Abandoned Writing Projects
Three Ways to Handle Unfinished Business
Every writer has the occasional, or frequent, abandoned writing project. What are the options for dealing with unfinished writing?
The writer's life is full of started projects, often moreso than finished ones. Half-finished articles, poems, novels, technical guides, ebooks, and short stories clutter the offices and souls of writers everywhere. What are your options for dealing with abandoned writing projects?
1. Finish it
Most writers will say they really do have an urge to finish their started work. Sometimes taking a break from your characters and scenes will help you create new ideas for them. Stepping back from technical guides and focusing on something new will help you create new connections to old material. It's like trying to think of an answer that is on the tip of your tongue. When you're not thinking about it, the answer just comes to you. Keep taking notes and looking for new ideas, and eventually you'll find the solutions for your plot problems and stale non-fiction.
2. Repurpose it
That article you wrote on children's nutrition might not be highly desired for the women's fitness magazines, but what about a parenting or public education market? Just because you intended a piece to be for a certain use doesn't mean you can't switch it up a bit and sell it elsewhere. Many writers have found great success in repurposing their work, especially articles. The novel that isn't taking off could be shorted to flash fiction length, and submitted to a contest. The book you're writing on rock climbing could be turned into a Squidoo lens or checklist. For every project there are dozens of ways to use the material.
3. Ditch it
When all else fails, dump it. Just because you started it doesn't mean you have to finish it, and some projects get to the point where they just aren't worth finishing. Learn from what you wrote, and move on. Don't stress out over not having perfected everything you started writing. Writing just for the sake of writing can be very important, and everyone writes drivel once in a while. Writing isn't like woodworking. You won't always start writing with a finished project in mind, and it can take you anywhere. When you decide to leave a project, it doesn't have to be an expensive monstrosity that glares at you from the workbench. Allow it to be a practice experience and move on to more profitable endeavors.
Plan a day to go through your office and computer and collect all your unfinished projects in one place. Triage them according to the three categories above and put to-finish and to-repurpose projects in your schedule. You'll soon have a clear mind about finishing what you've started, and you might find a hidden gem that has been waiting for the perfect time to resurface.
Need more help organizing your writing projects?
