I am excited to let you all know that I am right about at the halfway point of my novel, Heavenly Lights! I can’t believe how far I have come, and how well it is going. My excitement for the story hasn’t dwindled even a little, and I look forward to writing even more and more. My goal to finish the novel is late spring. I’m not sure if I am considering “late spring” to be when it officially ends on June 21, or if I will consider it to be spring when it actually starts to act like spring. I have a feeling I will switch between the two (procrastination and all), but one thing is for certain: the novel will be done in 2015. There will be no excuses; not even one.
What writing projects are you working on right now? What is your deadline? Do you have any special celebratory things that you do when you finish a novel? Let me know in the comments below!
Evan W.S. Morgan 
I am an aspiring young novelist with many ideas in the works but i can never seem to stick to one! How did you decide? And how do you keep focused on your one project? Any advice or tips?
I definitely know the feeling! I have been writing for a very long time; since fourth grade, in fact. During the years, I have started many novels, but had a hard time getting even close to finishing one. New ideas would always come up, or I would lose interest. It wasn’t until I started on Heavenly Lights that I realized why that was. Here are a few tips:
1. Outline. Some writers are what we like to call pantsers (people who just sit down in the chair and begin writing whatever comes to them), then there are those like me. We outline our stories. I spent about three weeks outlining Heavenly Lights. Though I find myself straying from it many times, I can at least look at it and know that I have an entire story planned out. The biggest relief of having an outline is getting the “Sagging Middle” sorted out. That is where I find myself, and many other writers, going astray. That is the point where you have to think about whether or not your story is keeping the reader interested enough to keep reading.
So yeah, outline.
2. Don’t Tell Others About Your Story. “What is your story about?” is a question that you as an aspiring author will get a lot. I mean, A LOT. I am asked this by every single person to whom I mention that I am writing a novel. But I don’t tell them. My reasoning? If I tell the story to somebody, then I will consider the story as having already been told, although not in its full form. Not telling others helps me retain that excitement about the story, resulting in me excited to write every single time I sit down at my computer.
3. Find a Theme. Although there are those who don’t agree with me, I find having a theme that is very dear to me in my novel a big reason why I keep going back to it. It can be religious (like Heavenly Lights) or deal with self-esteem, societal issues, etc. There are countless challenges to write about, and it can be as overt or as subtle as you want it to be.
I do hope that this helps even a little! Keep writing, and may the excitement of writing and creating never diminish.
Thank you so much for the reply! I appreciate you taking time to write back. Many of your points ring home for me. I am a culprit of sharing my stories before they are told how I want them to be told (through a novel). I never stopped to think about how that would affect how I view it afterwards. You have definitely changed my perspective on that. I don’t think I’ll be sharing any more of my stories prematurely.
I am very diligent when it comes to outlining my story. Like you said, it’s very beneficial for staying in track!
I’ve never considered having a prominent theme behind my ideas but it sounds like a neat idea to try!
Thank you so so much!!
It is my pleasure! I am glad that I could be of some help to you!
Congratulations!
Thank you, Angela!!