Writing life
Finish Your Writing Projects Like a Pro
Seven simple steps to help you focus and conquer shiny object syndrome
Between September 2021 and November 2022, I wrote three novels.
Currently, I’m writing two novels and a novella at the same time, writing and publishing articles on Medium, and revising one of the novels I wrote last year. If you’re not impressed yet, I’m making great progress on each project without breaking a sweat.
Okay, I’m sweating a lot. It’s quite challenging, to be honest. But it’s fun. I promise.
Now before you ask what kind of hard drug I’m on, the answer is none. I just have a hardcore system I follow.
I wasn’t always this productive.
Before September 2021, I was sorely afflicted by Shiny Object Syndrome. I never finished any project I started.
Every time I started writing a novel, I would give up after a few chapters once I got an idea for a new story. Then, of course, I would get bored by my new project, discard it, and hop on to something else.
Soon, my inability to finish anything began taking a toll on my mental health. I almost quit writing altogether, after all, what was the point of writing a book you could never finish?
That’s how dangerous shiny object syndrome is though it seems harmless on the surface. Unfortunately, many wannabe writers are plagued by shiny object syndrome because of their lack of focus.
You get a brilliant idea and can’t wait to explore it. You start writing the story only to be arrested by another brilliant idea.
Sure, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s pretty normal to have like ten thousand story ideas at the same time. But the problem arises when you permanently discard your old ideas just so you can have an affair with the new ones.
What happens then? You leave behind scores of unfinished projects that you’ve completely given up on.
I loathed myself for being that way. So yes, I knew it was time for a change. That’s how I came up with a system to help me focus on my writing projects and actually finish them.
I’ve fleshed out this system in seven simple steps.
Step #1: Change your mindset.
This sounds pretty much cliche by now. But it will forever be true. Mindset is everything.
If you have any bad habits, the first step toward changing them is by changing your thoughts, perception, and how you view yourself and the world. Change only comes when you accept that you need to change.
It first begins with being completely fed up with the status quo. You no longer want to live that nightmare anymore. So you say to yourself, “You know what, I’ve had enough. I’m going to write this book no matter what.”
This was exactly what happened to me.
After accumulating so many unfinished stories and never once finishing a book, I got sick of it. One day, I had a vision of what my future would look like and I hated it. It was no life to live, a life full of regrets where I never attempted to fulfill any of my dreams. One where I never finished a single novel.
That future terrified me so much that it changed something inside me. From then on, I vowed to at least finish one book before I die.
That was all the nudge I needed.
Slowly, I adopted habits to become more productive. It was one of the hardest moments of my life but it was worth everything.
Now, I can’t even think of starting a writing project and not finishing it. Everything I start, I finish no matter how long it takes. That’s unless a project is not worth wasting time on. Even then, why would I spend time on it in the first place?
Step #2: Work on one project at a time.
After I changed my mindset and decided to finish at least one book, I chose a project to work on. It was a new book idea I had while working on another book. No, the irony is not lost on me. But this time, it was different.
This time, I was prepared to work on that project to the very end.
Because I believed in the story, I told myself I would never quit no matter what. Even if it got hard and I was tempted to start another story, I would keep going and not give in to temptation.
After three months of blood, sweat, and tears, I finally finished the first draft of my first novel. The book still needed massive rewrites at the time, but I didn’t care. I was so damn proud of myself for finishing a novel for once in my life. I even broke down in tears of joy. Then I realized I would have to do a lot of rewrites that would take even more months. And then I broke down in tears of agony.
Thankfully, working on that one project for months instilled in me an unwavering sense of focus. While rewriting was challenging, it was still not as mind-numbing as finishing the first draft.
Step #3: Work on three projects at a time.
I swear I didn’t just pull that out of my ass. It’s a complete 180 from Step #2, I know. But stay with me. I’m on to something.
All writers are different. While some writers thrive on writing one book at a time, others will easily burn out of boredom if they tried.
For writers of the latter group, it’ll be counterproductive to dedicate all their time to working on just one project at a time when they could explore multiple stories instead. Doing this will even make their shiny object syndrome worse.
Such writers enjoy the thrill of juggling between several stories.
If this is you, then working on three projects at a time is your best course of action.
Take note that the number of projects isn’t limited to three. It can be as many as you’re comfortable with.
I merely used ‘three’ to represent multiple projects — any number between two and infinity. So go crazy, I guess.
How does this work exactly?
Start with one project, say a novel. Work on it until you get bored, or are suddenly inspired by another story. Move on to the new story and write it until you get sick of it. Ditch it for now and go back to the old story which now feels like working on something new. Once you get another story idea, go and work on it. Bored? No problem. Hop back to the old story. And the cycle continues.
