Savannah Watson

People give up on their writing projects for many reasons, including writer’s block, not having a clear direction for the story, not possessing the skills to convey the story yet, boredom, and more.

Everyone has heard time and time again: “never give up.” And 99.9% of the time, you shouldn’t give up. I feel so strongly about it that I wrote the very sentiment of perseverance and not giving up in multiple past blog posts.

But what about that .1%? When is it okay to decide that your project isn’t working and it’s time to give up?

---

First of all, the choice to give up on a project is completely personal. Choosing to quit a writing project is on par with quitting a ‘real job’; only you can decide when it’s time to move on.

After giving your project a fair chance, whether that’s after two paragraphs or 20,000 words, sometimes it becomes apparent that something just isn’t working. As long as you feel like you have put in a valiant effort, there is no harm in shelving a project.

It can feel like a betrayal to your current work in progress or like a waste of precious time to quit, but think about it this way: yes, it might feel like you’ve wasted time, but you gained experience out of it. Those two paragraphs or 20,000 words you wrote before discovering that the project wasn’t working were good practices for improving your craft. They were 2 paragraphs or 20,000 words more than you had when you started.

It 1000% sucks when you scrap words, especially the more words you have written. But another point to keep in mind is that oftentimes when you give up on a project that hasn’t been working, you free up the space in your mind required for the next project – which MIGHT be the one that works.

And just because you shelf a writing piece does not mean you cannot revisit it in the future when you feel more equipped and ready to give it another try.

It’s important to decide for yourself when a work in progress is viable and worth your continued effort, and when it just isn’t. Just make sure that you have given it a fair chance.

• Facebook
• Spotify

---