Knowing Whether Your WIP Is Worth Continuing

Knowing whether your WIP is worth continuing

I’ve seen a lot of talk in the writing community lately around quitting writing/giving up on your WIP, and it’s really been quite discouraging. So, I’ve decided to go in the opposite direction. So, here are EXAMPLES of reasons your WIP is worth finishing:

1. You’d like reading it

Imagine your story after multiple revisions, rounds of beta readers, a professional edit and proofread - it’s shiny and ready for publication - is it something you’d like to read?

Instead of comparing your first draft to others’ finished products, imagine your manuscript/story idea as the best it can be. If that version of your WIP is something you’d enjoy reading, others will probably too, which means that it’s worth writing.

2. It moves you/says something important

Not all novels need to make some monumental statement or drive readers to tears of inspiration, but if your story does that, it’s sure as hell worth writing.

If you feel that your story has the potential to cast light on an important topic or mean something to someone, it’s worth continuing.

3. Something about the story excites you

When that first spark of inspiration for your WIP hit you, you were excited, right? Excited by the ‘what if’, by the characters, by a specific scene or a plot twist. Something about this story made you think: “Wow, I have to write that.”

Writing a novel can take a lot of time and spending such a long period with one story can dilute your excitement. So, think about that element that made you excited at the beginning. Do you think readers might get excited at that when they read it for the first time? If your answer is yes, then your story idea is worth writing.

4. It has something no other novel has

This isn’t compulsory. Nearly all books have similar elements.

BUT if your WIP has a fresh take on a cliche or a world unlike any other ever created or a unique story line, it’s probably worth writing.

Just think about it. You’ve had this awesome, original idea. If you don’t write it, the world will never experience it.

5. You like writing it

Yep. That’s it. If you like writing it, then keep doing so. There doesn’t have to be some objective justification for you to do something you enjoy. You can just do it because you want to.

And no, no one likes working on their WIP all the time. Sometimes, you feel like pulling your hair out or setting your manuscript on fire.

But if it mostly gives you joy and excites you, you should keep writing.

I’m not advocating for continuing your WIP at all costs. By all means, if you want to abandon it, do so. But don’t do it because you feel discouraged or someone else has convinced you it’s not good.

If you have any requests for posts/questions about creative writing, feel free to pop me an ask or a DM.

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Reasons to Keep Writing Even When You Want to Give Up For Good

1) Sometimes you don’t really want to give up forever. You just need to take a break, step back, and do something else for a few months.

2) There are stories inside you that only you can tell. There are poems inside you that only you can write. Nobody else can write them for you. Nobody else can say exactly what you can say.

3) Writing is an act of creation. No matter how good or bad you think your work is, you have created something that didn’t exist before. This is important. This is good.

4) You do not write for anybody else. The only person you write for is you. Nobody else’s opinion should hinder your ability to write for yourself.

5) Everybody fails. Really. Even the most accomplished writers mess up. This is okay. From every misstep, you learn and you grow. I’ve always found this article very soothing: Falling Short: Seven Writers Reflecting On Failure (my personal favourite section is Anne Enright’s section.)

6) Writer’s block is an opportunity to try new things. Have new life experiences. Experiment with new styles. Writer’s block is that pause you need to reflect on your thoughts and ideas, see which ones work and which ones don’t. Writer’s block isn’t the end of your writing capabilities. It’s downtime that allows you to attempt new techniques. Which leads me to (because I think both are connected):

7) In my experience, much of writer’s block comes from fear or boredom. Why are you afraid of writing? Why does it bore you? Is there a disconnect between your idea and your passion to write? Why? There are reasons for everything. Try to figure out the reason behind this too.

8) You know those vain articles and comments accomplished writers make about “bad” or “amateur” writers? That’s all it is: vanity. It is a reflection on them. Do not let their words get to you. They are giants looking down on us. They’ve forgotten the struggle they themselves have been through. Writing is hard and deeply personal. ‘Making it’ is viciously difficult. That doesn’t mean you do not try.

9) You will regret it if you throw in the towel now. Write because the future you deserves to know that when things were hard, you kept going! The future you deserves to be proud of the present you. The future you is counting on you to continue. Don’t let them down.

10) Write because you wouldn’t have read through this entire post unless you were looking for a reason to write, even in your darkest and most hopeless hours. Write because this shows you’re passionate about it, shows that no matter how hard it seems, you want to keep writing. That’s really the big secret: you just keep writing.

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nxck-bxtch

1 year ago

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nxck-bxtch

2 years ago

I refuse to seek out Ryan Reynolds' Tumblr account. If it has any value it will find it's way into my dash naturally. This is how the Tumblr ecosystem is meant to work.

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