Do You Finish What You Start?
By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)
Do you finish what you start?
In Cornerstone, an urban fantasy by Misty Provencher, Nalena Maxwell’s mother is the worst kind of non-finisher (or so Nalena thinks). Every week, Nalena stops at the stationery store to buy paper for her mom, an unpublished writer. Nalena hates “paper day” because their house is already filled with paper. (Imagine Extreme Hoarders: Paper Edition.)
Even though Nalena’s mom spends her whole day writing, she never finishes a story. She’s always writing snippets. Bits of characters. Random sentences. Ideas that she sets aside to write the next idea.
Nalena begs her to finish just one because they’re on welfare, barely able to pay their rent. Nalena resents her mother’s inability to follow through.
We later find out Nalena’s mother isn’t a normal writer, but when I first read about their situation, all I could do was pray, “Please don’t let that be me.”
I want to be a finisher, not someone who leaves a trail of half-finished projects scattered behind her.
I know there’s value in trying different things and experimenting to see what we like and what we don’t. We learn a lot from trial and error. But doesn’t a time come when we need to focus on one project and see it through to the end?
When we hop from project to project or continually tinker with the same project for years, we’re cheating ourselves.
We miss out on the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing. By completing, we also prove to ourselves we can finish. And we overcome the fear that might be the real reason we haven’t finished anything. If we did it once, we can do it again.
Beyond that, what value is there in unfinished projects? I’m not getting any benefit from the half-finished projects around my house. (On the contrary, they’re actually in my way.) I’m not getting any benefit from the half-finished projects collecting virtual dust on the hard drive of my computer. Until I finish them, the time spent on them was, at least in part, wasted.
One of the changes I’m trying to make as the New Year approaches is to work on one project at a time, to force myself to complete one before I allow myself to start on something new. I don’t expect it to be easy. I’m hoping, though, that by sticking to one thing until it’s finished, I’ll develop the determination and perseverance to make it a habit that will mean I complete more in the long run.
Do you finish one project before you start another? Or do you tend to get bored and move on to something new, leaving a trail of unfinished projects behind you?
You can get Cornerstone free right now on Kindle. It’s also available as a paper copy
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Dec 17, 2012 @ 13:52:21
I think it is one of the reasons why it took me so long to start writing because I was someone who didn’t finish things she started. I would set goals and never finish projects or give up in the middle.
But, this year I made the decision to finish the first draft of a novel and I did. Great post.
Dec 17, 2012 @ 13:55:33
Congratulations on finishing your novel! That’s a huge accomplishment, and I hope it proves to be the start of many finished projects for you 🙂
Dec 17, 2012 @ 14:18:44
For the most part I’m a finisher. I think someone once told me I have “closure needs.” 🙂 I feel unsettled, antsy, incomplete when I don’t finish something. The problem comes when I do something TOO fast simply because I want to get it done. I have to put on the brake sometimes.
Dec 17, 2012 @ 14:20:52
I find the small projects aren’t a problem for me. If I can finish something in a week, I’ll easily knock it out. But when I come to the bigger projects, I tend to spread myself too thin. Something that should have taken me a month to finish is still dragging on after three months because of the four other big projects I decided to start at the same time. I really want to try to focus on one (at most two) major projects at a time in the new year.
Dec 17, 2012 @ 14:44:00
First, let me say that CORNERSTONE was one of my favorite books this year! The sequel was also amazing, and I can’t wait for the third to come out next year 😀
Second: I’m officially a finisher! 😛 But I don’t look at my unfinished projects as failures or a waste of time. They’ve each taught me something that I need to learn in order to finish Nameless. And there’s still time to finish them in the future. Sometimes we just aren’t ready to finish something because we haven’t learned enough yet. Once I’ve learned enough I’ll go back and finish the others 🙂
Dec 17, 2012 @ 16:33:17
I loved it too. The second book is on my Christmas list 🙂
You make a valuable point in that sometimes we’re just not ready to finish something at the time. I think a lot of projects could fall into that category. When the time is right, they’ll get done.
