Losing Passion for the Project

PoppysInARow · Mar 17, 2016

Hey all. I've been struggling a bit with my current WIP for a while now. I'm at the stage where it just needs an ending, but in order to do that I need to clean up some plotlines and change some parts that don't make sense. So I sat down to do a bit of an edit stage, to clean up what I already have so that I could actually form an ending that made sense. The edits started well but I've hit a wall, where every time I sit down to work on it, I just drift off and find reasons to be distracted. I can't focus on the story at all, and I know the reason for that is I'm just not inspired by it. From the very beginning of this MS, I wanted to finish something. I've been struggling for a few years in being able to see something through to the end, mostly because I get caught up and frustrated with plot holes. So I started this MS with the goal to "write something to be finished." And it worked for the most part. I was never excited or inspired by the story, but it felt more like an exercise than something to get worked up over.

Only now, I don't know what to do. I don't want to see this story through. I can't even summon the attention to get to the end of this draft. I've got ideas brewing for a new story, one that actually gets me excited to write, but I force myself to hold off. I keep telling myself, "I can start the new project once I finish this one." But I can't even get through the current MS with the shiny idea hanging as motivation.

I started this novel as simply something to finish, so abandoning it seems silly. But at the same time, I know this isn't an idea that I'm passionate about. I've considered not even bothering to sell it, since, even if it ends up being a fine book, I can't get excited about it.

So, what do you think? When do you know what you're working on isn't working? When do you take a step back from a project? Or should I just bite the bullet and force through to the end?

TECarter · Mar 17, 2016

If it only needs an ending, I might write one, just to have it done. I wouldn't put a ton of effort into it, though, because it's not where you are right now. I have hundreds of projects from half a page to 100 pages+ that I just got bored working on. You have to work on what makes you want to work, but at the same time, that's not always available. If you don't have another project begging to be started, I would wrap it up and start something else. If you have something else, I would just leave it for now. Maybe you will come back to it later in a different place.

edutton · Mar 17, 2016

Sounds like you might benefit from a trial separation... maybe trunk it (or at least drawer it) for a few weeks and try to find a new project you can care about. It depends on why you're fighting it, of course, but it you've lost that much interest then slogging through the submission process will be even more joyless.

Kerosene · Mar 17, 2016

PoppysInARow said:
I started this novel as simply something to finish, so abandoning it seems silly. But at the same time, I know this isn't an idea that I'm passionate about.

No offense, but what's silly to me is writing something for the sake of writing it. I write what I'm passionate about. And while every step isn't led by pure passion and inspiration, I do enjoy the process and look forward to finishing the work. If I'm not passionate about it, I don't write it.

I've got ideas brewing for a new story, one that actually gets me excited to write, but I force myself to hold off. I keep telling myself, "I can start the new project once I finish this one." But I can't even get through the current MS with the shiny idea hanging as motivation.

I disagree with a lot of folks who say, "Finish the work no matter what". If you were never excited about this work and you just can't be bothered to finish it, why even spend another second on it?

If you've got ideas you're passionate about, write those. But work on them so you finish writing them. Link all your thoughts to them, dwell deep within the concepts and characters and love them, spend as much time writing and finish it in as little time to get the story down before losing all passion.

edutton · Mar 17, 2016

Kerosene said:
I write what I'm passionate about.

^This.^
I care about my characters and their story, and I want to share that love with the world. I'm also excited by the thought that my little story might help someone see the world a little differently, or be taken out of themselves - even if just for a few hours. [I hit Done too soon... ETA: If you don't feel that way about this story, then let it go! You're only hurting yourself, to no good end.]

pinkbowvintage · Mar 17, 2016

Take a break.

Sometimes when we go hard with one single project, we burn out. It's only natural. When I burn out on one project, I take up a new one. Even if it's just writing a new blog post, or working on a new short story, or a flash draft I'll never use, it helps me refocus.

I get stuck sometimes with a lack of enthusiasm, and that's usually a sign I need to put my current WIP on the shelf for a day or two (or week, if it's gotten really bad) and let myself just think about it or focus on something else and then come back to it with fresh eyes.

Another thing to try: let yourself just think about it. Let the ideas simmer. Go about your day, do boring tasks, and let your brain find the solution. We often have our most genius "a-ha!" moments when we're not trying to.

shadowwalker · Mar 17, 2016

This is why I don't believe in the "passion" of writing. It typically ends before the story does.

You've already developed a pattern of not finishing. Now is the time to break that pattern. Forget passion - it's a story, you're supposedly a writer, so finish it. Write it so you are interested in it. Finish it. Period. Otherwise, you'll just keep losing the "passion" for each story and never get past the "wannabe" stage.

pinkbowvintage · Mar 18, 2016

I have to agree. Part of passion is perseverance even when things are rough and you aren't feeling it that day or that week or month. I still advocate for taking a break if need be, but not letting the book go entirely. You've come this far, why not finish it even if you don't love the ending? You can always revise the ending.

