How to commit to your novel in order to finish it

There’s nothing quite like the rush of excitement when you get a new novel idea.

There’s also nothing quite so damning as hitting a wall and … um, wondering if you have what it takes to actually finish that novel.

I recently talked with a writer who said he has a problem finishing because he’s unable to take the leap and commit to the time it takes to finish.

“I find myself mulling the story over, thinking about the characters, and wondering what will happen next,” he says. “But I rarely take the time to sit down and put some of those thoughts into actual words.”

It’s true, books require one thing beyond inspiration, great ideas, and wonderful writing: commitment. And that means that some days you’ll feel yourself plodding or outright stuck (and miserable).

Writing a novel has been compared to months of pregnancy, running a marathon, climbing a mountain, or even going to war. And it can feel like all those things in one.

So, one crucial task of finishing a book is to believe that the very act of finishing is magic itself because the stamina it takes to finish a novel is the same kind it takes to make a novel good.

“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop,” said Confucius, who had to be talking about novel writing.

It’s tough to keep moving, though. The slow march of daily progress can abrade against the sparkling zeal that fuels the early creative stages, and the day-after-dayness of it all often exhausts writers’ attention spans.

It’s critical to remember that training for a marathon isn’t just about physical training; it’s also about preparing your mind to run for such a long time. This is where the metaphor of pregnancy doesn’t necessarily apply: Some novels take nine months, but some might take nine years.

Writing The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was anything but brief for Junot Díaz: It took 10 years. J.R.R. Tolkien labored 12 years over Lord of the Rings, as did Victor Hugo on Les Misérables.

That’s fitting, you say, these are all big books. But Catcher in the Rye also took 10 years. You need to prepare your mind for the grind no matter what length or how ambitious your novel is.

A terrible book?

“I think the hard work of writing is just how long a book is terrible before it’s good,” said Leigh Bardugo, bestselling young adult and fantasy author.

Working on a book that seems terrible (and every novel goes through stretches where it seems terrible) requires a special kind of patience and determination.

Think of the many days that a marathon runner’s legs are stiff with fatigue, when every stride is the definition of slogging along. You’re going to wake up some days and stare at your novel and have to proceed with a similar slogging stride—through the terrible, the mediocre, the not-quite-there, the I-don’t-think-I-can-get-it-there, the I’m-not-a-writer, and the definitive “I quit.”

Yes, you’re going to want to stop. Perhaps often.

Every novel requires a simple four-letter word that is as important as imagination itself: grit. Research has shown that grit is even more important for success than intelligence or talent.

“Grit is sticking with your future, day in and day out, and not just for the week, not just for the month, but years,” said Angela Duckworth, a psychological researcher who focuses on studying grit and has given a popular TED talk on it.
Years. Years made up of days of work. As British novelist Martin Amis said, “Novelists are stamina merchants, grinders, nine-to-fivers.”

Developing grit leads to another writing superpower: resilience. Resilience allows you to adapt in the face of adversity and push yourself through obstacles. The everyday work of writing a novel requires you to approach your mental toughness like a muscle that needs to be worked to develop. If you haven’t pushed yourself in hundreds of small ways, you’ll wilt when things
get difficult.

All of these words—plodding, commitment, grit, resilience, stamina, endurance—they all add up to inspiration. No one has ever finished a novel by sitting around and waiting for inspiration.

Inspiration is conjured by the work.

If you want to delve deeper into this endless universe of writing, I invite you to join my Domestika course: Novel Writing: Bring Your Book Project to Life: a detailed plan for executing your idea, from character and plot development to finding inspiration for the writing process.

Grant Faulkner.