The problem. Is not your book idea. You're not in the depths of despair in the middle of your book because your book idea is bad. You're in the depths of despair, because that's what it takes to write a book. This is a totally normal part of the writing process. It sucks. It's no fun at all. But it's the way the writing process works. Welcome to your next draft. Recently a writer emailed me to say that she was stuck. She was writing her first draft and she was just about ready to give up.
She didn't like her story idea. She didn't think her story had any meaning. And she just really didn't want to work on it anymore. Plus, she had tons of other ideas in her imagination, some of which were way more inspiring than the one she was working on right now. So she asked me. Should she quit this book? Should she put it down and start over with a different idea? Now on one level, this question surprised me.
See. I'd worked with her a few months before on the outline for this book, I knew the story that she'd developed. I'd helped to work out the kinks and I knew it was solid and was going to become a great novel. And she could just get all the words down on paper. Plus we'd spent a good while teasing out that deeper meaning of her story. And I think it's a great concept. It's something that I've been thinking about ever since.
And I'm really excited to read the book and see what she does with that message. But on another level. I wasn't surprised at all. See. This writer was around the halfway points or maybe just a bit past it. Which means she was smack in the middle of her book. And that is when things get hard. Every writer I know has struggled to make it through the middle of their novel. Every writer I know has been tempted to quit the book that they're currently working on.
And start over with a better story idea. So really, I wasn't surprised at all that this writer was stuck. And I bet that you've been there too. I bet you thought about quitting your book. I bet you've wondered whether it's worth writing at all. Whether this was actually a bad idea, you realize now that you're midway through and you should go find a better idea, the kind of idea that won't leave you floundering in the middle of your book, and you should go write that book instead.
So I want to tell you what I told that writer. I want to share my best advice for what to do when you're stuck in the middle of a draft. Now the writer who emailed me is working on her first draft, but the things that I'm going to tell you apply to any draft that you're working on because let's face it. Honestly, you can get stuck at any point in the writing process, you can hit the middle of any draft and go, okay, clearly this is assigned to quit.
So whenever that hits, whether it's your first draft, your second draft, your 10th draft, whatever you're working on. I want you to do the following six things. Ready. Here we go. First. Recognize that this is normal. Getting stuck in the middle is a normal part of the writing process. Like I said, I don't think I know a writer who hasn't wanted to quit at some point. And I definitely know writers who have quit halfway through. In fact.
This idea of quitting on a really big project is not even unique to writers who are writing books. I'm sorry. I know we all love to be unique, but in this case, take comfort in the fact that you're not. This messy. Middle is a standard part of all major projects that we embark on. Think back on a major project in your life. That's not your book, the kinds of project that took you weeks or months to complete.
Maybe it's a work project or a large school paper, or maybe you were never excited about those. And you wanted to quit those from the very beginning in that case. Think about a project that you were excited about. But something that took a really long time to complete, see your excitement had time to wane halfway through. Maybe it was planning a wedding or setting out to accomplish a new fitness goal or saving up for a vacation.
I bet that at the start of that project, you felt really excited and motivated. And soon it felt like work. Sure. But you were still really energized about the work. But at some point. It stopped being energizing and it turned into just work. Just a grind of getting up to do the same thing day after day for ages and ages. And it wasn't easy to do. And you were really far away from the end result and it felt like you would never get there.
And if you were really honest with yourself, maybe you kind of wanted to throw in the towel and quit. That's this depth of despair points and it happens with most, if not all major long-term projects. And sometimes it takes a while to get out of it. Which brings me to the second thing I want you to do. Recognize that you won't be in the depths of despair forever. The depths of despair is just one part of the book writing process.
At the beginning of the process, there's a lot of fresh energy and enthusiasm. There's all the glow and excitement of this new project. You're going to write a book and right now it's absolutely perfect. Of course it's perfect because it only exists in your imagination, but the story in your head is amazing. And then you hit the depths of despair. And it feels like all that excitement from the beginning was a complete lie. This book isn't worth it at all. It's not perfect. It's a dumpster fire.
There's no way you can get this idea out of your head and onto the paper in a coherent manner. And also the idea in your head just happens to be terrible and not worth writing at all. But there's something after the depths of despair. When you push through, when you persevere through the messy middle.
Eventually you reach the final act of your story, the ending payoff, the climax and resolution of the whole book, the point where you can see the end and we're all those story ideas are coming together. And at that point, there's this new motivation. You're this close to the finish line. You can make it. And there's also the satisfaction of being able to accomplish your goal. This is attainable. You're going to do it. All of that is waiting for you.
