Should I give up writing my novel?
How to figure out if you should stop writing a book
Asking questions like, should I keep writing my novel? or should I shelve my manuscript? is something all writers face during their writing journey. But whether you should quit or continue depends on a few different factors. Blanket advice like don’t give up doesn’t always apply. Sometimes we actually need to quit writing a book or at least take an extended break from it. Here are some questions to ask yourself if you feel like giving up on your manuscript:
1) Do I have realistic writing expectations?
Many writers end up discouraged and disappointed because they have unrealistic expectations of themselves or the writing industry. If this is you, it’s not your fault! We’re inundated with success stories and messages about facing rejection but then overcoming it. We don’t hear a lot about how hard the writing process is or how long it takes. What if your rejection period seems to be lasting forever? What if writing a book is a lot harder than you imagined? Breathe, writer friend. In reality, writing a novel and getting published (or marketing your book) is much more difficult than people make it out to be. There is a huge learning curve. The only way to get through it is to be patient with yourself and the industry. Know that your timelines need to be relaxed. Good writing happens through time, patience, feedback and many iterations (a lot more than you expect).
2) Do I need a break from writing my book?
Writers are driven, creative people who thrive on hard work, recognition and new ideas — burnout is the dark side of this coin. Two types of burnout happen with writing. The first is story burnout. Spending so much time on the same story can make you pretty sick of it. The second type is burnout in general. This means you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to do too many things. You can identify burnout by feeling exhausted, numb, unengaged and like you’d rather do anything but write (cleaning or binging TV). If you’re burned out on your story, you need to take a break. You need to quit (maybe only for a little while) because you won’t be able to force it or do your best work if you do. Your mind and body are telling you something and you should listen. Set your book aside and pick up another story idea. See if this gets you excited about writing again. General burnout is more serious. You might need to seek help from a doctor, therapist, pastor or coach who can help you eliminate and prioritize your tasks.
3) Do I have a healthy mindset about writing?
To answer this question, you need to determine, honestly, why you write. Unhealthy answers sound like this: to prove myself, to get recognition, to show that teacher in high school who told me I couldn’t write that I can, etc. While these whys may come up sometimes, they don’t sustain us over the long haul. When these are the forces that drive you, you’re going to be tempted to take shortcuts, but there is no instant gratification with writing! If these are your driving forces, you’re going to become more frustrated, discouraged and down on yourself over time because writing a book is full of failures and obstacles. The solution is to either quit or find better whys. Write for others (honestly — don’t just say you do), write because you love telling stories (regardless of the outcome). We all crave recognition for our hard work, but this journey doesn’t offer it freely, so we eventually find ourselves at a crossroads. We can either quit and seek other avenues of success and recognition, which will probably be equally difficult, or dig deep and figure out how to continue without these things.
4) Do I need to quit writing altogether?
Only you can answer that question, but if you’re looking for things like instant gratification, big money, success or recognition, these things are not readily available to most writers. And you have to dig deep and be pretty honest with yourself to figure out what you’re actually looking for from this whole writing thing. Storytelling is for the pure of heart because it breaks you into a million pieces and doesn’t offer very much in return. If that sounds sad, it’s actually not. You’ll end up in a healthier place where you write because you love it and have no other choice — no matter the outcome.