Earthling · Mar 18, 2016

So many writers never finish anything because they have to be all gung-ho to get anything done. That's okay for a hobby, but not for business. Professionals need the self-discipline to write even when they're not falling over themselves to get the story out.

Of course, this assumes you can tell the difference between losing interest in a project because nobody can be passionate 100% of the time, and losing interest because the story is weak.

Jeneral · Mar 18, 2016

Honestly, if you've never been passionate about the project in the first place, there's really nothing wrong with trunking it, at least for now. Chalk it up to a learning experience (I learn something new about the process with everything I write) and start on the idea that does make you excited. If the new idea pans out into something that you are passionate about finishing, that's great. If it doesn't, well, then maybe you know now that you need to push harder in the finishing stages of a project. And you might find that the trunked MS will start calling to you once you get some distance from it.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 18, 2016

Passion has nothing to do with it. Neither does inspiration. Neither does being excited. These things are all fake. They're excuses not to do something, excuses to avoid hard work.

The only thing you need to be passionate about, the only thing that needs to inspire you, is hard work, and finishing what you start, even when doing so means planting your rear end and getting t done, even when it isn't easy, even when you have no "inspiration" or "passion" for the project.

"Writers write" does mean writers write only when it's easy, only when they're full of "inspiration" or "passion". it means they write regardless of these things. If you want to be "inspired", if you want to feel passion", then then, by all means, abandon this project and work on something else. And then abandon it, too, as soon as "inspiration" and passion" become brutally hard work.

But if you want to be a writer, stop complaining, stop worrying about complete fake emptions, plant your butt, put your head down, bow your shoulders, place fingers on keyboard, and finish what you started. Write.

BunnyHopkins · Mar 18, 2016

“You have to finish things — that’s what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.” -- Neil Gaiman

This is the hard part of any and every novel-- the fine tuning, making everything work. Ending it well. You will face this in every single novel you ever write. It is the 99% perspiration part of creation. The really, really hard part. It is also the part that can make you not only a writer but a published author.

Butt in chair. Finish the book. Learn how to do this even if it hurts, even if it's hard. And know that every single published author that you read and love has gone through what you are going through.

And learned how to finish.

PoppysInARow · Mar 18, 2016

Kerosene said:
I disagree with a lot of folks who say, "Finish the work no matter what". If you were never excited about this work and you just can't be bothered to finish it, why even spend another second on it?

See, this is where I'm stuck, I think. I'm very much in the camp of "finish what you start" and perhaps that's what my problem is. Before starting this current project, I've had a bad track record of not finishing things. I usually get overwhelmed by the enormity of the story (as I love building worlds and such) and then end up setting the book aside until I can untangle my brain enough to go back to those projects. In fact, this shiny new idea is actually just an older project that I trunked for a while, and now I'm eager to give it another shot.

That's the thing-- 90% of the time when I start a project, I'm extremely passionate about it. And because I wasn't finishing any of them, I was getting really discouraged. So I sat down with a very simple idea (for me) and decided to tell a simple story from start to finish, just to reach the end. Because of that, this is one of the only MS's I've ever worked on where I look at it and don't want to even sell it, because it's just not "me."

Writing a book is a whole lot of work, and I love it. I love getting elbow deep in a project. But I think the problem is this just isn't the book I want to write. And frankly if I'm not enjoying what I do, then there's no point in doing it. It's one thing to lose passion for something, but I think the real problem is I never had any for this book to begin with.

Ugh, you know those days where you just have to hear it from someone else? ....Yeah.

Fruitbat · Mar 18, 2016

I think I get what you were trying to do, correct a pattern of not running on inspiration (and running out of inspiration) by just taking "inspiration" out of the equation from the start. Nothing wrong with trying a different way, even if it doesn't work out.

So, you also don't want to skip that first step of coming up with a story that you are interested in. And a story that you are interested in has come into your mind. I think you should definitely dump this one and write that one.

Now if you don't finish this one either, we'll be watching you!

(Says Fruitbat, with a dozen unfinished novels)

Lillith1991 · Mar 18, 2016

Jamesaritchie said:
Passion has nothing to do with it. Neither does inspiration. Neither does being excited. These things are all fake. They're excuses not to do something, excuses to avoid hard work.

The only thing you need to be passionate about, the only thing that needs to inspire you, is hard work, and finishing what you start, even when doing so means planting your rear end and getting t done, even when it isn't easy, even when you have no "inspiration" or "passion" for the project.

