I tried, I failed. I am trying again.

We can start here. 

In a moment of peaked enthusiasm, I wrote perhaps 1/3 of a novel. The first draft, mind you. It wasn’t a great first draft of the first part of a novel, but at least I had it in front of me. 

I stumbled on a very significant milestone for a novel – the pivotal plot. I wasn’t sure where this story was going. In devastation, I abandoned my novel when it needed me most.

My story didn’t end there, and neither does yours. 

6 things to do when your writing is going nowhere

I think the most difficult part about writing is finding the courage to expose yourself to a wide audience in the intimate way writers tend to do. To write is to make yourself vulnerable. When you write a novel, every word will be scrutinized – and you know it. 

Even writing this piece exposes me in a way. But I’m writing it in the hopes of helping someone in my same shoes. 

Writing a novel is an uphill battle. As is finding the time, energy, and enthusiasm to go on writing. 

Of the many pieces of advice you’ll find online, most of it is quite generic. I’d like to share very specific things that have helped me with my writing process. Here is my very short and condensed list. May it find you when you need it most. 

1. Take up short courses

My sparks of inspiration were born with short courses. At first, they were courses unrelated to writing, but the more I researched, the more interesting authors I found that were willing to share their precious knowledge. 

Those short courses are a small time commitment, but what you ultimately get is an abundance of inspiration. This came about when authors were first sharing their influences – other authors that have touched their work in some way, inspired them to get into writing. I would go on spurts of research that connected my library to the ones of those writers. 

And it is these touch points that are so important when it comes to inspiration. 

Short courses are also bound to keep you writing, because they’re more on the practical side. Do the little tasks, the exercises, because they can one day become the basis of a piece. 

There’s no need to get into elaborate degree-like courses, or take on anything that gives you certifications you can share. Find courses where the writer, the person speaking to you, is admirable and knowledgeable in the type of writing you do.

2. Take on more challenging reading (and don’t read)

There are two sides to this coin. My first piece of advice is to vary your book choices – if you read fiction, dive into non-fiction. If you’re working on a memoir, try fiction instead. I think this is good practice to diversify your own influences and inspiration as you work out the intricacies of your own piece. 

My second piece of advice related to this (if you fall in the category of those people that use reading as an excuse to not write) is to not read. Abandon reading. Completely. Do it for a week, or two weeks, or a month. Commit to not picking up books or reading as a leisure activity.

It is when you give up reading that you can focus on what’s important to you –  that paper and a pen. Or just you and your laptop. Write! It is no wonder the best writing advice is so simple (yet so hard to do) – you need to just write. Cutting out reading will leave you with plenty of time to focus on your craft.

3. Participate in contests

There’s common advice to use prompts to improve your writing or get out of a rut. I think you can look at it from a slightly different angle and use prompts with a purpose. Try applying to writing contents, they often have prompts to go along with the theme.

This is a great idea for the simple reason that not only do you write a brand new piece, you also have the opportunity to measure your skills up to an international community. On top of that, you may be lucky enough to get feedback on your writing from publications you admire and respect. 

I find that Submittable is quite good for this, although you do have to filter the publications based on your preferences. Identify contests that will challenge you and go for it. 

4. Get editorial feedback

Write a short piece. Submit it to a contest. Get feedback. Yes, sometimes you have to pay for it but what you get back is going to be priceless. At the very least, you’ll have an objective opinion on your writing style. 

I found an abundance of excellent online and print magazines from a short course I took, which left me with a great pool of resources to select from for writing feedback. If you’ve never tried this route, I think it’s a great option for when you’re stuck. 

Additionally, there are contests that will provide feedback for you based on the first pages of your novel, or the first few chapters. All you have to do is research. Reedsy is another great online source to do so.

5. Get organized and commit to writing  

Yes, I hate to break it to you, but you will inevitably have to get very organized. I recently got a planner (never used one in my whole life). In this planner, I block off my free evening time to write. And needless to say, it’s been revolutionary for my progress. 

With a forecast of my week, I can see when I’m going to get most of my writing down. It’s a very visual organizational tool that will go a long way in helping you commit to the actual writing. And if you’re really ambitious – writing on a daily basis. 

6. Editing on paper (yes, physical paper and pen)

I assume you may have a printer at home. It took me years to get one, and I’m not sure why it hasn’t hit me before. It’s a great way to work with your mind the way you can’t really do on a screen. 

I suggest printing your work, however long, double spaced, 12pt. And look at it from a fresh perspective. I guarantee that you’ll read it differently once you see your work (finally) in print. 

To take it up a level, go back to old works. Very old writings you’ve stored away somewhere on your drive or on the computer. Print it and try to edit it. It’s incredible the amount of surprises (hopefully surprises and not disappointments) that await you. 

With editing old works, you get a piece of your old self to ‘dissect’ and a piece of writing that has that impeccable quality of being malleable. Remember that once you have a draft, you’re almost there. The writing itself can then morph or be sculpted into anything you want it to be. 

– 

If you got to this point and you’re curious where my research and healing led me to – I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I never finished that novel (just yet). 

What I did was purchase a printer. I felt the need to print my 100+ pages of writing in the hopes that editing by hand will revive my enthusiasm. Or to be more precise, would help unlock something stored deep inside me.

I do not mean I wanted to revive my enthusiasm for writing, but rather to revive the enthusiasm for the story as I re-discover a piece of my old self. 

This unfinished novel is a fragment of my past self. I’m going to turn to her to start a conversation through the act of writing and rewriting. And I’ll do so with kindness and admiration for she has at least had the courage to make herself vulnerable in the first place.