As a writer, nothing can be harder than getting to the finish line with your book. No matter if it’s a novel, short story, or memoir, finishing a book can be tough. There is so much time spent planning and envisioning the story, the character, and pace — but what happens when you get stuck? How do you get motivated enough to continue and to finish?
Nothing feels greater than opening your Word document or journal and feeling like the words are flowing out of you. But this isn’t always the case. I can recall various times I spent looking at a blank document wondering where my story was going and if the story I had created was any good.
This is where you have to make sure doubt doesn’t creep in and writer’s block doesn’t take over. These tips can help you get to the final line of your book.
- Schedule time to write.
Whether it’s a couple hours or 20 minutes, set aside time for yourself to write the story. Life can get really busy, but it’s important to set time aside just for writing. Put on relaxing music or your book playlist, light a candle, and really get into the mood to write as much as you can.
Setting a timer for this can help, because you can trick your mind into thinking you’ll try for a couple minutes and it could end up being a few hours. So, make sure you put in a little time before work or bed to finish something that’s important to you.
2. Make a daily/monthly goal!
Writers use goals all the time to finish their books. Whether it’s by pages, chapters, or word count, make a goal for yourself to hit. Whether it’s big or small, this will keep you on track to where you want to go.
For example, every November there is an event called NANOWRIMO and every writer who joins tries to get to 50,000 words in a month. Although this is drastic, this keeps writers accountable for writing and hitting a sustainable number every day.
So, make a goal for yourself to hit 20,000 words this month — meaning you only have to write a little under 700 words a day. Goals like these are perfect to keep track of and achieve.
3. Celebrate when you reach a goal!
Whether it’s every thousand words or 10 chapters, celebrate your big and small goals you’ve achieved by having a glass of wine, watching your favorite show, or eating takeout from your favorite restaurant. Doing small things like this will help you finish faster and help you get excited to hit that next milestone.
4. Don’t think, just write!
I often hear writers complain about how their story isn’t perfect or not going in the direction they thought. I’m here to tell you to not overthink it and to simply write. Anything you’ve written can be edited and polished to perfection, but getting to the end is the goal.
So, don’t think about how your writing will need work — especially if it’s the first draft — because it’s more important to end the manuscript and know you can fix it later.
5. Plan a big celebration when you’re done!
Make plans for the end of your book like a big dinner out with your friends, taking your significant other to the movies, or buying yourself something nice.
Like I mentioned earlier, setting goals is important to finishing your book and knowing you have a “prize” at the end of writing a book can help you push on to the end. So, plan something nice to do for yourself once you finally finish your book.
