Why is it so much easier to start a story than to finish one? Does anyone else have this problem? I can always start something. Ideas just shoot out from me. But sometimes when I go back to work on a piece, I get the urge to start something new. I have to force myself to finish. I am on the story-per-week plan so I do finish things. But I just love starting new stories all the time and I don't even finish half of them. What is wrong with me? I want to break this somehow.
starting and...
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Let me take a guess.
You're all jacked up about that new idea. Yeah, I can do this, and I can do that ... My character is like this, and he'll do these things, and then this can happen, or maybe that ...
And then you have to do the work. And that's okay at first, because you're still jacked up. But then the work starts to feel like work, and that's not as much fun. Seeing those things in your head is so much easier than translating them into words and sentences.
But you know? There's this other idea I have, and -- wow! -- I can feel the excitement starting all over again. Maybe I'll just start this new story so I can feel the rush again.
And so on and so on.
Am I right, or am I right?
You're all jacked up about that new idea. Yeah, I can do this, and I can do that ... My character is like this, and he'll do these things, and then this can happen, or maybe that ...
And then you have to do the work. And that's okay at first, because you're still jacked up. But then the work starts to feel like work, and that's not as much fun. Seeing those things in your head is so much easier than translating them into words and sentences.
But you know? There's this other idea I have, and -- wow! -- I can feel the excitement starting all over again. Maybe I'll just start this new story so I can feel the rush again.
And so on and so on.
Am I right, or am I right?
By all means start something new. You are not trapped writing one short story at a time. Just steel yourself to finish them all.
I've begun to do the same thing just recently. You need to finish one book and then get that feeling of your finished book. Remember that feeling and think about that feeling when you start to steer away from your book. Finish one book and uses the drive to start new novels to help finish it. It may come out bad that way but you can always edit and redo many things. You can't edit something you never written though.
It's all fun in games at the beginning of the race but the middle is what makes the quitters and winners.
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Stating the obvious, finishing is just as easy as starting, if you keep writing. There is no unusual or mystical meaning to not finishing. It always happens because the writer DECIDES not to finish.
There's nothing wrong with you, you're just making poor decisions. When you going gets tough, you decide to stop. You're a victim of the , "Oh, shiny" syndrome.
You can't even learn how to write a good opening without writing the ending.
Having at least some measure of success as a writer is really pretty easy. Just read and follow Heinlein's Rules, write as often as you should, and chances are very high that you will have at least some success. Fail to follow any one of the rules, and the chances of success go way, way down.
HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING
1. You must write.
2. You must finish what you write.
3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
4. You must put the work on the market.
5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.
And this is a must read: http://www.sfwriter.com/ow05.htm
There's nothing wrong with you, you're just making poor decisions. When you going gets tough, you decide to stop. You're a victim of the , "Oh, shiny" syndrome.
You can't even learn how to write a good opening without writing the ending.
Having at least some measure of success as a writer is really pretty easy. Just read and follow Heinlein's Rules, write as often as you should, and chances are very high that you will have at least some success. Fail to follow any one of the rules, and the chances of success go way, way down.
HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING
1. You must write.
2. You must finish what you write.
3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
4. You must put the work on the market.
5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.
And this is a must read: http://www.sfwriter.com/ow05.htm
The idea is the easy part. If that's all it took, we'd all reach the level of publication success we desire.
But it takes actual work, and that's not always fun.
Success can only come if you can hold true to a solid work ethic and finish what you start. Look up Heinlein’s rules--that's a pretty solid framework.
Now if you're only writing to get the ideas out and have fun and publication and a career are not what you're after, then feel free to hop hop hop along to each new story seed. There's no point in doing it if you don't enjoy it (really, I'd say it's the same if you are doing it for a career, but all careers come with less-than-fun bits that have to be done regardless).
But it takes actual work, and that's not always fun.
Success can only come if you can hold true to a solid work ethic and finish what you start. Look up Heinlein’s rules--that's a pretty solid framework.
Now if you're only writing to get the ideas out and have fun and publication and a career are not what you're after, then feel free to hop hop hop along to each new story seed. There's no point in doing it if you don't enjoy it (really, I'd say it's the same if you are doing it for a career, but all careers come with less-than-fun bits that have to be done regardless).
