We’re all working on something. Even if we’re not actively working, we’re working on working on something: we’re dreaming about the masterpiece we’ll eventually create—something that will achieve wild success and change our lives forever. For many of us, however, life gets in the way, and that something remains nothing—or maybe only the beginning of something.
I consider myself a writer. I’ve started and bailed on tons of writing projects. Poems, short stories, novels, screenplays—the list goes on. But I’ve recently decided that enough is enough: I’m going to finish the things I start.
Now I’m not exactly a bona fide success story—I’m still in the messy middle of my journey—but I thought it would be nice to have a buddy. That’s you, dear reader. I bet you’re like me: you have a project in mind or in flight that you desperately want to finish, make progress on, or fer chrissakes start. Hopefully something on this list will weaken the shackles keeping you bound so we can proceed together.
Obliterate Your Excuses
Things are crazy at work. I have kids. Climate change is tearing the world apart. Some excuses are pretty valid, but most of them are weighted blankets that keep us from getting up and doing the thing we want to do.
I’ve been a professional writer for years—some fiction and nonfiction ghostwriting and a lot of marketing copywriting. While I’ve long felt blessed to write for a living, a part of me has been disappointed by the lack of progress on my personal writing projects. I’ve let myself be swayed by “the mailman doesn’t get off work and go on a walk” logic, opting to do anything else after a hard day at the keyboard.
The truth is, you’re never going to capture the perfect circumstances for working on your project. Maybe you don’t have the time, hardware, materials, or knowledge you think you need, and that’s OK. Instead of thinking of excuses as barriers to your project, think of overcoming these barriers as a part of your project. And if they truly are insurmountable, find a way around them and get to the part you really want to do. I’m willing to bet that you don’t actually need all the stuff you think you need. There’s something you can do today. Right now. So do it.
Prioritize Your Project
“I’ll write for an hour after work.” That sentence bums me out, because it reminds me of all the days I said it but felt too tired to actually follow through. No more. I’ve recently decided to prioritize my writing, and that means writing as early in the day as I can. Nowadays, when work is over, I still have the thought, “Ugh, I’m too tired to write,” but it’s immediately followed by, “Oh that’s right: I already wrote for thirty minutes this morning!” And just like that, I can launch into some guilt-free video games knowing that I made some progress that day.
Don’t bump your project for time. Put your project in the prime-time slot it deserves. Maybe that means waking up a little bit earlier in the morning or spending a little less of your lunch break on your phone. You don’t need to spend all of your prime hours working on your project—you probably can’t anyway. Just save a little slice of your best self for your project, and you’ll find your whole mindset will change.
Make Your Peace with (Momentary) Mediocrity
It’s fun to be good at something. It’s not that much fun to suck at something. I could go on about practice or ten thousand hours or Carnegie Hall, but you already know all that. So let me go in another direction: let yourself suck.
The novel I’m working on sucks. The characters aren’t that compelling, there are huge plot holes and gaps in logic, the pacing is weird, and a lot of it just doesn’t hang together. And I’m OK with it—for now. I’ve bailed on too many projects because they weren’t immediately excellent. This time I’m letting my early drafts be shitty, but I’m also cataloging all the reasons why they’re shitty so I can fix them later. In the meantime, I’m not letting perfectionism keep me from making progress.
Whatever your project is, let it be kinda shitty. Eventually you’ll figure out how to do it right.
Have the Courage to Say “I’m Done”
I haven’t actually reached this milestone with my novel, but I have a plan to get there. I’m going to finish my second draft by July, finish my third draft by October, get me some beta readers, work on draft four, hire a developmental editor, work on draft five, and then boom, I’m going to move on.
A yadda yadda is never finished; a yadda yadda is only abandoned. I will probably never achieve my best because I’m a growing, learning human being, and my best will always get better. That might be a scary thought for some, but I find it liberating. It’s justification to call an inevitably less-than-perfect project done, show it to the world, and move on to the next project. The feedback you get from others will be so much more valuable than the toxic nonsense from your inner critic. And the best part is that your next effort will be a little better.
Find Your Energy Conduit
A lack of energy or enthusiasm is a big problem for me. Sometimes when I’m writing, I find I don’t really care about what’s happening. That’s a prime bail moment.
Maybe I’ll encounter a scene that’s difficult to write, try to brute-force my way through it, get frustrated, and quit. But recently I’ve learned to redirect my efforts: maybe I’ll do a quick brainstorm to figure out what the scene should accomplish. Maybe I’ll skip the scene and write the scene after it. Maybe I’ll write the whole book and try to figure out how that scene fits into the puzzle, or if it even belongs.
There will probably be aspects of your project that you don’t like doing or that seem too hard. You may need to confront those aspects at some point, but maybe it doesn’t have to be now. Save the hard stuff for days when you’re feeling particularly motivated. On your average day, become water. Follow the path of least resistance. Chase what excites you, and let the passion and energy propel you forward. And maybe if you chip away at enough of the exciting stuff, the hard stuff will resolve itself.
Bail
OK, this might be a controversial piece of advice to include in a guide on how not to bail, but if you’re struggling with a project, then maybe you should bail. Dig deep and ask yourself why you aren’t working on it: if you answer “Well, I don’t want to do this part. Or this part. Or this part,” maybe you don’t actually want to do this project. Maybe you’re only enamored by the idea of it.
Don’t waste your thoughts and dreams on something you don’t actually want to do. Find out what you want to do instead.
Welp, time to bail on this blog post. Except it’s not exactly “bailing,” is it? I’ve written a good amount, and now I’m calling it done. That feels good. Could I have written a better post? Absolutely. But I didn’t, and that’s cool.
I hope something here will help you get cracking on that dormant project or maybe start on that project you’ve been meaning to start. For my fellow writers out there, another good way to break the mental deadlock is to have a professional editor look over your project and help reinvigorate your passion for it. Huh, I guess I’m a professional editor. What a wild, lucky coincidence! Contact me, tell me a little about your project, and let’s get started.