"Writers write" does mean writers write only when it's easy, only when they're full of "inspiration" or "passion". it means they write regardless of these things. If you want to be "inspired", if you want to feel passion", then then, by all means, abandon this project and work on something else. And then abandon it, too, as soon as "inspiration" and passion" become brutally hard work.

But if you want to be a writer, stop complaining, stop worrying about complete fake emptions, plant your butt, put your head down, bow your shoulders, place fingers on keyboard, and finish what you started. Write.

Ok. This is just bullshit, James. Not everyone works as you do. For many people passion is a very real thing, and it certainly doesn't prevent them from finishing shit. Every great artist we've ever known has that period where a piece of art, a sculpture etc. is just shit and the can't bear to work on it anymore. It is their passion that makes them finish the piece. They want to finish, they have to finish. Sometimes the piece is commissioned and it's about reputation, others it is about pride. But they have an almost innate need to finish the piece, at the very least so that they don't ever have to think about it again.

I've finished a novella and not a novel, yet. The novella is awful and needs a crap ton of work and research to pull of the way I want to. I'll probably expand it to a short novel some day, because I do see threads present that could be essential to an expanded version. But for now I'm just glad to see what I can salvage from the awfulness and tell myself that if I can finish a novella I can finish a novel. There's other "aspiring writers" who haven't even finished a novella. Knowing that I CAN finish something gives me an edge. It helps me pluck away at my current project. The novella didn't beat me and I won't let the novel. The OP's problem isn't passion, the lack of it, or whether passion is real or not. Their problem is that they're characterizing passion in a narrow manner and shooting themselves in the foot by doing so.

RaggedEdge · Mar 18, 2016

Poppys, I suggest you make a deal with yourself. Put the current story aside (after making notes about what's working and not working plus any ideas you have for it in case you ever want to finish). Then go back to the old story that you put off a while ago since you are excited now to work on it, accepting that the deal is: you have to finish the old one or come back and finish this one. Either way you learn to finish something, but hopefully you'll get to work on something that excites you while you're doing it.

It's been said that to get serious about writing, a person needs to either have a wound they draw from or a splinter that keeps needling at them. Try to find that in yourself and make that a part of your stories going forward.

Anberlin · Mar 23, 2016

I might be a little late to this party, but I just wanted to encourage you to work on the project you care about. For me, it took me many unfinished stories before I found one that really mattered to me enough to finish it. In the few months since then, I've written a complete second story, too. I was not as passionate about the second as I was for the first, but I think knowing that I was now capable of finishing pushed me to the end.

I'm now in the revising process of the first story, and I have days when I'd rather set it on fire than write another word, but I keep pushing through it. I'm almost completely done with it, and it feels amazing. I never would have gotten to this point, though, if I didn't care about the story or if I didn't feel like I would burst if I didn't get the words on paper. Perseverance is absolutely a vital part of the process, but so is passion, I think.

ryanrows · Mar 25, 2016

I think the important thing to take away from this project is that you were able to see the holes that made it hard to continue. Just admitting there is a problem is very difficult a lot of writers. What I would recommend is sitting down and figuring out how you would address those holes. If you become too dejected to come to a solution, then there's no point in continuing anyway because you'll never give it the time and thought needed to solve the problems. If you do come to a solution, evaluate how you feel. Are you excited that you've found a solution? Are you proud of yourself? If so, maybe turn that happiness into words and finish up the project. If you still don't care, then move on. You've finished the book in terms of concept.

But if you do move on, you need to do something before you work on your next project. You need to evaluate the project, looking for the same sort of holes that arose in the past project, and tackle the problem head on before writing.

Hope that helps! Good luck.

angeldove · Mar 31, 2016

I would say to take a small break from it. I used to be where you were. I used to never finish anything I started. I found myself doing a quick ending and then going back to it later. You have to have the passion to want to write the story. Falling in love with your characters is very good advice. I have a character that I call my favorite character and any time I have trouble with one of my endings, I write a short story with that favorite character. Don't give up on it though. You'll find that it will become easier and easier to finish stories once it becomes a pattern.

Losing Passion for the Project

PoppysInARow

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TECarter

edutton

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Kerosene

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edutton

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pinkbowvintage

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shadowwalker

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pinkbowvintage

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Earthling

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Jeneral

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Jamesaritchie

BunnyHopkins

PoppysInARow

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Fruitbat

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Lillith1991

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RaggedEdge

I can do this

Anberlin

ryanrows

angeldove

Losing Passion for the Project

Book Reviewer y'all

Ni. Peng. Neee-Wom.

Your Pixie Queen

Ni. Peng. Neee-Wom.

&#9812;

empty-nester!

&#9812;

I come in peace

Cat wrangler

Book Reviewer y'all

.

The Hobbit-Vulcan hybrid

I can do this

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