How to Push Through When the Excitement of a Writing Project Fades

We’re so excited to introduce our new advice column, Dear Jessica, written by our very own Jessica Lohafer! Our first question is about something many of us face: how to finish an old work in progress without cringing at our past selves.
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Dear Jessica,
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How do I force myself to finish an old work in progress? After the initial buzz of a new project wears off, I feel queasy at the idea of returning to the draft. I want to complete things but I also want to avoid cringing at my past self. Is there a way I can do both?!
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Sincerely,
Losing Steam

Dear Losing Steam,

There is nothing better than the delicious beginning of a project, when everything’s fresh and new and possible. It’s that next step, the continuing of the thing, that has often stopped me in my tracks. For me, a lot of that is connected to ADHD; turns out, my brain is desperate for novelty, to the point where if I don’t find what I’m doing interesting, I’ll quite literally start to fall asleep. Now, maybe you don’t deal with that particular flavor of writer’s block, but there’s crossover all the same, and as a newly diagnosed neurodivergent person, I have some steps that have helped me stay the course.

When whatever I’m working on has lost its luster, I set incredibly tiny writing goals for myself. My friend and fellow author Kate Lebo once told me that the hardest part of being a writer is staying in the chair. If my attention is threatening to revolt against me and the dopamine has dried out of whatever project I’m working on, I start writing in ten-minute bursts. And I don’t mean ten minutes at a time, for hours, because I’m so focused and enthralled that I can’t stop writing (if I ever feel this way while writing I’ll let you know, but I’ve never experienced it before). I mean ten minutes a day. My brain might scream at me that ten minutes isn’t enough to get interested again, but I’ve found that it often doesn’t take too long to reign in my focus, if my goals are reasonable. Don’t pressure yourself; if you’re still bored when the timer goes off, take a break. But try it again the next day, and the next. All you need is for something to hook your attention and you’ll be back on track.
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As for cringing at your past self, oh lord, I could fill every journal that I’ve bought and never used with work that embarrasses me. The uncomfortable truth of it is this: I wouldn’t have any of the work that I like without all the work that I’d prefer to bury in the backyard of my youth. I’d recommend trying to extend a little kindness to yourself. Find a picture of you as a little kid and tape it up wherever you sit down to write. When you start to berate yourself for what you’re creating, imagine that that little kid just handed you a drawing they’ve made. It’s probably a mess, but you wouldn’t dream of telling younger you that it’s embarrassing, would you? You would appreciate the heart, the effort, the bravery it took for them to put themselves out there.

You might be a grown up, but you are still that kid, so be kind to yourself. Like the recent Grammy award winner Doechii once said, “I’m allowed to be bad at something the first time I try it.” You’re allowed to still be learning; you’re allowed to write something bad. It’s how you get better. And honestly, you’re probably not giving yourself enough credit.
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If all else fails, try a sticker chart.

Love you,

Jessica

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Jessica Lohafer lives in Washington. Her work has appeared in Ghost Parachute, The Sweet Tree Review, Drunk in the Midnight Choir, Nailed Magazine, and Red Sky: Poetry on the Global Epidemic of Violence Against Women. Her collection of poetry, What’s Left to Be Done, was published by Radical Lunchbox Press in 2009. In 2020, she released the edited anthology, Allow the Light: The Lost Poems of Jack McCarthy. She has served as the Program Director for Poetry in Public Education, bringing writing workshops to schools throughout the Pacific Northwest, and previously hosted the Write Riot Poetry Slam. Jessica received her MFA in poetry from Western Washington University in 2014.
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​Lemon Grove Writers began in 2024 as a space for writers to find accountability, focus, and community. We offer free virtual writing sprints, resources, and encouragement to help writers stay motivated and make progress. Whether you're drafting a novel, revising poetry, or just trying to build a writing habit, we're here to support you. If you're here, you're a writer.