Wondering how to finish writing your book finally? Have you ever started a book, and before you know it, months have passed, and you haven’t been able to write another word? It happens to many people who try writing a book.
They start enthusiastic and full of energy, but before long, the excitement starts to wear off, the enthusiasm becomes less intense, and soon, they start feeling discouraged.
Writing a book can be a lot of fun. But it’s also a time-consuming process and a long one at that. So many things can go wrong—and they’re often the things that keep people from finishing their books.
They may find themselves stuck for months or even years.
If you’re like many writers, you’ve probably had moments when you’ve hit a wall when writing your book. You might be thinking, “I’m not getting anywhere with this book.” Or “I’m not sure how to make this book any better than it already is.”
When you’re stuck on a writing project like a short story, it can be challenging to know what to do next. In this post, we’ll go over a few common challenges non fiction or fiction writers face and provide tips on overcoming them so you’ll know how to finish your book.
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Reasons for Being Unable to Finish Writing a Book and How to Solve Them
When writing a book, once you have written a few chapters for your complete first draft, you might find that you have run out of steam or inspiration, and nothing much seems to happen. This is entirely normal.
If this happens, don’t panic. Think about what happened and why. Did you become disinterested in the project, or did you find it hard to find time to write? Was there something you didn’t have the skills to do, or did you lack confidence?
Try to look at the problem objectively. Knowing why you don’t finish writing your book is the first step to help you address them and finally overcome the hurdles, so let’s look at them.
Lack of Plan
There are lots of reasons why people fail to complete a book project from their first draft. Often, they set out with a vague idea of what they will write about.
Even when they have a clear idea of what they will write about, they may struggle to work out how to organize it. A goal without a plan is just a wish.
It is difficult to finish your book if you do not have a plan. This is often the hardest part. You may have a lot of ideas, but if you have no plan, it is very hard to get started and keep it going. A plan is a road map that helps you focus your thoughts and get things done.
Solution: Go Back to the Drawing Board
Planning is the foundation of all achievement for your first draft. It’s essential to have a strong foundation before you start writing. You must know precisely what you want to write and how you will organize your material.
When you have a clear vision of where you want to go, your writing process and outlining process become more accessible.
Think about what you will do next. It might help to list the tasks you need to do.
Do the Groundwork
If you are writing a fiction book, ensure that you have done your research about your characters, plot, and theme before writing your first draft. If you are writing a non-fiction book, get a feel for your topic by reading books, newspapers, and magazines about it.
Do some research online and find out more about it.
Find out what is already written about it and how many writers have approached it. Also, ensure you have the facts and figures you need, including references to where you got the information. The more you know, the more you can write.
Create an Outline
Write down all the topics you need to cover, and then ask yourself if there is a sequence or order to them. The best books flow naturally and make sense. Your book will come together if you can start with an outline of what you want to include.
Make a Schedule
Start by planning you’re work-in-progress and deciding on a daily schedule of tasks to achieve each single day and stay ahead. Once you have a general plan for how much you can get done in a week, look at the work you need to do to meet this goal and then break it down into small achievable tasks.
Lack of Self-Discipline
Most people who aren’t disciplined in their lives would also find it challenging to be disciplined in their writing of their first draft. So to finish writing a book, self-discipline is a must.
You may think that writing gets in the way of other activities you want to do. You may find that you cannot think of ideas or have difficulty putting words on paper. Or, you may feel that you don’t have enough writing time. If you believe any of these and allow them to prevent you from writing, you have self-discipline problems.
To develop discipline, you must change your priorities, which takes courage.
If you put off your writing until you have reached the finish line with the other things you are doing or if you keep on making excuses, then you won’t ever finally finish a book.
People lack self-discipline because they are unwilling to do what it takes to succeed.
Self-discipline is overcoming obstacles, achieving goals, controlling impulses, delaying gratification, and working hard to reach the goal.
The self-discipline needed to write your book is the time and effort needed for researching and writing for hours, days, and months. It is also the ability to ignore interruptions, concentrate on your book, and be patient with yourself.
Solution: Get an Accountability Partner
One of the best ways to finally finish writing your book if you are struggling with self-discipline is to find an accountability partner that you can work with, hold you accountable, and check in regularly to see how things are going.
Working with others and discussing your progress and any challenges you encounter will keep you on track.
Your accountability critique partner can push you to follow through when you start to slack off. Having one will force you to keep on writing and allow you to work out the kinks as you go along. He will also encourage you to continue working on your book when you might not feel like it.
Choose someone you are comfortable having honest conversations with and someone you would not want to disappoint. Set up a writing time to meet weekly to discuss your progress.
Lack of Time
Sometimes you get so caught up with other tasks that you find yourself having a hard time to write anything. When you’re busy, you’ll be time-constrained to make way for writing. You may also feel overwhelmed with other things in life and end up postponing the task.
Solution: Limit and Prioritize
When you have too much on your plate, it is hard to focus on writing. So, limit your responsibilities to a manageable number. This way, you won’t feel overwhelmed.
Try to find out what is holding you back. Do you have other commitments, and do you have a job? Could you get more time off work? Can you ask for help from others with your chores?
If you find it hard to write something because you are too busy, it is best to prioritize what is important and put aside the rest.
It is recommended to set a timetable of exactly when you intend to write each day and plan your tasks to fit into your daily schedule. Find a time when you won’t be interrupted.
Try to start with a minimum of an hour. This will help to create a habit of writing, and it will be easier to add more to your writing hours.
Lack of Passion
It is extremely hard to write a book if you do not love what you are writing about. To reach the finish line, you must be motivated to make it happen. And that motivation comes from your passion for your topic. If you don’t enjoy what you are doing, there will be no motivation to keep working on it.
