Sometimes I think there’s only one piece of writing advice. “Finish it.” Finish the novel, finish the short story, finish something and then edit it or move on to the next thing and learn something new.
I don’t care if it’s bad. You can’t do anything with a story that’s in scattered fragments. And if “finishing” means discarding a piece that’s beyond repair, and starting on something new which you are able to finish, that works, too. I did that with two novels in a row.
You can’t get anywhere as a professional writer if you never finish anything. Or finish with anything.
Finish something. Just one thing. Worry about the rest later.
Related posts:
The Art of Letting Go: Finishing the Novel.
The Daily Grind.
Zero drafting.
How To Learn To Write.
Pithy Writing Advice.
About Victoria Janssen
Victoria Janssen [she, her] currently writes cozy space opera for
Kalikoi. The novella series A Place of Refuge begins with
Finding Refuge:
Telepathic warrior Talia Avi, genius engineer Miki Boudreaux, and augmented soldier Faigin Balfour fought the fascist Federated Colonies for ten years, following the charismatic dissenter Jon Churchill. Then Jon disappeared, Talia was thought dead, and Miki and Faigin struggled to take Jon’s place and stay alive. When the FC is unexpectedly upended, Talia is reunited with her friends and they are given sanctuary on the enigmatic planet Refuge. The trio of former guerillas strive to recover from lifetimes of trauma, build new lives on a planet with endless horizons, and forge tender new connections with each other.
The Mortal Kombat chant is going through my head — "Finish him!"
People like to say, every writer's process is their own and do what works for you. I like to add "once you've hit The End once" to that. :)
*heh*. Do you also get videogame sound effects when you type "the end"?