The Author Burnout Coach
Episode 08: Should You Abandon Your Novel?
Hello writers and welcome to The Author Burnout Coach. Together, we will dismantle the burnout culture in book publishing and reclaim our love of stories. I am your host, Isabel Sterling, and this is episode 8.
[intro music]
I have a juicy topic for you today, friends. We’re going to talk about how to decide whether you should abandon your novel to write something new.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my post from a couple weeks ago where I created a little flow chart about whether you should quit your novel or persevere to the end. I’ll link it in the description of this episode so you can check that out.
I’m not going to reiterate all of that post, since you can go check out the original for yourself. Instead, I want to talk about the philosophy behind that flowchart, and then–just for fun–I’ll throw in a plot twist at the end that tips the whole thing upside down..
Because life is complicated and sometimes the opposite advice is actually better. More on that in a minute.
So, should you abandon your novel or keep going to the end?
Despite my multi-photo flowchart, the answer is actually pretty simple. The main factor is your ability to FINISH things, followed secondly by the rational behind your desire to change stories.
I do want to take a moment to acknowledge that finishing projects is harder for some folks than others–for lots of reasons. Finishing projects doesn’t make you morally superior. Struggling to finish isn’t a reason to be a jerk to yourself. You may need to try multiple techniques until you find one that works best your unique brain. It might take you a little longer, but it’s worth it in the end.
Because finishing a first draft is a skill worth developing if you plan to be a novelist.
When you’re early in your writing journey, it’s MUCH more important to learn to finish a book than basically anything else. The marketability doesn’t matter if you can’t get to the end. Having incredible dialogue doesn’t matter if you can’t finish. Perfectionism at the first draft stage does NOT help you, especially early-on in your journey.
If you’ve never finished a novel before, I almost always recommend that you finish what you’re working on. Do whatever it takes to get to the end. Even if you never revise it, even if you throw it in the trash the second you type the last sentence, get yourself to the end. One completed novel will bolster your self-image more than five abandoned attempts. It gives you proof that you can write an entire novel, which is a huge feat all by itself. It’s the foundation for all the other skills you’ll develop as a writer.
Once you have a few completed novels under your belt, we can have a bit more discretion around abandoning projects that aren’t working. At this point, you’ve built the skill of getting to The End (though be very careful if you find yourself with a string of three or more abandoned attempts). The trick now, is determining whether your reason for wanting to quit is valid or is just a dressed up lie.
The most common reason I hear from writers? They think the new idea will be easier to write.
Nope. Nope. Nope. This is a dastardly lie that derails so many writers. There are hard parts in every novel, and when we’re in the midst of the murky middle, new ideas seem shiny and simple. But every idea will be hard eventually.
If you get into a habit of listening to this siren call, you’ll find yourself skipping from idea to idea, leaving a wake of partial manuscripts behind you. If this is the reason you want to quit, I highly recommend you stick with the book you’re on.
The next most common reason writers abandon books? They get bored.
Friends, it is not your novel’s job to excite you. Creating excitement and inspiration is YOUR job. You get to decide what goes in the book, so put in things that interest you! Don’t blame the book for being boring – you made it that way.
And, more often, it’s actually NOT boring. You’ve just convinced yourself it is.
When this comes up for writers–and I include myself here--my recommendation is to reconnect with why you loved the idea in the first place. What was the spark that made you want to tell this story? How can you reconnect with that nugget of truth or fun or inspiration? What would be the most fun, ridiculous, out of the box thing you could do to the plot to get yourself interested again?
As you’re going through this process, if you discover that you were never that interested in the idea in the first place, if you chose it just because you thought it might be marketable or because you heard agents were really into this genre that you don’t even like to read, I do think it’s okay to abandon the idea. Assuming, of course, that you’ve finished something in the past. If you can’t find a way to make the idea something you love, and you started it from a place of thinking you had to write something like this to succeed, give yourself permission to set it aside. BUT be really intentional about what you start next to avoid creating a pattern of abandoned books.
The third main reason I hear for abandoning a project in the middle of the first draft is worry that the concept isn’t marketable or that it won’t be good enough for an agent.
On this point, I do think there can be some wiggle room, but it mostly depends on where you are in your writing journey. If you’ve never queried an agent before, I don’t recommend worrying about marketability at the first draft stage. It’s more important to be building your skills as a storyteller than it is to be figuring out how to write to market.
However, if you’re multiple books in, if you’ve queried at least a few times, AND you aren’t in love with the idea anyway . . . it could be a good idea to toss this idea and come up with something that you love and you feel good about pitching to agents.
Sometimes, books make better sense as a second or third or tenth published project. Some books may be harder to debut with than others. It’s okay to set something aside to come back to later if you already have the skill of finishing.
Ok, so a quick recap before I give you my plot twist on this whole thing.
Number one priority – grow your ability to finish novels. It is a learnable skill and should be your primary objective if you’ve never finished before.
Once you have that skill, be on to yourself about WHY you want to abandon this project. Are you telling yourself lies like the new shiny idea will be easier? Are you expecting the book to inspire you instead of you taking responsibility to create something that is inspiring (or fun or silly or whatever type of book you write). Are you prematurely worried about the marketability?
If those lies are the main reason you want to quit, I recommend staying the course.
Now, here comes the plot twist.
Sometimes, we just KNOW a book isn’t working.
It’s like there’s this undefinable feeling that the story isn’t meant for us or it isn’t the right time or we went into the idea with the wrong intentions. Or maybe the idea was only big enough for a short story and we incorrectly assumed it had enough for a novel.
Sometimes, letting a project go IS the best thing.
Sometimes abandoning a project opens up our creativity. It sets us free from all the shoulds that led to an idea that wasn’t right.
The difference can be subtle and hard to spot. You have to be radically honest with yourself. Are you trying to escape a project because you’ve reached the bit that’s always hard for you or are you trusting your story instincts to make room for something better?
Do you like your reasons for switching? Are you willing to own the result of the switch, good or bad?
If so: Fuck what anyone else has to say, myself included. You’re the boss of your creative world. You get to decide.
Just make sure you like your reason, then go forth and create.
If you want support as you learn how to trust your creative instincts, I invite you to join my 4-month coaching program. You’ll learn how to love the process of writing, make peace with deadlines, and burnout proof your entire career. You can learn more at my website, www.IsabelSterling.com
Until next time, friends… Happy writing!