See what’s happening here? You go back and forth between old and new stories without discarding any of them.
On the surface, it looks like shiny object syndrome, but it’s not. The difference here is that you don’t permanently abandon your old projects.
You’re working on multiple stories, of course, but you plan to finish them all. It might take you longer to do so, but eventually, you will. And that’s far better than never finishing what you started.
David B. Clear wrote a much better article about this.
Does this system work for me? Absolutely. While I usually prefer to finish a story before moving on to the next, I don’t strictly adhere to it.
If I’m overwhelmed with working on one book for so long, I take a much-needed break by starting something new. Once I get over my boredom, I go back to working on my old story, feeling a lot more invigorated.
You’re not any less of a writer if you go back and forth between projects. Once I understood that there’s no one way to write and that the process was different for every writer, my productivity skyrocketed to the stratosphere.
Step #4: Store your new ideas.
I get it. As writers, we’re always getting millions of ideas for millions of stories. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by these ideas and jump on to the shiniest new thing.
You need to focus on the ideas that will help you finish your writing in progress.
I’m not saying discard every other idea and only think about the one or three stories you’re writing. No. If you get a new idea for a story, jot it down somewhere — whether on your phone or notepad. Never neglect the ideas you come up with. Ever. You shoot yourself in the foot when you do that.
Always store them. But don’t work on them yet if you’re already working on something else. It’s a great idea, yes, but you’ll come back to it later. It will always be there waiting for you. This is why storing your ideas is important.
Once you’re done with one project, mine and refine your stored ideas to begin a new project.
This advice only applies to those who feel most natural working on one project at a time. Doing this will keep you focused on what matters most.
On the other hand, if you’re more comfortable with working on multiple projects at a time, then work on those new ideas if they just won’t leave you alone.
The choice is yours. Know yourself and stick to a system that works best for you.
Step #5: Make sure the projects you’re working on give you joy.
What’s the one reason that makes you lose interest in a project, and all you want to do is just move on already?
It’s quite simple.
You just don’t like working on it. No, scratch that. You despise working on it. You may not admit it yet, but your body and mind already know it. So they rebel.
Here’s a rule of thumb; if you’re not constantly thinking about your writing in progress, then it’s not something you should be working on. Period.
You’ll know if you love it. You just will.
You think about it all the time; when you’re in the shower, on the toilet, or having a threesome. Don’t roll your eyes. It’s true. You have conversations with your characters in your head, mumble dialogue, act out scenes, and get lost in the fictional world you’ve created.
The moment you start procrastinating, you feel incredibly guilty and hate yourself for it. This is when you know that writing this story isn’t just something you love to do — it’s what you must do.
The inexplicable joy I felt writing my first novel, coupled with the emptiness that filled me when I wasn’t writing was all the willpower I needed to finish it. I loved it too much to give up on it. And I knew that if I never finished this book, I would regret it for the rest of my life.
If you’re not obsessed with your writing project, finishing it will be very difficult. You might even give up.
I need to caution you though. No matter how much you love it, there will come a time when you want to give up because it’s too hard to go on. That’s normal. It happens to the best of us.
But what can you do so you don’t succumb to the pressure?
The next steps will help you figure it out.
Step #6: Create a winning strategy to keep you focused
This was what I meant when I said I followed a system to keep me focused.
Of course, all the steps above are important. However, the real action begins here. Master this strategy and say adios to shiny object syndrome. Forever.
Ready? Good, let’s go.
To focus on your projects and get them done, you need three things:
- outlines
2. writing schedules
3. deadlines
This is my secret to productivity.
Outlines
Whether you’re writing a novel, a short story collection, a non-fiction book, a screenplay, or any writing project, you need an outline.
Even if you’re a pantser, you can still benefit from a simple outline.
Outlines were the game changer in my writing career. I learned, to my horror, that I never finished writing any of my stories because I had zero plans for them.
I am a plotter through and through, so writing without an outline was like scaling Mount Everest butt-naked. Not that I know what that feels like, but I guess it’s ass-chilling.
Because I had no outline to guide me, I would get stuck, quit, and start a new story, only to quit again.
Once I learned that I was a plotter who needed an in-depth outline of every last detail, things changed for the better.
Before writing a word of my first novel, I used one week to craft a fifty-page outline. Yes, fifty pages.
It had every scene, every chapter, every character, every last detail of my entire world. When the outline was done, all I had to do was follow it like a map, and never once did I lose my sense of direction.
Of course, I updated the outline when necessary and adapted it to the manuscript. Within three months, I was done with the first draft.
Only three months. Prior to that, I had never finished a book.
