Writers: When a project stalls, do you push on, or abandon?
You've written, say, 3 chapters. The work shows promise, you're enjoying yourself... and then, the flow just stops. When do you know it's time to move on, and start something new?
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crucial deadlines.
Take some time off, do something else, and let it marinate for awhile.
Patricia, if this happens, I will put the story aside for a month or so and get on with something else. When I take another look, I then decide if it is worthy of pursuing or whether to scrap it. Taking a break often gives you more clarity and new ideas to work with. Good Luck!
There are six books I've completed and one I'm writing now. I only stop if the way forward requires something I cannot do or don't have time to do at that time. I analyze why the problem has occurred, what it is, and how it needs to be resolved.
I have three projects I've stopped. One, a children's book, just wasn't working. I had to do work I wasn't qualified to do, planning & laying out each page. I disliked working on it and I abandoned my project, although I loved writing it.
Another, a steampunk time travel book about Nicola Tesla, went great for a while. As I planned out the first book of the trilogy and researched Tesla, I realized some of the mistakes he made and I didn't know how to portray him in my book. That one is on hold until I figure that out.
A third book, a dark romance that is also an allegory, became too ugly and too dark for me. I had set it in the modern-day. I decided to re-write it as a fairy tale to lighten it up. It's on hold for now.
Be careful about this idea, “...and then the flow just stops.”
For me, the flow never ‘just’ dries up. There are always underlying reasons. But rather than analyze what they could be, I sit down and free write for twenty minutes or so without trying to unearth an answer, using a prompt like, “I don’t know what to write about but right now I’m thinking about...” and just let your pen take over from there. (I write daily exercises with a pen. It seems to help me loosen up the road blocks more than a keyboard.) Good luck!
I am a fan of the Put it in a drawer for later technique. Just make sure you have a Literary Will that tells your heirs whether or not it is okay to publish an unfinished manuscript (See: Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman https://www.amazon.com/Go-Set-...)
New York Times Bestseller “Go Set a Watchman is such an important book, perhaps the most important novel on race to come out of the white South in decades." — New York Times
A landmark novel by Harper Lee, set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—“Scout”—returns home to Maycomb, Alabama from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can only be guided by one’s own conscience.
Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of the late Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor, and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context, and new meaning to an American classic.
Taking time to clear your mind helps, and going back to the project when you are feeling energized.
Your description of writing is excellent. I have felt the same feelings in my bones. This act of selling is a much different dance. I still like it, but selling is so unpredictable. I wish you well today.
my new novel has been stalled a lot during covid. I'm almost finished but found it hard to stay focus. And of course I haven't been able to do any travel writing as I've not been able to travel.
It depends if it is an ongoing project that has a deadline, then I persevere until it is completed. Should I begin a new writing project and "the flow just stops", I will put it aside, but never abandon it. It's a matter of self-satisfaction and pride in finishing.