Writing Rockface: The Continue Condition

You started creating a book, short story, life story or memoir; but then you stopped? Now you don’t know how to continue. Even seasoned writers can struggle with the question of how to finish what they’ve begun. As well as writing amazing stories (he he!), I run a full-time creative support business. It includes editing, mentoring, teaching, book layouts, and other publishing and creative support for authors and publishers. I’ve recently seen so many clients so utterly stuck with this question, it’s time to speak up and add to my ‘Writing Rockface’ collection of advice. Other blogs in this series include:

Definition

The Continue Condition involves a state of being unable to finish drafting a writing project. Writing is a process consisting of:

Concept creation
Drafting – beginning, middle and end
Structural revision
Editing
Testing
Polishing
Publication

‘Continuing’ involves the second of these steps: drafting.

Symptoms

If suffering from Continue Condition, you will struggle to continue writing what you’ve begun, risking the creation of folders full of beginnings, snippets and musings, none of them compiled into a complete whole. Continue Condition can be visible to others, especially when friends and family ask how your writing is going. A lack of any concrete update for them will lead to feelings of failure and disillusionment. No one can read a story you almost wrote. You are also likely to develop imposter syndrome, doubting yourself and fearing exposure as someone who enjoys writing but just can’t do it.

Causes

Continue Condition can be caused by misconception. In books and movies, the process of writing can often be romanticised, depicted as a self-fulfilling contemplative task achieved with just a little bit of focus; overnight success then brings millions to your bank account. With this as a perception, you might easily become disillusioned with the reality of writing, and thus stop writing. Another cause is a lack of self-discipline. When you first start writing, unless you have a weekly or monthly mentor setting tasks and deadlines, a lack of accountability might see you drifting away from your goals. Finally, life might get in your way – you have other more important things to do.

Luckily, as soon as most of my clients understand their choice is to either live with or defeat Continue Condition, they usually take measures to progress beyond it, or seek out one-on-one help to talk it all through.

Treatment

Professional writers use many different techniques to avoid Continue Condition and keep themselves focused all the way through to the completion of a first draft.

Routine Goals

Writing can be hard work. Sometimes, even the most self-disciplined writer can stray from their goal of writing. The following can help:

Establish a writing routine, whether it’s once a day or once a week, allocate a time and a special place for writing so that when you enter it you’re ready to work. Note that this may involve sacrificing whatever else you usually do at that time, and it might not always involve an ideal setting (there’s nothing wrong with writing while commuting on public transport or on a park bench at lunchtime, that’s how I started!). Then, when it’s time to write, it’s time to write. Don’t let anything get in your way.
Set yourself a daily word count. Either:
- Estimate how long your book will be in total (a standard novel is 60,000-80,000 words; short stories are under 7,500 words), then decide on a date when you want to be finished, and calculate how many words you have to write each day or week to have your project finished by your deadline; or
- Write an optimal amount of words in a timed session, then set the goal of achieving that number of words each time you write.
If you feel your concentration waning, check your word count and refocus. Don’t get distracted with editing or risk procrastination with research. If you need to, leave your phone in another room or turn off the internet on your device – you can always do any necessary research later.

Gift yourself

If you want to write, gift yourself permission to write by giving it equal importance to other things that are otherwise impeding you. Any one of us could allow life to get in the way of our writing, but then we wouldn’t write – you’re no different.

Also, allow yourself the gift of writing badly. You don’t have to write perfectly in a first draft, as you’ll likely be going back and changing things anyway – the more you write, the more you’ll discover about the project you’re writing, and the more you’ll want to change it. A first draft is all about getting words down on the page, which you can edit later. For now, embrace the warmly glowing idea you have and put it down in words. That is all.

Inspire yourself

Your story might be stopping you from continuing, and you might need an extra inspiration boost. Achieve this by:

Keeping an inspiration collection handy in a desktop, digital or physical folder, comprising of images, words, quotes, thematic concepts, scientific developments, biographical details, music, and scene concepts. Consult your collection to keep your ideas fresh and flowing.
Brainstorming expansion opportunities. Can you broaden (effecting more people) or deepen (effecting a character on multiple levels) your character experiences, story plot, or thematic connections? Common advice is to write what you know – what if you do the opposite?
Trying a different way to start your writing – see my previous blog post!
Writing alongside others who are also writing, either digitally with an online writing support group or physically in a library or coffee shop frequented by writers.
Getting some early feedback. This can help if you’re experiencing self-doubt or overwhelmed. Find a trusted advisor, who can be genuinely constructive and helpful, to make sure you’re heading in the right direction and give you the motivation you need.
Reading a book and study elements you like or don’t like. Could an element inspire your work-in-progress?
Taking a break. It might be contrary to your routine and self-discipline, but if you also need to keep your imagination fresh and lively – take a short break, to avoid risking a complete break in your writing goals.

Exceptions

Forgive yourself. If you can’t finish drafting a story, it might be because it was a good writing practice, but that’s all. The real project you need to be writing might be waiting for you.

Forgive yourself for not being able to make the current project work – ditch it, and start something new.

Exercise:

PART 1

Write non-stop for five minutes, using the following sentence as your opening:

The air turned black all around me.

RULE: you must not stop writing for the full five minutes.

When the time is finished, count the number of words you wrote. However, these words were neither deeply considered nor relate to your writing project.

PART 2

Now write for five minutes on your writing project. You can pause for contemplation. When the time is finished, count the number of words you wrote.

PART 3

Compare the word counts to see how much time you need to allow for thought and consideration. Use this to estimate how long it will take to complete your writing project, realistically.

Questions?

Do you keep starting and stopping writing projects? Do you have any exceptions to share? Let me know in the comments below! Need writing help? Send me a message!

To come:

The Finish Fright