"When do you know when to give up on a story?"

Over on Tumblr, rayray-monroe asked:

I know your an author and your probably busy, so i'll keep this quick, i want to be a writer and i was just wondering when do you know when to give up on a story? And is is possible to get a good career from writing?

Here's my answer:

Hi there! Thanks for your ask.

Here’s the thing: I used to give up on pretty much every story I started. For a long time, all I could do was start them and give up. I gave up because I didn’t know what was going to happen next; I gave up because I lost interest in the characters; I just gave up. These days, I don’t give up on any stories anymore. I think what changed was me figuring out when an idea had that Special Thing — that zing! — that tells me, “YOU WILL WRITE THIS.” (Not you “should” write this; you “will.”) So nowadays, I don’t give up on stories because I don’t start writing them until I know they have that Special Thing.

The problem is, this Special Thing is different for everyone. I think the only way to figure it out is to keep trying to write stories. See which ones make you want to stick with them longer. Try to find patterns in the ideas that really make your imagination go zing!

There are some signs that indicate you’ve found that Special Thing. One good sign is if the idea keeps coming back to you — if it bugs you all the time, when you’re brushing your teeth, walking to the bus, eating dinner — if it’s constantly tapping on your shoulder saying, “Write me!” Pay attention to that.

But that doesn’t answer your question of when to know to give up. I’m not sure if you’re a writer who constantly gets distracted by shiny new ideas, in which case you probably need to pick the zingiest one and do your best to finish it, just to show yourself you can. Or, maybe you love an idea but you’re stuck in the middle of the story and don’t know what to do next. In that case, you might need to spend some time thinking about it before giving up. When I feel stuck, I’ll do something else that’s creative to loosen up my writing mojo — I’ll paint something or design something or cook something or read or watch something fun.

However, I do believe that if your story is making you really frustrated to the point where you hate even thinking about it, you should take a break. Maybe “give up” isn’t the right phrase — give yourself some time. See if the idea returns to you, taps you on the shoulder again. If it does, you can pick it back up again.

Also, don’t feel bad about giving up. As I said at the beginning, I gave up all the time earlier on in my life as a writer.

And: “is it possible to get a good career from writing?”

The answer is yes.