Quitting

It’s okay to quit. It’s okay to be in the middle of a story and realize you’re not that interested in telling it, that it can’t take you where you want to go. It’s okay to realize you started telling a story for the wrong reason, that you were only writing it because you thought it would bring the success you desire, or because you thought your editor would prefer this story, or because this is what The Market seems to want. In fact, it’s not just okay, it’s necessary to drop projects begun in this fashion. You will never finish them to your satisfaction anyway, so the sooner they’re abandoned the better.

Don’t quit, however, because you think you aren’t good enough to finish your story. If a story idea comes to you, and you can’t stop thinking about it, and you look forward to writing it, then you’re good enough. You may have to learn a few things. You may to discover some new techniques, you may to have to tell it differently than you’ve told other stories, but all that takes is time, and that you have. The story doesn’t care how long you spend writing it. It won’t abandon you. You’re the only reason it exists in the first place.

And don’t quit because you think it’s too hard. Remember, it’s never hard when you’re in the flow. Being in the flow is the opposite of hard. It’s true writing is miserably hard when you’re out of the flow, but that’s only because we’re not meant to write from that cold, distracted state of mind. Our job is to get into the flow and then write. That is the correct order of things. If you find writing to be hard it’s because you’re trying to force yourself to write when you’re still out of flow.

And don’t quit because you think this whole writing thing isn’t going anywhere. You’re not supposed to know where it’s going. Just know that it’s going. Just know that it’s like the stories you’re telling, which surprise you even if you outline them, even when you’re sure you know how they will end. Don’t quit because you think you can predict the future, or because you fear the future, some imagined destination where nothing pleases you and nothing comes to fruition. The future is always an extension of the present, which is where you tell your stories.

But quitting is still okay. We writers quit all the time. We quit sentences that don’t fit in a paragraph, quit characters who have no role in our stories. If weren’t allowed to quit, then we would stay bound to whatever project or idea first came to us, chained to it out of some useless loyalty. As an artist, be loyal to yourself only, loyal to your own desires and aesthetic, the very thing you can’t quit, which will be with you whether you are writing or not.  

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com