Writing and commitment: finish your writing projects

Many writers begin projects with enthusiasm, but they begin many more projects than they finish.

"Finishing" a project means doing what you set out to do.

So if your aim is to write an essay and send it to a magazine, finishing the project is sending the essay. If finishing means writing a suspense novel and getting it published, you've completed the project when you've submitted the novel to every agent, and every publishing house which accepts author submissions on the planet, then self-publishing it if you don't get an acceptance. Finishing a project in the case of a blog means blogging until you've achieved the blog's mission - for more on missions see my Blogging For Dollars Blog.

If you're female, it may be especially hard for you to finish creative tasks. Abraham Maslow said that women are process-oriented, while men are product-oriented. Women like the writing process, men like tangible results. Women are more likely than men to leave a project when it's almost complete, and start a new project. Because they've reached the end of the process, they feel it's complete, even if it's not. :-)

Finishing projects builds your confidence

When you start a project, knowing that you will finish the project, it gives you a boost, and it ensures that you will finish it. You've committed yourself.

And over time, completing projects, no matter what the results, gives you a real buzz, and that buzz translates into a quiet confidence in yourself and in your writing.

Technorati Tags: practice your writing