the mountain. It took Mr. Borglum and his team fourteen years to carve Mount Rushmore.
Mr. Borglum built a sculptor’s studio so that he could carve a scaled down version of what would later be carved on the mountain. The model was scaled an inch to a foot. Washington’s face on the model was 60 inches long. On the mountain it would be sixty feet long.
Here is a picture my daughter took from inside the sculptor’s studio. There you can see the model Mr. Borglum and his team made. While outside the window, you can see the mountain. They are not the same. As you can see from the model, Mr. Borglum and his team intended to carve the torsos of the presidents. They never finished. They were still working when World War II came along and the government shut them down.
I don’t think anyone would argue that what Mr. Borglum and his team created on Mount Rushmore isn’t art. Mr. Borglum died suddenly in March of 1941. His son Lincoln Borglum continued to lead the project, but by October of that same year, they had run out of money, and the federal government could offer no assistance as all resources at that time were going to the war. Lincoln and the team finished up as best they could, then removed all the machinery and the buildings from the mountain. They were finished.
Lincoln Borglum said, “I wonder if in my father’s critical eyes it would ever have been finished.” This is a sentiment I well understand as an author. In fact, I published 23 books in ten years, some way faster than I would have liked in an effort to keep up with publishers’ schedules. To this day I want some of those books back. I wanted more time with them. They weren’t as finished as I wanted them to be. But just as Lincoln Borglum and his team had to admit they were done enough, I had to do the same, many times over.
How many of you would say that your book might never be fully complete? You could likely continue to change words and tweak phrases for all time and still never feel like it’s perfect. What about something that feels only half done, like Mount Rushmore? Can you imagine your life’s work standing for decades to be viewed by roughly 234 million people (at roughly 3 million visitors a year since 1942)? The thought of that many people reading a book I considered only half done makes me squirm! Yet that is the story of Mount Rushmore, and it leaves me with this thought.
People can still appreciate art even if the artist wasn’t done.
People can read your book and enjoy it, even if you wanted more time with it.
Art is subjective. We put it out there, and some people like it while others don’t. That’s okay. But I’m no longer going to agonize over the art I’ve released that doesn’t meet my standards of perfection (which, like Mr. Borglum are likely way too high). I will always do my best with the time I have. Then I will release my art into the world for people to experience. And while that is happening, I will start a new project, all the while remembering that art is too important not to share.
Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” Isn’t that the truth? Lincoln Borglum was forced to abandon Mount Rushmore. I was forced to abandon many books before I was ready to do so. Yet those works are still able to be enjoyed. That the artist moved on did not negate what the artist created. The same is true for your books. Sometimes, we have to abandon the work of art and move on to another project. When this happens to you, remember Mount Rushmore and trust that your book can still be enjoyed by many people for years to come.
Have you ever abandoned a story? Did you publish one before you felt it was ready? Share in the comments. I’m curious to hear your stories.
Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms, and the author of several young adult fantasy novels including the Blood of Kings trilogy. She loves teaching about writing. She blogs at goteenwriters.com and also posts writing videos on her YouTube channel and on Instagram. Jill is a Whovian, a Photoshop addict, and a recovering fashion design assistant. She grew up in Alaska without running water or electricity and now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two kids. Find Jill online at jillwilliamson.com or on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Thanks for writing this post, Jill! It’s helped me sort through some thoughts about editing.
I abandoned a book that I was writing when I was a quarter of the way through my macro edit. It was really draining, and I had other ideas that I wanted to pursue. I think that in a few years I may go back to that manuscript and look over it again, but right now I’m satisfied with my decision to let it go.
Have you ever planned on publishing a book, and ended up abandoning it after the rough draft?
I’ve let many, many stories go. Usually it was because a publisher expressed interest in a different story, so I chose the idea that could be published over the one I was working on. I did plan on publishing a book that I’ve abandoned. This has happened a few times, and I very well may, at some point, go back to all of these ideas. Who knows? The one I got the farthest with was The Tiny Cyborg. I was all set to indie publish that book back in 2015. I had the cover made and everything. But when I got back the edits from my editor, the story was a mess. What the story needed was far too overwhelming a rewrite to fit in while I was knee-deep into writing and editing the Kinsman Chronicles with Bethany House, so I set it aside to work on later. And here we are. I still haven’t prioritized it. The main reason is that those books–being chapter books–have not been popular with my fans. So to invest more time in a book that will sell so few copies is not appealing to me, especially as I’ve been so busy these past few years. Two other examples of books I’d planned to publish and abandoned are Onyx Eyes (which I’d still like to do) and Thirst (which I set aside for several years, then did publish last year). So, you never know. Sometimes you go back to them. Sometimes not. Most authors don’t publicly share their as widely as I do until they’re certain. That way they don’t excite their fans unnecessarily. But I am Jill, and I can’t help but overshare with you all. The downside is that my readers learn not to trust that I will really release a book until it’s actually up for sale. My apologies to everyone who has waiting for a book I promised and have yet to deliver. There are so many ideas and just not enough time to commit to them all.
I”m the same way, Ms. Jill, I always get super excited about my stories and can’t help telling everyone I know all about them. ?
That happens to me too, Riley G.!
Ha ha. Yay! I’m not the only one! 😉
This has a lot of great stuff to think about. I know in university figure drawing classes there are days you spend hours doing 1 minute figure studies. You do the work , tear off the page, and go to the next. The idea is to capture the essence as well as to block your critical mind and teach yourself to move on.
I have a feeling that even if a book of mine were published I’d still see things I could’ve improved & that feel like “mistakes”. The advice of knowing people can enjoy art whether it’s complete or not seems better than trying to block out the imperfection. Will our books ever be perfect? Probably not in our eyes.
About 6 years ago I wrote drafts for two books.i know they are not publishable. They aren’t even full novel length at 45k & 38k. I struggle on if they “count”? Like is my current project my first book or my third book?
For me, there will always be things I’d fix, so I know at some point I just have to let go and move on. Your figure drawing classes were good exercises for you. It’s good to remember that we are creators, and we can create more always. As to your works in progress, everything counts toward your journey as a writer. When you consider that I could the RoboTales books among my published works–at they are about 13,000K long–then your books count. My longest book was King’s War at 240K. That’s the equivalent of 20 RoboTales books. But that’s how it works, sometimes. We spent time with stories, then we move on. So, I say count them!
I’ve definitely abandoned some old stories from when I was younger. I might never publish them, but it’s pretty cool to see how the book ideas I had evolved based on what I was into reading or what was going on in my life at the time. And who knows, maybe someday I’ll take the ideas and do something with them. Either way I’m glad I have them to see how far I’ve come and how I grew even then.
I’m totally the kind of person who would tweak a million things if I let myself. It’s so easy to overthink a five word sentence sometimes. ?
Xoe, I love going back and reading those early stories of mine. It’s so fun to see how I’ve grown as a writer–and also the promise I showed back then. It’s easy to be critical of those early works, but if you really look, you can usually see promise too, which feels pretty good.
I abandon stories ALL the time. A little too much, I think… But sometimes I’ll be working on one idea, and it helps me get the kinks out of the last one, and continue with that last one I got stuck on. Thanks for the inspiration, Ms. Jill!!!
You are very welcome. We’re all finding our process of what works for us. And how we deal with projects is part of that. Every day we are making choices that have an impact on our different ideas. It’s all part of being a writer. 🙂