It was the best feeling ever.
Writing Schedule
Time management is imperative to keep you focused. Do this by creating a timetable or a writing schedule. Whether you write it down or keep it in mind is up to you. But you must honor it.
A writing schedule tells you when you have to work on a particular project. I used to think that I could only work on one project at a time.
I was wrong.
In the last few months, I’ve learned that I can work on several projects at a time. I just needed a good timetable to manage it all.
I don’t have to get bored to start another project. No. I work on all of them simultaneously during the week.
Each day, I work on something different.
Three days a week, I write my novels and novella.
Some days are for writing Medium articles, others for editing those articles.
On Sundays, I publish my articles on Medium.
Roughly, this is what my timetable is like. Sometimes I switch things up a little, but in the end, I always work on every project each week.
Your timetable certainly doesn’t have to be messy like mine. Adjust it to your daily schedule and work around it.
But what if you’re too busy to write?
You can always make time to write no matter how busy you are. If not, then you shouldn’t be a writer anyway. Sorry, not sorry.
Deadlines
Outlines and writing schedules go hand in hand with deadlines.
This is what the formula looks like:
Outlines + Writing Schedules + Deadlines = Finished Projects
Deadlines keep me accountable because I work hard to meet them. One thing is key though; I always set realistic deadlines so I don’t lose my fucking mind.
Seriously, don’t expect to finish a fifty-thousand-word novel in a week or two unless you’re Wonder Woman… or a psychopath. If you can do that, I envy you. Tell me your secret, Jeffrey Diana. Get it? No? Okay, I’ll see myself out.
While deadlines are damn near sacred, I don’t always meet them. It’s usually not intentional so I’m never too hard on myself when that happens.
All I do is adjust my deadline and keep going. I had a similar experience when I started writing a fantasy novel at the beginning of January this year.
After drafting the outline and preparing my writing schedule (one chapter a day), I estimated that I would finish the first draft by the end of January. But I missed the deadline due to personal issues.
With only four chapters remaining, I adjusted my writing schedule to one chapter per week and postponed the deadline to the end of April.
This new schedule works much better for me given that I’m working on so many projects at the same time. As I always say, figure out what works best for you and stick with it.
Step #7: Stop thinking too much about the future and focus on the now
Writers are dreamers. But dreaming too much about how your finished book is going to be a bestseller and make you super famous is very dangerous. I’m not saying don’t dream big. Hell, let your dream be vaster than the universe.
But… and this is a big butt, never lose sight of reality when you dream. That’s where the danger lurks.
I used to daydream a lot about my future. I was a bestselling author of several acclaimed fantasy books, went on interviews and book tours, received awards, had movie and anime adaptations for my books, and lived away from civilization on a remote island.
So vivid were my dreams that I usually conflated them with reality. Well, until I checked my bank account and saw the $7.69. Sweet. While daydreaming sometimes inspired me to work on my novels, most often, it rather demotivates me.
Living too much in my head made me feel like it was already real. In effect, whenever I sat down to write these books that will bring me all those bazillions, I was too burned out to do it. I mean, why not? I’d already written all those books… in my dreams. I’d experienced all the highs of achieving that goal, so I no longer feel motivated to work on it.
I rather felt both physically and mentally drained.
It probably sounds silly, but this was a real problem I had. I used to think it was just me, but apparently, a lot of people have this problem too.
If you’re one of them, there’s no need to panic. If I got it under control, then so can you.
Instead of thinking about the result, focus on the process that leads to the result. Stop thinking about how amazing you’ll feel when you finish writing your novel.
Instead, focus on writing the novel. Don’t dwell too much on the future. Focus on the now.
When you’re stuck in a dreamland where you’re literally Brandon Sanderson, come back to earth and remind yourself that this will never be real unless you focus on what’s important; writing and completing your stories.
Do I still have big dreams? A resounding yes.
Do I still live inside my head without taking action anymore? Hell no.
I focus on writing my books, enduring the pain that comes with them, and doing the work I need to do. Once in while, I remind myself of why I’m doing what I do, which involves daydreaming a bit about what the future holds. But I come back to living in the moment.
Focusing on the things I can control in the present makes me more productive, happier, and sane.
Final thoughts
So there you have it. You’re well on your way to finishing your writing projects. Don’t let shiny object syndrome defeat you. You can use it to your advantage.
If you’re excited by a new idea. Go work on it. But get back to your old work as soon as you get bored. Don’t discard them. Working on them in such a rotational manner may take too long to complete. But it will be complete. That’s much better than never finishing anything you started.
I wish you all the best in all your writing.
Download my free ebook to help you write and edit your first novel.
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