Every knitter has a set of needles in a project gathering dust right next to brand new skeins. Painters have half-finished canvases and ideas scrawled on notebooks, and car restorers somehow find themselves with enough parts to fill a shed and no running cars. Nearly anyone with a hobby—or a profession—has a project graveyard. Including writers.
I myself have so many pieces started in my Google Docs that I actually had to start clearing some to make more room.
We get attached to the things we invest our minds and time into, and for good reasons. Someday that may be useful. I can fix that. That would be the perfect line for this future project I haven’t started yet. Or, perhaps your reason is “I spent 8 hours on this it’d better do something.”
A project graveyard is overwhelming because it seems to only get bigger and is filled with things you’ve put effort into that didn’t come to fruition. It’s had to look at a big pile of what feels like failures. However, all is not lost. You are, and have been, writing for a reason. There are definitely great lines, perspectives, and concepts in your project graveyard—you just have to start digging them out.
Categorize
A great first step to take is to categorize everything in your project graveyard. Make separate documents (or piles, if you’re working on paper) and separate your pieces. One for poems, one for quotes, one for writing ideas, one for great lines you wrote but didn’t use. Choose categories that work for you.
“A project graveyard is overwhelming because it seems to only get bigger and is filled with things you’ve put effort into that didn’t come to fruition. It’s had to look at a big pile of what feels like failures. However, all is not lost.”
After this, you’ll have a much better idea of what you have, and you’ll probably have reminded yourself of some that you had forgotten about. And, now that they’re organized, you’ll have an easier time finding that one quote you know you wrote down seven months ago.
One at a time
Once you know what you’ve got, set an achievable goal for yourself to start tackling the ideas and unfinished projects. Maybe once per week or once per month, pick one and make today the day you finish it. It will likely be easier with fresh eyes, and it’s a fun challenge to practice your skills on.
If the project you pick up isn’t something you can finish in one day, try mapping out time dedicated to your project over the next few months (or however long you think it will take.) Then you will at least have worked on the project and made a plan for completing it.
Ask around
Sometimes one of the best ways to break out of a creative funk is to get inspiration from others. Talk about a project that’s been bugging you with a supportive friend or family member and see what ideas they have on it. You may even spark some inspiration just talking about it and explaining it to someone else.
This is also where writer groups come in handy. Workshopping a piece (or part of a piece) is a great way to gain new ideas and perspectives that you might not have thought of before. If you’re not in a group, try finding one in your community or online.
Clean it up
Yes, you’ve saved all of this precious information up for a reason, but, if you look back through any pieces and decide they weren’t as valuable as you had thought, get rid of them.
Usually, I don’t advise getting rid of things because I do think all of those pieces could be useful in the future. However, if the idea of finishing one of your pieces is physically paining you, or you just don’t like it anymore, get rid of it.
Hire help
Lastly, if you know you’ve got a great book, but you’re just not sure how to make it happen, you can always hire a ghostwriter to help. A ghostwriter doesn’t just “write the book for you;” we also offer insights and coaching to help you define what your ideas are and what your book will look like.
Here at DAS, one thing we offer to help you sort through your ideas is our free guide: “Your Book’s Big Picture.” We’ve seen writer’s block before—and we can get you out of it, book in hand.
