Unfinished stories and ignored premises

[Ihe]

I went into my "projects" folder yesterday and painstakingly tidied up the pile of unfinished stories, ideas, premises, world-building, and half-plots I've hoarded over the years. Everything's now in individual files, and all related info is fused into single coherent documents.

I felt pretty good about my compulsive efforts. Then I felt less good when I counted the files: 68. Is that too many?

I have yet to finish a single story. This puts everything in perspective.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I felt pretty good about my compulsive efforts. Then I felt less good when I counted the files: 68. Is that too many?

I have 46, in all stages...but I'm on draft 5 of a novel and loads of ideas have been sucked in. So I suppose if these drafts hadn't been done, I'd be close to you as well!

I have yet to finish a single story. This puts everything in perspective.

<Makes the patient lie back on the sofa and adjust glasses> So how does this make you feel?

 

[HareBrain]

I'll move this to General Writing Discussion

 

[Ihe]

I'll move this to General Writing Discussion

Thanks.

I have 46, in all stages...but I'm on draft 5 of a novel and loads of ideas have been sucked in. So I suppose if these drafts hadn't been done, I'd be close to you as well!

I've been toying with merging a few ideas, but that still leaves like 62-63 potential best-sellers (because why not? ) completely wasted sitting in my PC. I can feel the pressure, despite nobody actually pressuring me or knowing these ideas exist. It's like writer-me wants to slap daily life-me and I actually feel a sense of urgency here. I'm on the verge of disappointing myself, which might be a first for me ..........

<Makes the patient lie back on the sofa and adjust glasses> So how does this make you feel?

What's the hourly rate? Or do you charge fixed rates per childhood trauma solved?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I have one genuinely trunked novel, two completed that need revisions but are planned/underway, and five completed novels. I have many shorts not published (but I have plans for them) but none unfinished. So I do tend to finish what I start.

I think you do need to complete a project to move on in terms of writing knowledge - revising and honing are different skills to having a rush of an idea and writing.

I find teeth gritting at some stage in some form is always required.

 

[HareBrain]

I think you do need to complete a project to move on in terms of writing knowledge - revising and honing are different skills to having a rush of an idea and writing.

I find teeth gritting at some stage in some form is always required.

Yes -- especially re the teeth gritting. And the feeling of accomplishment at finishing a novel, even if it's one you're not sure you'll do anything with, is likely to be even higher than you got from sorting your files out. So pick one, and plough on and do it.

 

[hopewrites]

When you need a dedicated exabyte-drive for your unfinished starts and un-world-ed world building... then you have "too much"

As long as it's organized so that you can pick up and run with something easily, I wouldn't worry about how much you haven't finished.

I might be asking myself on each one why I am not finishing it. uninteresting characters? unbelievable story elements? too tropeish to read let alone keep writing? those I deleted so my brain could move on to better more focused writing. But everything else I kept, along with some highly emotional, over the top "journaling" that I don't know how to deal with.

 

[Ihe]

There's this story I've toyed with for the better part of 10 years, but it's the only one that got anywhere in terms of serious word-count and plot development. Sadly, after re-reading it, I'm starting over. For the fourth time. This time it does looks fleshier, but I do see a pattern. My OCD flares up every now and then and bins what progress I've made with perfectionist rage. Got a feeling I can't do that every time .

It's always hard getting into the mentality that what I write will just be a first draft bound to change, maybe considerably. I do have a few short stories finished, but man, the personal hell I went through for those is worse in novel-length, no doubt.

I'm hunkering down for the next couple of days to get serious once again. I need the challenges to get me in the mood! Give more challenges mods! As of now, I'm founding the PCR party (Pro-Challenge Reformist party--or Polymerase Chain Reaction party, whichever makes more sense).

 

[Venusian Broon]

It's always hard getting into the mentality that what I write will just be a first draft bound to change, maybe considerably. I do have a few short stories finished, but man, the personal hell I went through for those is worse in novel-length, no doubt.

Somehow finishing a full draft, even if it is only the first of (what will turn out to be many) feels like you've got over 'halfway'. Aim for that - I do believe it changes you. At the very least, if you can do it once, you know you can do it again.

Yes there is a certain amount of Orwellian newspeak in that you generally tell yourself that what you are writing will be 'brilliant' and will not require changes. At least that is what got me through 200,000+ words at first. (Usually it is not, and it will require many changes. ) However rather than aim for perfection, which is an impossible goal, better to aim for completion. As you get better with practice at the craft, you should be getting quicker at getting closer to perfection. Or at least towards very good, much sooner!

Having a great amount of bloody-mindfulness and grunt to get you through the day to day really helps too. You'll be sitting down and writing the same project for many, many moons. Writing is not for the weak.

 

[hopewrites]

I also found that if I write something later that changes something I wrote earlier, rather than flipping back to rewrite the earlier bit to match the later bit... (Soooooo tempting!!) if I just flip back and write myself a note, I can move forward again, knowing it will be addressed when I go back over everything.

Especially helpful when I then write something that flops my flip back where it started or somewhere else all together.
Otherwise my opening is on its 10th draft before I get any kind of ending.

 

[Ragandar]

This sounds really familiar, Ihe. Tonnes of stories and ideas or loose threads everywhere, but nothing finished. The only difference is that none of mine are organised into files. They're random documents in desolate parts of my computer, or even just fleeting thoughts. They distract me rather a lot during the writing process, but I'm getting better at staying focused on a single story (that development actually started when I joined these forums, hah). So know that you're definitely not alone in this (including the starting over and over again, actually).