Dec 17, 2012 @ 14:44:28
I thought I was a non-finisher when I first started writing, until I learned that not all ideas are gold. And to be patient and wait for the ideas to grow big enough to be whole stories and not just snippets and half books. I deliberately don’t make eye contact with shiny, new ideas. I make them come to me. And I recycle the pieces when I can.
Because I’m an “into the mist” writer, I tend to get really broody about halfway through, and I always have a crisis of “is this idea good enough for a whole book” moment or several moments. but somehow I reach the tipping point where I have to find out what happens to, and the book gets finished.
Dec 18, 2012 @ 14:03:36
You just pointed out why I don’t finish a lot of projects. I’m a planner so I usually abandon something before I’m too far in, but I often start work on a project (i.e. start planning and researching) and realize it’s fatally flawed. Should I continue on and resolve the flaws? Or should I move on to an idea that’s clearly gold?
Dec 17, 2012 @ 16:08:55
I do finish what I start, but sometimes it takes a lot of self-talk and lectures to get it done. I do get distracted pretty easily. But it drives me crazy to not reach the end of the story even if it’s a lame ending…so I plug on forward.
It’s the best feeling to finish. The biggest reward for me is to hold something in my hand and say “I did that!” It’s what made me pick graphic design, and now writing, as careers.
Dec 18, 2012 @ 14:04:40
I’m the worst with projects around the house. I have such good intentions when I start, but then usually my computer calls and that house project just never gets done…
Dec 17, 2012 @ 16:20:05
I’m a finisher, but not always for the right reasons. I tinkered around with Time’s Enemy for years, but that was my learning book (good reason) and I eventually did finish it. I’d also finished two novels before that, just so I could say I’d finished them (maybe not such a good reason). I’m not sure I’ll publish the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo this year, but it’s finished, and I did that one because it was a totally different kind of story for me and I wanted to stretch myself.
Cornerstone looks really good – downloaded it!
Dec 20, 2012 @ 01:16:49
I finished my “learning book” too. Some day I want to go back to it, probably rewrite it again, and bring it out to the world. I still love the story even though my writing wasn’t ready for public consumption. I’d intended it to be a series and gave up on the second book because I realized the first wasn’t going to be published.
I hope you enjoy Cornerstone. I think it was one of the best I’ve read this year.
Dec 17, 2012 @ 16:34:43
I am a finisher. And as much as it’s killing me I force myself to slow down and do things right so that I (hopefully) create the best product I can. Some projects take longer than others, that’s just the way of it. But I can see how it might be easy for someone to get distracted and move on before one project is finished. Like Coleen, I’d say I have ‘closure needs’ so that’s extremely hard for me to do.
Dec 18, 2012 @ 14:06:13
I have perfectionism issues, so a project is never “done” with me, and I’m sure that contributes. I need to take Seth Godin’s “artists ship” advice to heart.
Dec 17, 2012 @ 22:16:15
I think I am a finisher, but right now I’m not sure if I’m finished or not. ha! I’ve rewritten, edited, polished my novel as much as I can, so I think it’s finished, but not sure what I should do next. It doesn’t feel finished because it is part of a trilogy. I’ve started working on my next project, but I keep coming back to my first novel. I think that if I can get it “right” then I will do better in the next story.
Dec 20, 2012 @ 01:18:29
I’ve heard that, as writers, we never really feel a book is finished, even after we’ve written “the end.” The written product, no matter how polished, never quite matches what we had in our head. What happens is we reach a point where to move forward we have to “ship” whether we feel it’s finished or not.
Dec 18, 2012 @ 07:48:03
Cornerstone sounds like a must read book. And a keeper for the days when I feel meh about writing the current WIP. “This is how you’ll end up if you keep switching projects” 😛
I’m a chronic starter of new projects, INFP with major iNtuition and Perceiving (read: impulsiveness). I love coming up with new ideas and they’re just so much more shiny than the old ideas.
I get new shinies all the time and let them distract me. When I walk to kitchen to get a glass of water, I notice crumbs on the table and start wiping. And oh, there’s a toy on the floor. Got to return it to the kid’s room. Hmm, what did I come to the kitchen for?