But in order to reach it, you have to push through, you have to persevere through the messy, middle, through the depths of despair. Which brings me. To the third truth. Do not assume. That the depths of despair are a sign that you should quit. Often when things get challenging, when we hit resistance, we believe that that's an indicator that this isn't possible that we shouldn't do it, that this isn't going to work, that this was a bad idea and we should quit and cut our losses.
That is not what the depths of despair are. This is not a sign that you should quit. Remember, this is normal. Something every writer goes through and it's temporary. If you persevere, you will reach the joy and satisfaction of success on the other side. Are there occasions when the right choice is to step away from a book project and put it down. I think sometimes yes, that happens. But this isn't it.
The emotional experience of feeling like the middle of your book is a struggle, Even a major struggle is not a reason to quit. It's a reason to dig in and find the strategies that work for you. So you can persevere all the way to the end. This actually reminds me of something that I have been talking about with my therapist in my life. Which is all of this anxiety that I had when I was first starting to build my business as a freelance editor or another really exciting project. Very motivating.
Very exciting. And also something that was really scary and has had its own depths of despair moments where I've wondered, is this really going to work? Is this actually worthwhile? And one of the things that she told me was that. It's normal to feel those feelings of anxiety. But that's not actually confirmation that I should quit. That's information. It's a feeling that I'm having, but it's not a sign that I should quit. I can recognize that I can analyze that. I can see.
Okay. Where does this point? Me to, what decision do I want to make based on this information, but I don't need to say I feel anxiety. Therefore I should quit. And for you in your book, you don't need to say. I feel really frustrated with the depths of despair in the middle of my book. I don't know what to write. I feel like my book is bad. Therefore, I should quit. That's just information that's telling you that the middle of your book is really hard and that's okay. You can do hard things.
You can push through the messy middle, and you can decide that you're going to finish this book anyway. It's just a feeling. It's not a sign that you must quit. And all that brings me to the fourth thing that I want you to do. And this isn't simply a mindset shift like those first two things. Although I think that those mindset shifts are really important. But this one is an active task that I want you to go out and do. Here it is.
I want you to go back to the plan that you made when you first started writing this book. Maybe you made an outline. I want you to go back to that outline and read it. Maybe you wrote a synopsis. I want you to go back to that synopsis and read it. That rider. I mentioned earlier, the one who sent me the email asking whether she should quit. Before she started writing her book. I took a look at her outline. And then we got on a call together to talk it through.
And we came up with so many inspiring ideas there on the call and both of us were really energized and enthusiastic the way that only happens when you get two people who really love nerding out about story together for a deep conversation. And the best part is that call is recorded and she has the recording. So she can actually go back and listen to that call and hear all of our energy and enthusiasm over again. And recapture some of that early excitements to pour into her writing.
Now. Maybe you don't have an outline or a synopsis, a recording of you gushing about your book idea. Maybe you have a picture that inspires you. Or there's a person in your mind that you're writing this book for and you can't wait for them to read it. And you know that it's going to change their life. Or there's another book that you love that makes you want to tell your story. Whatever your original source of inspiration was go back to that.
Look back on what your idea was when you began recapture that energy. And use that to refuel you for your writing. And remind you of all the great ideas you had for the story at the very beginning. And when you've gotten that fuel. Here's what I want you to do next. And be aware. This might be the hardest step. But it can also be the most powerful. Ditch. Perfectionism. Don't quit your book. Quit perfectionism.
So often at this point, It's easy to get discouraged because the book on the page does not measure up to the book in your head. And you want to get it right? If your book were working perfectly, if every word flowing onto the page were absolute inspired genius, you wouldn't be in the depths of despair. You wouldn't be hating your book and wanting to quit. But that's not how writing works writing.
Isn't about getting it right on the first try or the second try or even the third writing is about creating something messy and then returning to make it better. And then make it better again. And then make it better again. There's a famous quote that sometimes attributed to Michael Crighton that goes books. Aren't written they're rewritten. And I vividly remember one of my English professors in college, repeating over and over. Writing is recursive.
And I was reminded recently of this great quote from the author Shannon Hale, where she says something like I'm reminding myself that right now I'm just shoveling sand. So later I can build castles. You're not going to write a perfect first draft. There's no such thing as a perfect first draft. You're just trying to write a finished first draft. And honestly, if you are working on your second draft, your third draft, your 10th draft, if that is where you're stuck, this applies to you too.