 

[Toby Frost]

I think you do need to complete a project to move on in terms of writing knowledge - revising and honing are different skills to having a rush of an idea and writing.

I agree. I think the finishing and editing process are the biggest difference between writing for publication and writing for fun. Not that there's anything wrong with writing for fun, though.

 

[Dan Jones]

I tend to finish what I start, again with a certain amount of teeth-gritting, and even after putting something down for weeks at a time to clear my head before returning to it with a clearer idea of the way forward.

My problem is the amount of unstarted projects. In my ideas folder I have a good half-dozen to dozen ideas, including a vigilante euthaniser, and a group of political activists who get attacked by a naked man in the woods, which haven't had a single word of prose attached to them (yet). Rather than start something and then let it stagnate as other priorities get in the way, I'll let them sit just as ideas until I'm ready to devote my time to them.

And I agree with Jo that finishing something (and then having others look at it) teaches you more about the writing process than anything, and once you do finish something, you know you can finish something, and you can take that motivation, as well as the extra knowledge, onto your next project.

So my advice would be: finish something! The Secret Santa would be a great place to start as you're already in the crew

 

[Venusian Broon]

My problem is the amount of unstarted projects. In my ideas folder I have a good half-dozen to dozen ideas, including a vigilante euthaniser, and a group of political activists who get attacked by a naked man in the woods, which haven't had a single word of prose attached to them (yet). Rather than start something and then let it stagnate as other priorities get in the way, I'll let them sit just as ideas until I'm ready to devote my time to them.

For some reason I think of these proto-ideas a bit like wine. You don't chug them down immediately - you let them mature and as you do they can become more complex and much tastier. When you come back they can mature into much deeper and better ideas!

On the other hand you might find it to be pure vinegar, but than at least you discovered that before you went off and spent a year trying to write it.

 

[Ihe]

The Secret Santa would be a great place to start as you're already in the crew

Of course. Secret Santa is indeed a good way to get into "finishing and self-editing". I entered the last one as well, and I did finish it. But I don't count these as they are not my own ideas .

 

[Toby Frost]

I agree with Venusian Broon. The best thing is to leave them to develop, one way or another. Quite often, I'll think "Wouldn't it be great if this guy did X?" and a week later will have discarded the idea as not actually very good. On occasion, I'll become fascinated by a book or film, but will lose the fascination after a while. However, what may seem like a great idea but then loses its appeal may be gradually worked back into another story. It's a matter of allowing the ideas to sift down to their correct level, so to speak.

 

[The Big Peat]

A quick look through my documents folder found about 35 unfinished projects in various states of disarray.

I am okay with this but there's also 2 projects with finished first drafts and yes, that allows me to feel a lot better about all the stuff I started and never finished (or in some cases thought of and never started).

I don't think there's any such thing as too many unfinished projects. Some will tell you to finish everything you write but I just can't see the point to that. Or the fun. But there is definitely such a thing as not enough finished projects. As pointed out, finishing a book/story will teach you a *huge* amount about writing. You will also have a lot of fun doing so - or at least will get a lot of fun out of your sense of achievement.

Ihe, there is no reason you can't finish a story if you decide now is the time to do so. It will at times involve a lot of not-fun as writing it becomes difficult. Just grit your teeth and just make the words happen any old how. If you pick an idea and commit yourself to it, come hell or high water, it will happen.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Better out than in. A computer has a better memory than your brain.

I'll echo the 'get a novel finished' sentiments UT as it's an experience I'm struggling with; finished lots of shorts but the learning curve with a novel is a much more complicated and comprehensive task.

The mountains ahead are as high as ever so I just keeping myself 'one day... one day.'

pH

 

[Biskit]

Then I felt less good when I counted the files: 68. Is that too many?

You made me go look. Please don't do that again. It makes me realise how much I haven't done.

'New' ideas folder (old was getting too cumbersome) 408 - anything from 'cool title' to 10/20k beginings. There's probably a few duplicates, but I do not feel brave enough to go tidying or checking. Anything that gets beyond 30k gets a folder all of its own under 'In Progress' (which is thankfully small at 22*** entries, but only 15 are complete, and only 3 of them currently being pitched and gathering variations on a theme of 'well written but not right for us/the market' ).

The 'Old' ideas folder has a mere 291 items, so perhaps it's time to create a 'New New' ideas folder.

***PS - some of the early entries in those 22 projects are really awful. One springs to mind (about 500k as I recall) - a fun story, but something went hideously wrong with the writing. The Biskitetta gave up trying to read it. I gave up trying to read it. Good story, but reads like eating concrete.

 

[The Big Peat]

Better out than in. A computer has a better memory than your brain.

I'll echo the 'get a novel finished' sentiments UT as it's an experience I'm struggling with; finished lots of shorts but the learning curve with a novel is a much more complicated and comprehensive task.

The mountains ahead are as high as ever so I just keeping myself 'one day... one day.'

pH

That it certainly is. My first finished draft included burning the thing to the ground and starting again and a prose style that fell apart like road kill in July as I reached the end. But it got done.

Even finishing it badly beats not finishing it, because you still learn. The next one was a lot smoother finish.