Sometimes I wonder if I have ADD. Except when I focus, I really do focus. I just have to get started and then the flow grips me.
Like Pauline said, not all ideas are created equal. Idea phase and evaluating are vital so you get committed to a big enough idea that you passionately love. Even during the dreaded middle of the story and revisions.
Dec 20, 2012 @ 01:11:17
I’m about as far from an impulsive person as you can get, but I can’t seem to turn away from a potentially beneficial project. I was the kind of person in university who took a wide variety of classes because I wanted to know everything and try everything. I think rather than ADD, it’s an intense curiosity about the world and the possibilities it holds 🙂
Dec 18, 2012 @ 22:27:47
Hi Marcy,
I’ve read all the comments above and noticed in many ways we’re all similar.
For the most part, I finish what I start, although it may take awhile.
I’ve downloaded a copy of the book and began reading last night. Now, I’ve only read the first two pages, but my immediate thought was that the mother is a “pack rat” and has “OCD”.
I suppose, once I finish reading the book I’ll have the answer.
So far, I’m intrigued!
Thanks,
Tracy
Dec 20, 2012 @ 01:12:05
I hope you like the book. I know fantasy isn’t normally a genre you read. Genre aside, Cornerstone is beautifully written.
Dec 18, 2012 @ 23:40:59
I am definitely a finisher. Right now I’m working on not being too much of a perfectionist so that what I need to finish actually has an end. It’s way too easy to keep tweaking ~ especially our writing.
I’ve made a goal for myself like you have ~ that next year (and beyond), I will work on one project at a time before moving to the next. Right now I’m juggling four books and it’s ridiculous. So, I’ve shelved three and am working to finish one. Then I’ll open the next one and so on. Then I might have some sanity!
Dec 20, 2012 @ 01:20:41
Exactly! That urge to keep tweaking is so hard to fight!
I’ve identified the “priority” projects for me for the new year. I’ve decided for me that means picking one novel, one non-fiction book, and one short story idea. I’m not allowing myself to start on a new project in any of those categories until I finish the one I’m working on.
Dec 19, 2012 @ 05:24:59
I’m a finisher, to be certain, but I have to admit a problem with that way of being — I can’t start something new until the current project is finished. so when i’m stuck, i’m really stuck. yuck
Dec 20, 2012 @ 01:13:04
It sounds like you have the opposite problem. It can be just as problematic when we’re stuck on a project and can’t start something new. Balance really is key 🙂
Dec 19, 2012 @ 19:35:15
Hi Marcy! How are you?
I hear you on the perfectionism. But for the most part, I do like to finish things. Although it has been extremely hard to accomplish this with the deluge of challenges that I’ve had to face this last year. Yet, I remain optimistic in hopes of a better year to come as I resolve to finish a re-write and complete another novel that also begs for my attention. So you have my utmost sympathy Marcy. I look forward to seeing you and all our dear wana friends very soon! 🙂
Dec 20, 2012 @ 01:14:17
Karen, I think everyone who knows even a touch of your struggles admires your bravery and dedication. Most people who’ve faced what you have would just have given up. Whenever you’re ready to get back into the swing of it, the WANAs will be waiting with open arms!
Jan 17, 2013 @ 14:50:38
I like Reeta’s phrase: I’m a chronic starter of new projects. And I hate the tedious wrapping up of said projects. So the cross-stitch isn’t framed, the curtains aren’t lined, the photos are still waiting to be cropped and printed . . .
But for writing? I’m a determined finisher … and a perfectionist. So while I might have finished my novel two years ago, it had a flaw that I couldn’t figure out how to fix. So on the back burner it went (once again). Then the light went on, I’ve worked on it, and I’m in final (hopefully) edits – hurray!
That’s not to say I finish everything, though. Some stories just aren’t meant to be, so I may re-use some of the good stuff in a new story, but if it sits for a while and isn’t calling to me, then it can stay in the back of the closet. And I doubt that will change – my mind spews a lot of junk sometimes.
Thanks, Marcy. Good thoughts, even if I am late to the party.