You're still not trying to write a perfect 10th draft. You're just trying to write a finished 10th draft. That gets things a little bit better than they were in the last one. So ditch the perfectionism. Allow your words to be messy and imperfect, make peace with the fact that they are not going to live up to the brilliant, beautiful idea in your imagination. Not yet. Anyway. That's going to happen in the revision process.
But you'll never get to the revision process unless you quit perfectionism. Persevere through the depths of despair. And finish your book. Which brings me. To my final challenge for you. Recognize this hard truth. A new book idea. We'll not rescue you. From the messy middle. The problem. Is not your book idea. You're not in the depths of despair in the middle of your book because your book idea is bad. You're in the depths of despair, because that's what it takes to write a book.
This is a totally normal part of the writing process. It sucks. It's no fun at all. But it's the way the writing process works. And you will almost certainly encounter this messy middle again when you're writing your next book and your next book. And the one after that. This isn't something you can escape with a better book idea. I do have some good news here.
The more that you write your way through the messy middle, the more that you practice writing books, the more familiar you'll become with what it looks like to experience this mid book slump. And the more comfortable you'll become, finding your way out of it. You'll discover the tricks and strategies that work for you to help you persevere all the way to the end. That's the secret right there. It just takes practice to find your way through it.
And here's why you should not quit your book right now. Why experiencing the messy middle is not a sign to give up and find a better book to write. If you quit now. All you're doing is practicing quitting. And then when you do start over with a new book idea, And when you reach this messy middle again. When you find yourself stuck in the doldrums and the depths of despair. You will not have an arsenal of strategies that you've practiced to help you make it to the end.
Instead you'll have just one strategy. And that strategy is quitting. Writers can get stuck in this cycle forever. They can write thousands, even tens of thousands of words of their novels. And then quit midway through and start another one. And then a new one and then a new one and never finish one book. If you want to become an author. If you want to publish this book, if you want to publish a whole career's worth of books. You have to practice a different skill. You have to practice.
Finishing. And starting a new book right now will not help you do that. It might feel like it's rescuing you from the messy middle right now, but that's going to be very short-lived. So don't quit now and start over with a shiny, attractive new book idea. Instead, I want you to do the six things that I just listed out. Here they are again. One. Recognize that this struggle through the middle of your draft is a completely normal part of the writing process.
Something, all the writers around you also experience. Two. Remind yourself. That you will not be stuck in the middle of your book forever. Great things are coming when you reach the end. Three. Remember. That the struggle in the middle of your book is not a sign that you should quit. For. Return to your plan to anything that inspired you or guided you when you first started writing.
And use your notes, recordings, and original inspiration to recapture some of that early motivating energy and enthusiasm. Five. Reject perfectionism. That's not your goal right now. Invite yourself to write a shockingly messy first draft. That's totally fine. Six. Resolve to practice the skill. Uh, finishing. Starting a new book. Won't save you from the messy middle or the depths of despair. This is the kind of challenge where the only way out is through.
And once you find your way through once, you'll know how to make it through again and again. That's it six things to do when you're stuck in the middle of a draft. If you are feeling stuck. If you're in the middle of your draft, and you're wondering whether you should keep going or just throw in the towel on this whole book. I hope that these six things encourage you and help you keep going. And before I wrap up, I actually have one more bonus thing for you to do.
I want you to go back to episodes 4, 5, 6, and seven of your next draft. They're my series on tips and strategies to finish your draft faster episodes, four and five are about writing first drafts and episodes. Six and seven are about editing later. Drafts. I'm linking all those episodes in the show notes, they're easy to find. They'll give you strategies to help you persevere to make it a little bit easier to keep going, or at the very least. A little more difficult to give up.
And sometimes that's just, what you need is a little bit more difficult to give up. And if you have time for just one of those episodes, the one that I most recommend, no matter what draft you're working on is 11 creativity tips to finish writing your first draft faster. Yes. Even if you're editing a second draft, a fifth draft a 10th draft, this one is also worth it for you.
A lot of the tips in that episode are about pointing you back to your original inspiration so that you can recapture that early book, writing energy. Because you don't need that early book, writing energy in order to finish your book, but it's definitely nice to have. I hope that all of this helps you stick it out through another day of writing. Remember this won't be forever soon. This draft will be done.
And I cannot wait to celebrate with you when you finish it and move forward in the next step in your writing, editing and publishing journey, I'll be here cheering you on every step of the way. Happy writing and happy editing.