When You’re Ready To Give Up

There’s a stage of the writing process I rarely hear talked about, and that’s the stage when the project hits a roadblock and we’re ready to put that book by the wayside and say “Bye-bye!”

My current WIP is in the baking stage, and though I have a complete first draft, a few aspects of the story are still stumping me. In moments of frustration, I feel tempted to give up on this project and move on to my next idea. 

This is nothing new for me. Every time I write a novel set in a new world I hit this stumbling block where I feel like I’m never going to figure out how the pieces of this particular story puzzle fit together. Steven Pressfield said, “Resistance never sleeps. It never slackens and it never goes away. The dragon must be slain anew every morning. However, as with anything in life, if you’ve succeeded in the past, at least you know that you can succeed.” 

This WIP is my 15th book. I’ve clawed my way over similar hills before, and after those successes I know that this feeling of wanting to give up will pass as long as I keep at it. I like to give myself a break between drafts so I can see what I have with fresh eyes, but when the baking time is over, it’s time to get back to work. 

Writer’s Block: Yes or No?

According to my old friend Merriam-Webster, writer’s block is “a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece.” If you look up the definition of writer’s block, you’ll see many definitions, each slightly different from the other. 

I’m fascinated by the fact that writers argue about whether or not writer’s block exists. I’m not a fan when I see people, writers or otherwise, dictating what others should think or feel. If you think writer’s block doesn’t exist, that’s fine, but I’m not sure anyone has the right to make proclamations, yes or no, to others. Everyone responds differently to the myriad of challenges that writing presents. If you think you have writer’s block, you do, and if you don’t believe writer’s block exists, you don’t.

For me, writer’s block isn’t about whether or not I’m putting words on paper. If we’re going to write something, then we need to put words on paper. There’s no getting around that fact. When I think of writer’s block, I think of hitting a wall where I’m not entirely sure where my story is going and ideas are scarce. It takes several drafts before I figure things out. I’m still writing, as in putting words on paper, but I’m stumped about which way the wind is blowing and I haven’t found my compass yet for that particular story. 

Toni Morrison said, “I tell my students there is such a thing as ‘writer’s block,’ and they should respect it. It’s blocked because it ought to be blocked, because you haven’t got it right now.” Yes, that’s it exactly. There are still aspects of my story I haven’t got right now. There are twists and turns I haven’t discovered, and my first draft has enough plot holes to resemble Swiss Cheese. 

Even though a lot of my story is still unclear, I’ve been writing. I have a complete first draft with a beginning, middle, and end. They are not a good beginning, middle, and end, but they exist. Barbara Kingsolver said, “Give yourself permission to write a bad book. Writer’s block is another name for writer’s dread—the paralyzing fear that our work won’t measure up. It doesn’t matter how many books I’ve published, starting the next one always feels as daunting as the first. A day comes when I just have to make a deal with myself: write something anyway, even if it’s awful. Nobody has to know. Maybe it never leaves this room! Just go.” 

Sometimes I hear authors talk about writing, and they say something along the lines of, “I write a first draft, then I edit it, and then I publish it.” I’m not that kind of writer. I discover so much depth about my stories through the many drafts I write. I discover things about the characters I didn’t know when I started, and I can finally see the larger picture. But it takes time. 

I was once asked how many drafts I write for my novels, and my answer is I don’t know. Many. I can usually count up to three drafts, but after that it becomes a jumble of moving scenes around here, adding dialogue and description there. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if I have a new draft or if I made alterations to an existing draft. 

Once I have a decent draft, I need to go back into my earlier chapters and add foreshadowing so the pieces of the puzzle feel connected. I wrote about foreshadowing here.

How To Find Writing Perseverance

I know that every writer wants the magic formula for finishing a book. There is only one thing you can do when you get to the difficult stage of writing a novel: keep going. 

Keep writing. Keep putting words on paper. Free write, brainstorm, bullet point, write a scene that occurs to you even if you’re not sure it will end up in your final draft, whatever you need to do–just keep going. When you stop putting words on paper you stop making progress. Our goal is to make progress, even if it’s only a little bit every day.

Some stories take longer to come together than others. When I’m at the difficult stage of a project, when I’m tempted to give up, I motivate myself to finish by knowing that with every draft I’ll understand the story better. I continue putting words on the page until I can see where the story is taking me.

Jennifer Egan said, “I haven’t had writer’s block. I think it’s because my process involves writing very badly.” A thousand times, yes. My process also involves writing very badly. I mean really badly. If I showed you one of my first drafts alongside one of my final drafts, you wouldn’t believe the same person wrote them. I barely believe it, and the words came out of my brain and off my fingertips.

I’ve had to learn to make peace with that part of my process. Sandra Tsing Loh said, “When you face writer’s block, just lower your standards and keep going.” 

I couldn’t have said it better myself.