Thank you, thank you! Really needed this right now. Have been feeling super stuck and thinking about allllll the other ideas that would be soooo much easier to write. Decision paralysis is real.
Great post. This is such a common trap - and it is complicated even more because there are some instances when the WIP isn't working and perhaps should be ditched, but which instances are those? Sometimes it's hard to tell. But as you so rightly say, ditching for a shiny new thing, just to avoid the messy slog that is writing a novel, is a very circular path and you will know it by its trail of 15,000 word manuscripts! I went through a period of this, and this blog post I found a while back when googling the issue really clicked it for me. The last point hit home -we have to practice writing BOOKS not just CHAPTERS, otherwise (I'm paraphrasing) we built up the starting muscle but the finishing muscle grows weaker! So better to just finish anyway, as it's all good experience regardless. https://writingandwellness.com/2017/09/12/how-to-actually-finish-the-writing-projects-you-start/
Thank you, Kate! A valuable post at a time when I’m working on my third nonfiction book at a 1000 words a day. I’m building my words on Notion and so far out of everything I’ve used to write my two previous books, I’ve loved this so much. I write a 1000 words a day and break it down into 10 hundred word thoughts/passages. It’s wonderful to see I’ve done over 4000 such bits without being distracted even a single day by that shiny new project. 😅
This is so true and I was struggling with this a few weeks back but then I read a great piece of advice about shiny new ideas somewhere that resonated with me - the best thing you’re writing is the thing you’re writing now. That got me centered much like your note here. Thanks! Also, love the image of Admiral Ackbar - that will forever keep my away from this trap! 🤣
Great post and great timing, as I am sitting down again with a project I have been afraid to fully commit to. But I’ve been working steadily in it in recent weeks and have promised myself I won’t ditch it for a Shiny New Thing, even if it’s a slog sometimes!
I do this all the time. I loved the part where you said it’s just an exit ramp for anxiety because it’s so true. Now I can just push through and ignore the pesty new book ideas that keep coming up!
Great post on keeping accountable--thank you. I tend to have several projects going at once, but being a former journalist has made me deadline-sensitive. When my agent needs something, it becomes priority, and I wear sunglasses against the shine of the other projects, lol.
Great post this but I would respectfully both agree and disagree. Agree because I feel that motivation is mis-sold to us when we need commitment to finish a project. However, for me, I like to complete my detective fiction books whist jotting notes on a shiny new project and then letting that mull over in the background. We all work differently I guess. Thanks for the post 😁
Yes! I love using the "shiny new project" essentially as an idea dumping ground/confidence builder when inevitably you start to feel like a trash of a writer by the third, fourth, etc. draft. It can be a reminder of why you love doing this in the first place.
It me. Me me me me me.
Thank you, thank you! Really needed this right now. Have been feeling super stuck and thinking about allllll the other ideas that would be soooo much easier to write. Decision paralysis is real.
Great post. This is such a common trap - and it is complicated even more because there are some instances when the WIP isn't working and perhaps should be ditched, but which instances are those? Sometimes it's hard to tell. But as you so rightly say, ditching for a shiny new thing, just to avoid the messy slog that is writing a novel, is a very circular path and you will know it by its trail of 15,000 word manuscripts! I went through a period of this, and this blog post I found a while back when googling the issue really clicked it for me. The last point hit home -we have to practice writing BOOKS not just CHAPTERS, otherwise (I'm paraphrasing) we built up the starting muscle but the finishing muscle grows weaker! So better to just finish anyway, as it's all good experience regardless. https://writingandwellness.com/2017/09/12/how-to-actually-finish-the-writing-projects-you-start/
Thank you, Kate! A valuable post at a time when I’m working on my third nonfiction book at a 1000 words a day. I’m building my words on Notion and so far out of everything I’ve used to write my two previous books, I’ve loved this so much. I write a 1000 words a day and break it down into 10 hundred word thoughts/passages. It’s wonderful to see I’ve done over 4000 such bits without being distracted even a single day by that shiny new project. 😅
This is so true and I was struggling with this a few weeks back but then I read a great piece of advice about shiny new ideas somewhere that resonated with me - the best thing you’re writing is the thing you’re writing now. That got me centered much like your note here. Thanks! Also, love the image of Admiral Ackbar - that will forever keep my away from this trap! 🤣
Great post and great timing, as I am sitting down again with a project I have been afraid to fully commit to. But I’ve been working steadily in it in recent weeks and have promised myself I won’t ditch it for a Shiny New Thing, even if it’s a slog sometimes!
I do this all the time. I loved the part where you said it’s just an exit ramp for anxiety because it’s so true. Now I can just push through and ignore the pesty new book ideas that keep coming up!
You had me at Admiral Ackbar.
Great post on keeping accountable--thank you. I tend to have several projects going at once, but being a former journalist has made me deadline-sensitive. When my agent needs something, it becomes priority, and I wear sunglasses against the shine of the other projects, lol.
This is helpful
So thoughtful and helpful, Kate, and not just in the realm of writing!
Great post this but I would respectfully both agree and disagree. Agree because I feel that motivation is mis-sold to us when we need commitment to finish a project. However, for me, I like to complete my detective fiction books whist jotting notes on a shiny new project and then letting that mull over in the background. We all work differently I guess. Thanks for the post 😁
Yes! I love using the "shiny new project" essentially as an idea dumping ground/confidence builder when inevitably you start to feel like a trash of a writer by the third, fourth, etc. draft. It can be a reminder of why you love doing this in the first place.
thank you for speaking hard truths!!