irongiraffe
irongiraffe-deactivated20120717:
Hey, I'm a very demotivated writer who rarely finishes what she starts- as you can see by the state of my blog haha. I really enjoy writing though, so do you have any suggestions on how I can push myself to the end of a project? Thanks!
When I first started writing, I never finished anything! I think when a lot of people start, it’s the ability to world-build that entices us to write. But then once you’ve set up your story and your characters, you’re faced with this big “Now what!?”
What eventually helped me was thinking about stories as a whole before I started writing. I usually know how a story’s gonna start, and how a story’s going to end. That way I have a direction, but I can still write freely in the middle and see where a story takes me—that’s the fun part, for a lot of people. Knowing how I want something to end helps me strike a balance between over-planning and letting a story ramble off in some weird direction I didn’t mean it to.
Another thing that really helps me when I’m stumped is walking away from something I’m writing. That’s why I hate writing stories for class, on deadlines. But if you’re writing without a deadline, try walking away from your story for at least a week (I’ve walked away from some stories and come back to them a whole year later! Stephen King does this too). Then go back and reread it with fresh eyes. You might have some new ideas about how you want it to end after you step away.
Hope this helps!!
