I have more unfinished writing projects stored on my hard drive than completed ones. This isn’t as uncommon, or shameful, as you might think. In fact, I like to think of incomplete works as accomplishments in their own fragmented way.
If we never learn to celebrate our small steps of progress, we won’t ever be able to appreciate our victories — big or small.
If You Start, You’re Already Doing Better Than Most
It’s a safe guess that most aspiring writers have a collection of unfinished projects hidden away in various file folders. A pretty decent percentage of people who say they want to be writers, however, never even get that far. A lot of those who think they can and want to write a book, for example, might have some good ideas. But they never get around to writing anything.
There are many possible reasons for that — one big one being that writing is a lot of long-term work with very few automatic rewards attached. If you’ve gotten this far — you’ve tried to start writing something — you’re ahead in the game. You’re a working writer. You’re making the effort. That means something! It means you’re more likely to succeed as a writer than everyone who has never tried to write anything at all.
Why Following Through Is Hard (But Moving on Is Harder)
It’s not easy to start writing something. It’s harder to finish writing something you’ve started. What actually takes even more effort and discipline is the art of moving on — knowing when it’s time to leave something unfinished and move on to something else. Many writers who start something will stay stuck on that same project for years — maybe forever — because they simply refuse to let go.
Not finishing something means you’re learning and evolving as a writer. You’re able to recognize when a story isn’t working; when you’ve outgrown a story you thought you wanted to tell; when you’re not ready to tell a story that’s on your heart. Not finishing a story isn’t always a bad thing. It takes a lot of self-awareness and maturity to admit to yourself that some things are best left incomplete.
You’ll Never Forget Your Unfinished Stories
I still remember a good chunk of the stories I once started but never finished. Just because you abandon a story doesn’t mean its ideas, characters, or framework has to stay behind. These are your stories, after all. You’re allowed to use what remains of something old and unfinished to build something new — something you may be much more likely to actually finish.
It’s healthy to look back on where you came from to put into perspective how you got here. For me, the stories I never finished are just as valuable as the ones I got to tag “the end” onto just for my own satisfaction after writing the final line.
You’re not a failure for leaving a story behind. You’re doing much better than the world wants you to believe.
Meg Dowell Writes 