How to finish writing a book?

We've all experienced it. Feeling stuck on a chapter or even a scene. I always had ideas. Too many of them, in fact. I could see something just from a song or even a scene in a movie would spark an idea that would grow and grow. 

The problem? I would write, but I could never seem to finish anything. My pacing was off. I couldn't see beyond three chapters. It was a nightmare. That's how I started out as a young girl, trying my hand at writing, because I so loved reading. I had so many ideas floating around my head that I didn't know what to do with them.

So, I wrote...but never really got too far. Any time I did (let's say, get to 40,000 words) I would eventually start petering out. It was frustrating. 

After years of this frustrating habit, I finally realized my problem. Procrastination and Perfectionism. 

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Here's what I've found works wonders for me, because once I figured this out, I wrote my first self-published novel in roughly seven months at over 120,000 words. 

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Just Write the Words (funny little aside story, I say the same thing to sport horses. Just Jump the Jumps. Nothing is worse than getting to the base of a fence at full speed only for the horse to say, 'nah, I don't think I will...' and then you end up in the mud or with a free back crack that a chiropractor would envy)

So, same thing applies to a writer. Just Write the Words! Don't be the one who starts writing something, get five chapters deep and then go, hmm...'I'm not feeling it today', or worse; 'I don't think it's any good'.

The words don't even need to be perfect the first time. I probably spent twelve years of my life starting things and not finishing because I'd get frustrated with myself and my extreme perfectionism. Then, because I was frustrated with my writing, I wouldn't write. I would let it sit, procrastinating.

When you don't write, the story NEVER progresses. See how that works? Instead, sit down. Tell yourself 300 words, just write down 300 words of ANY scene in your book. I tell myself 500 because I'm kind of hard on myself, but you do you. Whatever it is, write enough for a scene to start shaping. Who knows, once you start, you may actually find your groove. Some days, maybe not, but at least you wrote something to come back to the next day.

You know what THRILLS me? Coming back to a document and being able to read a bit more. What doesn't? Seeing the same darn words staring at me, all because I refused to write a minimum of 500 words the day prior. 

Only in the past two years did I finally figure out how to just get past worrying about initial quality. I'd write what I envisioned, write scenes out of order so I could write something I felt very passionate about for the moment. I forced myself to write every day, even if I didn't feel like it, building a habit. 

Soon enough, you'll have more chapters than you know what to do with. Once you have five chapters, ten chapters...go back. Add. Perfect. Edit. Elaborate. It's so much easier to add quality after you've written a lot to work with.

Also. Don't stress about word count. I can't tell you how often I get asked by other aspiring writers, "well, how many words per chapter is acceptable"? or "How many words do you write per chapter before you start the next?"

OMG. STOP THAT NOISE. STOP. 

Seriously, there is a very famous thriller author that writes 500-800 words per chapter and moves on to the next. That style is perfectly acceptable in thriller, short romances, etc. as long as something important happens each chapter. Maybe not so acceptable in epic fantasy, but 500-800 words can certainly get the body of your chapter built.

In my recent novella that I started a few days ago (literally, I wrote the majority of it in 4 days), I wrote short, sharp, and fast. The first three chapters were godawful skeletons with roughly 1200 words each, which is way less than I am used to doing (I usually choke myself with 3000-5500 word chapters, which can be painful for anyone. Don't do it!). However, once the whole novella was plotted out and most of the chapters planned, I started going back and adding more detail, more little things readers like to see, enticing bits. It quickly grew the size of the chapter, rounding it out. 

At the end of the day, if you love writing, be passionate about it. Start learning how to write every day. Just a little bit. At first, it will feel like a horrible chore. Absolutely TERRIBLE. 

Eventually, it won't feel so bad. Eventually, it will be a habit and you will smile when you get back to your characters, making them come to life a bit more each day. Or, in my case, putting them through hell, because I'm a bitch.

Write every day. Don't worry about how perfect it is the first time you write it. Just get the words on the page.

Just Write the Words.

(JUST JUMP THE JUMPS, DAMMIT 😈)