Flat Tires and Not Completing Projects (a Guest Post By Molly McTernan)

Hello friends! I’m popping in today to share an article that Molly wrote for The Grace Haus. Molly McTernan is an aspiring author who writes with one desire: to glorify the Creator.  When she isn’t writing, Molly can be found reading, playing her violin or spending time with her family and many pets.  You can find her online at mollymcternan.com where she blogs on topics such as poetry and faith. She is also the author of Poetic Surrender, a lovely collection of poems.

As writers, we understand that finding the motivation to actually finish a full length project can be more than difficult to grasp— many writers end up abandoning projects because it’s just too hard to finish.

Today, Molly has some excellent advice when it comes to finishing writing projects!

One of my favorite things to do when trying to clear my head is ride my bike.  There’s just something relieving about flying down hills, peddling hard back up them and having the wind rush through my hair.

That being said, there have been a few times when I set out from my house only to turn right back around again – my tires didn’t have enough air in them.  Sometimes I’m so caught up that I forget to check beforehand and am then set back.

Is it not so with writing?

Maybe you are talking to someone, scrolling through prompt pictures, reading a book or listening to a song.  Suddenly, an idea hits you.  It’s brilliant, amazing and you are immediately excited about starting this new project.

The problem?  You never finished your last.

Over time, these partially finished works will build up and leave you feeling discouraged.  Questions like “will I ever be able to finish something?” or “are your ideas just not good enough?” will most likely start to plague you.

This is like getting a flat tire.  Everything was going so well, but now you are at a standstill and feel discouraged and lost.

If this sounds like you, don’t worry, you’re not alone.  A writer’s mind is constantly churning through different ideas and this situation can be an easy one to fall into.  That being said, my goal today is to help you get out of these spots – to help prepare you for your next bike ride.  Below, I am going to share my top three tips for sticking with projects until the end.

1. Check your tires first / prepare for your story

Before you go on a bike ride, you should always check your tires.  This allows you to know if you have enough air, something that needs to be oiled or a hole somewhere.  Before we write, we should do the same.  We need to prepare – this means having a plan of what themes we want to portray, the estimated length and at least some of the characters.  I’m not saying that you need to plot out your whole novel (though that can really help), but I am saying that some planning needs to be done before you actually begin.

2. Always bring a bike kit / keep an idea journal

There will be times when we check our tires beforehand, but then something still goes awry during our ride.  Because of this, it is a good idea to always bring a bike kit with you in case you need to repair a tire or something of that sort.  With writing, it is also good to always have extra ideas – hence the idea journal.  If you ever get a new book idea, record it in a notebook.  This way, you will always be ready for the next story.

3. Watch out for rusty nails / brainstorm with others

Even with having a bike kit, it is still important that we keep an eye out for anything sharp that could potentially slow our trek.  It is also very important that we keep a lookout for any bumps in our writing.  Maybe you think a character could use more internal conflict, or a location could use more description, but you don’t really know how.  I highly recommend brainstorming things like this with others (family or friends) as other sets of eyes can usually see things like this easier than your own.

This is so encouraging! We can put the work in ahead of time—and prepare for issues we don’t yet know our stories have— to avoid the problems that lead to abandoning a story altogether.

For those of you doing NaNoWriMo this year, how is your story doing? How are you doing? Writing a novel (or at least 50,000 words of it) in one month is daunting. But, I believe in you! How can I encourage you today?