I started my current novel some time ago (I’m embarrassed to even say how long ago it was) and it should’ve been finished by now. In fact I should’ve not only finished that novel but have already been well into the next one. Nevertheless, I am still not finished yet. I think that these are some of the reasons that I haven’t finished my novel yet:
- Too many ideas
- Can’t balance my time effectively
- Too ambitious with the projects that I want to accomplish
- Too much time spent not writing
In the end they all boil down to excuses that just aren’t good enough but I thought identifying with them would possibly help me finally get to the point where I could perhaps finish the novel. I believe the biggest reason I can’t seem to finish is the fact that I just have one too many ideas running around in my head; too many characters; too many plots. I did what I seem to always do. I get to that point where I am almost at the end (literally, I’m on Chapter 22 of a novel that is supposed to go to chapter 29—of course that could change) and then another idea that I’ve had in my head for sometime starts to become a stronger presence in my subconscious and then it’s the only idea I can concentrate on.
It’s a terrible habit that I have and it almost makes me wish that my problem was having a lack of ideas so the ones I have won’t take over every other project that I am working on. Perhaps this is another form of writer’s block. I always thought that it pertained to not having any ideas or inspiration to write at all but I think it might be just as bad to have so many ideas that you can’t focus on just one. Maybe I can’t seem to finish because it is my first attempt at writing a mystery and I’m nervous it won’t turn out as good as I am hoping. This is the point where I chuckle at people who seem to think that writing is easy and that all writers do is come up with stories. It’s so much harder then people think it is.
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
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I do the same thing, which is why I’m religious about committing to NaNoWriMo. I tell myself I should b able to make myself write 1666 words a day for 30 day any time of the year, but somehow I need to push through the excuses and just write every day, but I don’t and my family doesn’t take it seriously all the time. Nano makes the commitment external and then I do it. It is the only way I finished all 3 of my books, and one I had started 13 years earlier.