How do people finish things?

[joy_of_cooking]

I can't seem to do it.

Behold, the folder where I keep my works in progress. It overfloweth.

I have a story where I've had 40k words written but I can't seem to finish the last chapter. It's even plotted out. I just keep wandering off and working on something else.

Another, 20k.

Several with 10-20k.

At least a dozen in the 1-10k range.

How do you people do it?!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I roll up my sleeves and get to it.

Usually as I smell the ending coming I get really excited and intense and get impatient to finish. I have to keep myself collected and focused.

 

[NotWise]

Maybe what you want from your stories is the experience of writing them, rather than the finished product.

Finishing is hard to do, and it isn't going to happen unless the finished product is your goal.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Dedication, perspiration, coffee, late night and early morning cramming, hard candies in easy reach, and a total lack of sleep help. Also, work on one project at a time!!! If I get a new idea, I can lose the thread of the one I'm on.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I often write the entire ending in my outline, before I write the beginning.

-Eddie

 

[StillStunned]

I think that every story has a hump about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through. If you have enough momentum you'll soar past it, but if it's a longer story, or one that's resisting you, that hump can feel like a mountain.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Hah. There are all kinds of us, it seems. When I get near the end, I only speed up obsessively, ignoring any other needs until the story is finished. The satisfaction of seeing it done and then clicking the submission button is rivaled only by the moment when the story has gone live and the first reactions start pouring in.
A fun fact is that all my stories are unfinished still, as all I plan always goes beyond the length of an average novel, but when I actually start a chapter, I won't stop, or even start writing anything else until it's done.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Maybe what you want from your stories is the experience of writing them, rather than the finished product.

That's a true enough statement, the writing rather than the story. Usually mine arrive organically at a point where I can say, I reckon I can stop now. I'll often add a coda which infers the story has continued into another episode, but this bit's fine on its own.

 

[Bazzle]

I when I am stuck I do four things.
1) ignore it, write something else
2) I write the end and pray to my fingers that I can some how get from where I am to the ending
3) ignore it again and write something else
4) I start editing it. Go back to the beginning and see the inspiration that started it. Polishing it up in the hope that when I get to the culdesac I can move thru it.

 

[THBGato]

I feel your pain. I have 4 on the go at the minute. One at 14k words, the others all around 5k. None even remotely close to being finished.

If you find a magic solution, do share!

 

[Britva415]

You could approach this like people approach debt reduction: Use the “snowball” strategy by tackling the one which is closest, has the least work left on it, commit to finishing that first, and using the “win” to fuel momentum for the next completion.

Or, identify which one is “costing” you the most by being unfinished, and committing to finishing that one to get the most “return” for the completion.

And whatever you do, don’t start writing new stuff until the old stuff is paid off.

Okay, maybe the analogy breaks down…

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Write the ending first.

If I start at the beginning, I have to edit it loads anyway to adjust for what happens later and to make it punchy and attract casual readers. OK, sometimes I don't bother.

I have about a dozen stories on the go, and often flick between them, adding a sentence or two. Or editing. But sometimes, I get on a roll and add a whole chunk. Sometimes, even, most of a story.

Sometimes a competition/event deadline motivates me to finish, but mostly I get a big sense of satisfaction when I finally have a draft that is a story, and then I leave it for a couple weeks (ideally getting a beta reader), and then polish until I'm happy with it, or just want to get it out.

 

[Deadfreak]

I finish alone
Start that way too

 

[oneagainst]

Get up with the sun at 5.45am, feed the dogs while everyone else is asleep, make yourself a cup of tea with TWO teabags and sit down and bang out 2500 words of the next chapter before the fresh hell of other people impinges on your flow, like a normal person would, @joy_of_cooking - repeat until done. Add thigh high stiletto boots to taste.

Though @Kumquatqueen has the gist of it. I'm in the middle of a femdom saga at the moment, and I've had the last scene of the third book written for half a year. Even though it's going to be another 3 months before the publishing schedule gets around to it, that ending calls to me. Sometimes you need a light on a hill to motivate you to join all the dots and land the f**king plane.

 

[SimonDoom]

You've published 22 stories in under 2 years, so you've demonstrated that in fact you DO know how to finish stories. I've published 63 over 8 years, and I've probably got about 50 unfinished stories, so I know what it's like not to finish. Since we don't get paid to do this, my advice is not to worry about it too much and just do whatever works for you, even if it doesn't work as well as you would like.

A piece of good advice I've learned when it comes to time management is to take the easiest project first and get it done. You'll feel a sense of accomplishment and then you can move on to the next project. Pick the easiest story to finish, and just set aside some time and do it. Then you will confirm to yourself that you can finish, and the next time will be a bit easier. But don't feel bad if you are publishing about a story a month. That's a good pace.

 

[onehitwanda]

How do you people do it?!

I call myself vile names. And every so often I punish myself by forcing myself to cull the herd.

Also, do a little a day. Even if it's a single word. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first stepsister.

 

[lovecraft68]

Usually by typing 'The End'

Seriously though I have had a hard time with the home stretch of stories over the past two years. Each time I end up taking a few days off, then getting back to it just becomes a test of will power and tenacity. Lately every story I finish I have this shitty thought of "How many more times can I do this?" followed by "Why do I do this?"

I suppose the answer is because when you're a writer, you have to.

If it was always easy, everyone could do it.

Oh, wait, everyone can, they just use AI.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I call myself vile names. And every so often I punish myself by forcing myself to cull the herd.

Also, do a little a day. Even if it's a single word. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first stepsister.

And I call @onehitwanda vile names and punish her until she produces a story. It seems to get the job done!

 

[onehitwanda]

And I call @onehitwanda vile names and punish her until she produces a story. It seems to get the job done!

You have that particular way of saying "hussy" that I just cannot get enough of.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

I usually finish with a loud moan, my entire body writhing while in the throes of the dopamine coursing through my body ...

Oh, you meant finishing a story?

 

[TheLobster]

I usually finish with a loud moan, my entire body writhing while in the throes of the dopamine coursing through my body ...

Oh, you meant finishing a story?

If you don’t finish a story in the same way, was it even worth writing?

 

[Jack_N_Auf96]

I can't seem to do it.

Behold, the folder where I keep my works in progress. It overfloweth.

I have a story where I've had 40k words written but I can't seem to finish the last chapter. It's even plotted out. I just keep wandering off and working on something else.

Another, 20k.

Several with 10-20k.

At least a dozen in the 1-10k range.

How do you people do it?!

Maybe ... think of a chore you really dislike on your list. And then, finish the story instead!

 

[MillieDynamite]

Small confession: There are 57 stories in my unfinished file. I'm going to be working on a few today and tomorrow if I feel well enough to try to whittle it down a bit.

 

[intim8]

The ending is where you resolve the question that the story was about. If you don't have a clear idea of what that is, you can't really end it, you can only bring it to a stop.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Endings can be intentionally ambiguous.