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Ideas are a dime a dozen. I come up with them constantly, all the time. Plot ideas. Dialogues. Pieces of conversation. Descriptions of odd places. (I have a penchant for decaying and abandoned properties. Okay, in horror who doesn't?)
Those who succeed both start and finish.
Take one of your pieces and just finish the thing. Don't eat, drink or sleep until you've written 500 + words.
Do this every day for a week, a month and it will get done.
Those who succeed both start and finish.
Take one of your pieces and just finish the thing. Don't eat, drink or sleep until you've written 500 + words.
Do this every day for a week, a month and it will get done.
I have several stories started that I never finished, and most of them were probably not worth finishing. But I stuck with nine others and it took a year and a half to get them done. As MockingBird said, starting and ending are easy. It's the middle that gets you.
I do finish stories. I finish one every week. It is just I start more than I finish. I don't think it has to do with not wanting to do work. I think it has to do with getting a little stuck a few pages in. Sometimes I think my beginnings are really strong and I don't want to mess them up. That probably doesn't make much sense. Anyway, thanks for all the comments.
I think this is pretty common. Even writers who could be considered prolific based only on the things they do finish have some stories that go nowhere, from what I've read on blogs, etc. (FWIW, at a story a week I would consider you prolific.)
I do still think it's best to cut down on the number of false starts, as it were, but don't beat yourself up about it.
As far as feeling the beginnings are too strong and you don't want to mess it up, I get exactly the same way. Some of my stories that have taken/are taking the longest have started this way. The key, for me, is to remember (even while working on other things, letting the great beginning sit) that I need to finish that story eventually. Even if you only make a paragraph's worth of progress in a week (while you're writing another whole story), it gives a sense of forward motion and makes the story a not-yet-finished story, rather than an abandoned story. This way you can also keep worrying at the plot or whatever is blocking you in your free time. Sometimes I write a beginning that I love, and I can't figure out where it's going. In the moment, I freeze up because I don't want to ruin that beautiful, incomplete piece. But as I go about my life and other writing, I can slowly make progress. And of course, you can't sell a beginning, so going on is important.
I do still think it's best to cut down on the number of false starts, as it were, but don't beat yourself up about it.
As far as feeling the beginnings are too strong and you don't want to mess it up, I get exactly the same way. Some of my stories that have taken/are taking the longest have started this way. The key, for me, is to remember (even while working on other things, letting the great beginning sit) that I need to finish that story eventually. Even if you only make a paragraph's worth of progress in a week (while you're writing another whole story), it gives a sense of forward motion and makes the story a not-yet-finished story, rather than an abandoned story. This way you can also keep worrying at the plot or whatever is blocking you in your free time. Sometimes I write a beginning that I love, and I can't figure out where it's going. In the moment, I freeze up because I don't want to ruin that beautiful, incomplete piece. But as I go about my life and other writing, I can slowly make progress. And of course, you can't sell a beginning, so going on is important.
Experice with a lot of writers in workshops, and from my own personal experince, I can almost guarantee the stories you don't finish would be the ones where you learn the most. Heinlein's Rules work. Not following them doesn't work. It's really just this simple, and when you don't finish stories, yes, you should definitely beat yourself up.
When you get stuck, set it aside and return to another story you got stuck on. And I don't believe you can mess up a story -it's your story. Your call. I also don't think a story is ever truly finished - you can always go back and change it later.
Also just because a beginning is strong doesn't mean the rest of the story is - I'm sure we've all got stories that are junked because they're just not any good. The thing is, you don't always know that they're no good until you give them a go.
Be grateful you're not a scientist. When Paul Ehrlich was looking for a drug to help treat syphilis, he got lucky on compound #606. At least we (hopefully) don't have to start 600+ stories before getting a good one.
Be grateful you're not a scientist. When Paul Ehrlich was looking for a drug to help treat syphilis, he got lucky on compound #606. At least we (hopefully) don't have to start 600+ stories before getting a good one.
The only possible way to know a story is no good is to finish it, and then submit it to every possible editor out there. After all of them reject it, there's a good chance it's no good. Until this point, there is no way to know.
