How to Keep Your Creative Writing Project on Track

Hello, Papabear,

My name is Cyrus and I want to write a furry comic. 

It's a horror story about a cat, down on her luck, who recently lost her job. She moves into her childhood house in the countryside because she thinks she should get away from all the stress of the city. But as she stays in that house alone, her traumatic past comes back to haunt her and she finds herself being stalked by a monstrous figure. 

I have the story and characters in my head, but when it comes to projects like this, I always have trouble sticking to it. I have attempted to write comics in the past, but I never finished any of them because I have trouble sticking to one project. How can I make myself stay on one project? 

Thanks, Cyrus

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Hi, Cyrus,

A lot of would-be writers have this problem, and many people have ideas for books and stories who never even get as far as you have. There are a couple of things you can do to help you keep on track to finish your creative project:

1. Set aside at least one hour a day that you devote to your project. It should occur at the same time every day, so, if you are a morning person, set aside 8am to 9am; if you are more of an evening person, you might do 10pm to 11pm, or whatever time of day you are most awake and creative, but always do it at the same time.
2. Set a daily writing goal. When I was writing my novel, I made myself write at least one page a day.
3. If you get on a role, don’t stop just because you filled your allotted time or minimum page count—keep going!
4. Always end your daily writing at a point where you know what your next step will be. Never end your writing at a dead end where you get stuck because you will have a helluva time getting started again the next day. One way to look at it would be to end your daily writing with a cliff hanger.
5. Outline your book to help you know where you are going.
6. Write the end of your book or comic first. If you know where and how the story ends, it will make it MUCH easier to write the rest of the book. This is a strategy I have always used to great effect.
7. Find a local writers’ group with whom you can talk about your project and receive encouragement to continue and finish it.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Papabear