You will have to put in the work, but once you find your drive, it will propel you to continue until you finish your novel.
Solution: Find Spark or a Co-Author
Ideally, you should be writing something you are already passionate about. However, if you suddenly feel that you lost interest in the topic halfway through the book project, look for other angles where your interest might be sparked again.
Your passion can come from the excitement of learning new knowledge or ways to solve problems, giving a voice to a community, or promoting a specific cause.
Do you want to be able to help people with the book you are writing? Can it make a difference in others’ lives? Is there a community that will benefit from it? Would it help you become an industry leader?
If you really can’t find yourself feeling passionate about the topic again, is there a possibility that you can collaborate with someone else?
If you’ve already written a substantial amount of content but just couldn’t seem to get it finished, explore the great idea of having a co-author so your efforts won’t go to waste.
Lack of Motivation
People with low motivation may have trouble motivating themselves to get things done. Some people may feel tired or apathetic, lacking energy or desire to do anything. They may have difficulty staying focused on a task at any time.
Lack of motivation means not wanting to do something or not wanting to do something now. And it means you might rarely finish your novel, So it is a challenge to keep on writing when you’re not in the mood.
Solution: Remind Yourself of Your “Why’s”
Re-examine the reasons you started writing the book. Ask yourself: “Why am I doing this? Why do I want to write my book? What does this book mean to me? What am I going to gain from writing this book? Or, what are my hopes and dreams for my life?”
It can be very helpful to focus on these questions. Write your answers down in your journal. Then, put your journal where you can see it often. This way, you can quickly look at it when your motivation level drops.
Constantly reminding yourself of why you’re writing your book will ignite a flame within you to go on. Even if it’s just a tiny flame, it can help you continue writing your book. Eventually, the more writing you get done, the flames will get bigger until you see your book to its completion.
Lack of Confidence
There is a tendency to believe that you will never be good enough, that no one will ever want to read your book, and that you will fail. It may be that you think this way because you are not sure about your abilities or that you have been told that you can’t write, that you have no talent, or that you can’t sell your books.
If you believe any of these, it can be hard to muster the self-belief to put yourself out there and write, as it can stop you from finishing your book.
You might also have a fear of failure, rejection, or criticism. Worrying about something can be very hard to control. If you worry, it is easy to get into a cycle.
The more you worry, the more you are likely to think of things to worry about. You will also feel more anxious, paralyzing you from continuing with your book.
Solution: Treat the Root Cause
If you don’t think you can write, you probably won’t be able to. No one can force you to write; you must decide you want to, and then you must practice and persist. There is no quick fix, but there are ways to overcome your fears.
You need to understand what you’re really afraid of and why. Write down all of them, and analyze if your fears are valid or unfounded. If your fears are the former, think of ways to solve them.
For example, would you consider getting a coach to help you if you fear failing? If you lack confidence, will learning more about your topic be beneficial? If you have very low self-esteem, do you think it’s time to seek counseling?
The best way to overcome fear is to take action.
Practicing Procrastination
It’s easy to procrastinate, especially if you don’t have any deadline or commitment. When things get hard while you’re writing, procrastination kicks in. You find reasons to finish your book until you can no longer finish writing it.
Everyone experiences procrastination, and it’s common for people to blame it on “being lazy” or “just being busy.”
The thing about procrastination is that it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more you put off something, the more likely you will not do it.
Solution: Trick Your Mind with “Just a Little Bit More”
You know that when you’re too lazy to get up in the morning, and you say, “just five more minutes,” you sleep for an hour or more?
You can do the same trick when you’re procrastinating with writing but in reverse. Instead of saying, “I’ll continue writing later when I’m done with this and that,” say, “I should write just a little bit more,” or “just 100 more word count.”
If you can trick your body into sleeping more, you can also trick your mind into writing more just by conditioning it that you will do just “a little bit more.”
Your brain won’t resist it because it thinks it’s pretty easy doing that small extra, but before you know it, you’ve already tricked it with “just a little bit more” several times, allowing you to have written more than you thought you could.
Practicing Perfectionism
Perfectionists seem to be people who never stop trying to improve and never achieve their goals. They are generally over-achievers who often strive for excellence. As a result, they put enormous pressure on themselves.
If you think you should be able to write a book without making a mistake, it can be hard to continue writing for a long time. You might also be scared of letting yourself down.
If you are a perfectionist, it would be easy to walk around in circles.
This endless cycle can be very discouraging, and you will soon find that you cannot continue writing. Or you will put in long hours of work, but you will never manage to finish your book, let alone write a book.
Solution: Be Human And Accept Making Mistakes
Try to accept that you are not perfect, and do not be afraid to make mistakes. You don’t have to write perfectly. All you need to do is write the first draft, and you can edit the first draft later.
If you constantly catch yourself correcting your work and editing every so often, it will help you set a deadline for yourself each time you write. Make a goal of achieving something in a period.
For example, make it your objective to finish a thousand words daily. This way, your mind is focused on achieving that goal, which will keep you from making every sentence perfect.
Once you’re done with the goal you set for each writing session and still have time, you can make edits and revisions if you’re itching.
Here Is Fast Lane to Get Your Book Finished
If you can’t find the time and energy to finish your book, or if you can’t shake off your fears, perfectionism, or procrastination tendencies, there’s still a way to get your book finished and published. You can even become a bestselling published author among other aspiring authors.
How? By working with Leaders Press. Leaders Press is a one-stop-shop publishing press to make your dream of becoming an author easier than ever imagined. They have published over 200 books and made them bestsellers in USA Today and Wall Street Journal.
If you want to learn more, schedule a free discovery call here.