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I think it's okay to have lots of ideas. You'll always have something waiting in the wings to go back to when you finish something. The key thing is not to become someone who just has ideas. Have you ever heard the story, I think it's Mark Twain? People always came up to him saying, "I could write a novel." And he always answered, "Yes, you could. But you didn't." A lot of people have ideas. Not a lot of people are stubborn (or stupid enough) to sit down and make them into a book.
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This may or may not help, but Tom Sawyer and Arthur David Weingarten put out a book titled Plots Unlimited that may help you lay out a story line. Tom also wrote another book titled Fiction Writing Demystified that does a good job of helping people get beyond writers block. Note, that Tom was the show runner for Murder, She Wrote and wrote 17 of the shows.
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I used to have that problem, until someone gave me some great advice, which is that whenever you think of a new idea don't start writing on it right away. Write the general idea down and let it sit for a while, say like a week. If it still begs to be written by then, it's worth it.
Your best stories are the ones you're passionate about.
Your best stories are the ones you're passionate about.
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The book Creating Short Fiction by Damon Knight talks about writing stories that aren't ready to pick. My guess is not all your stories are ripe enough. I recommend keep doing what your doing, but go back and reread some of the half finished ones occasionally to see if you are ready to finish it yet. I have sort of the same problem except I keep the ideas in my head until I think they're ready. That's just my way.
In trying to be more organized in my writing career, I found if I designated one day a week for revising older works, I got more pieces finished and sent out. In the interest of full disclosure, I love revision, so it already didn't feel like a chore. But setting aside that one day for revision (which, to me, includes working on incomplete pieces) leaves every other day for new work, if that's what I want to work on.
Good luck!
Good luck!
I often have this problem.. typically I will start writing a story and it won't end up going the same way it is in my head.
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It's harder for me to finish because it's mostly the 'boring stuff.' The big ideas tend to get put down early on, so towards the end I'm mostly connecting the dots, proofreading, checking for continuity and all that drudgery. I leave material lying around for months because I can't stand to do the polishing.
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I think it's okay to put a piece away once in a while, just not too many. It's an inertia thing... the more I finish, the more I want to finish. The more you quit, the easier it is to quit the next time.
Do you have a concrete idea of where the story's going when you start? At least a mental outline of the ending should help you not get lost in the middle.
Also, a LOT of times I have just a scene in mind, a piece of dialogue or a character's past. I'll write down what was stuck in my head without elaborating, or getting into naming characters. I keep everything in one file and skim through it occasionally to refresh my memory. Sometimes one of those pieces falls neatly into place in the WIP.
Do you have a concrete idea of where the story's going when you start? At least a mental outline of the ending should help you not get lost in the middle.
Also, a LOT of times I have just a scene in mind, a piece of dialogue or a character's past. I'll write down what was stuck in my head without elaborating, or getting into naming characters. I keep everything in one file and skim through it occasionally to refresh my memory. Sometimes one of those pieces falls neatly into place in the WIP.
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I find writing a story is when I'm most likely to be struck with a new one. Generally what I'll do instead of starting that new story is I'll make a new note in Evernote, jot down the relevant details and then continue on with the story I was already writing. I'm not much for outlining, but jotting the new idea down gets it out of my head and doesn't clutter up my mental workspace where I'd be constantly obsessing over it.
We all have certain instincts that help us find satisfaction that surround 4 areas. (This is from the Kolbe Corp - A exam. I took it for work, but it helped me understand who I am and how I operate)
Quick Start
Fact Finding
Follow Through
Implementation
I scored high on Quick Start and higher on Research. Follow through was average and Implementation low.
What that means is
High Quick Start - I like to get the ball rolling
High Fact Finding - I enjoy researching and learning
Middle Follow through - I tend to get things 80% there and then get bored.
Low Implementation - I can see the end result before it is finished, which can be a buzz kill if I don't watch it. (I have to discovery write, because if I outline, I feel like I already wrote the book.)
Quick Start
Fact Finding
Follow Through
Implementation
I scored high on Quick Start and higher on Research. Follow through was average and Implementation low.
What that means is
High Quick Start - I like to get the ball rolling
High Fact Finding - I enjoy researching and learning
Middle Follow through - I tend to get things 80% there and then get bored.
Low Implementation - I can see the end result before it is finished, which can be a buzz kill if I don't watch it. (I have to discovery write, because if I outline, I feel like I already wrote the book.)
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