How to Develop Discipline in Your Writing and Overcome Common Setbacks

By Rachel Leitch

I wanted to finish a novel. I wanted to have that project in my hands and know I was finished, that I had brought it to the best place I could bring it. I dreamed of all the places it could go—literary agents, publishing companies, and bookstores.

But all those edits and slogging through rough drafts could get so boring. And so many shiny new ideas awaited me. Like a snowball rolling end over end, distractions were easy to come by. And then sometimes I wondered if I should even be writing this novel at all.

To this day, sometimes I wonder if I should be working on my current project or skip out for the next shiny new idea. However, with help from my writing friends and mentors, I’ve learned some tips and tricks to help me stay with it and bring one novel so far into its final edit.

What’s the magical key that made all these wishes come true?

It’s called discipline.

In this article, I’m going to first define what discipline is and explore why it’s so important. After that, we’ll take a look at some common problems that arise when trying to implement discipline into the writing life. 

What is Discipline?

Merriam-Webster defines discipline the noun as “self-control, control gained by enforcing obedience or order, an orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior.” It describes discipline the verb as “to train or develop by instruction and exercise especially in self control.” (Ironically, their sample sentence was “Serious writers discipline and refine their writing styles.”)

Discipline in writing is having the self-control to stay focused and the endurance to see a project through to the end. Discipline is having a plan to keep us on track and working by that plan.

If that sounds intimidating and boring, don’t worry! It’s not as rigid as it sounds. You can find many ways to make your plan work for you, and you may not even have to color-code anything at all. We’ll explore some of those ways in this article.

Sometimes we have good reasons for stopping a project and moving on (more on that in the “When Should I Quit My Novel?”). But more often than not, we need to push through and complete the project.

So why is it important to finish a project? (Besides the bragging rights and the confidence boost, I mean.)

Reasons to Complete a Novel:

How Can We Build Discipline?

We’ll get into specific discipline struggles in a minute, but for now, what are some tips that help improve discipline across the board?

Now let’s take a look at five specific culprits that may be stealing your discipline.

Boredom

Novels are so fun and shiny when you’re mapping out characters and worlds and plot twists. But when it comes to squeezing all those words out of your brain or editing them for the third time, it loses its sparkle.

That’s when the plot bunnies assemble and form a rebel army intent on invading your mind.

And these bunnies are very good at what they do. They will have you distracted and doubting your book within seconds.

Boredom is inevitable. Nothing stays new and shiny forever. So how can we push past boredom and defeat the plot bunnies?

Action Steps

Distraction

Maybe you sit down and you want to write . . . but you get distracted by social media or other writing tasks that can wait until later. (clears throat and raises hand)

I get into this issue in more detail in this article (https://kingdompen.org/how-to-prioritize-writing/), but I’ll outline a few strategies here as well.

Action Steps

Doubts

When you’re already down, bored, or distracted, doubts sneak in even better and even more stealthily than plot bunnies.

What kind of writer are you?

Look at you! Distracted again.

No one wants to read this book. It’s stupid.

You are a terrible writer.

Wait! Don’t give up yet!

Action Steps

Lack of Planning

When I sat down to write this article, I felt tired and stumped. The ideas were vaguely there—like purple ghosts that were dancing with the plot bunnies in my brain. (I don’t know why they’re purple. It just goes to show you my state of mind.) But I had no idea how to even start writing. I wanted to set my notebook aside and work on something else.

Then I sketched out a simple outline—more random notes than anything else. But those random notes showed me where I was going. And with that in mind, I felt energized and ready to start.

Having a plan gives you confidence in where you’re going.

Action Step

Improved Writing Skill

We’re all learning. And we’re all writing. And sometimes we learn something huge right in the middle of a work in progress.

And then we look back at the half a book we’ve written and go, “Oh, no.”

I wrote my current work in progress with no idea what three-act structure was. Yeah. So my pacing has needed a lot of work and editing that has taken longer.

I could have just stopped, tossed the idea aside, and tried another book with correct plot structure.

But how long would it have been before I learned about internal character motivation? Would I then have tossed that book aside to do one with correct motivation?

And then what if I learned about a common trope in the genre I was writing—a common trope I was employing quite nicely?

We’re constantly learning. Perfection is an illusion. We will never write a book that is practically perfect in every way by the time we finish it. That’s what editing is for!

Action Steps

When Should I Quit My Novel? 

I told you I’d get to this, didn’t I? Sometimes you should stop a novel. A few reasons why include:

Conclusion:

For the record, your story matters. As the saying goes, it will be someone’s favorite book one day. Even if it never gets published at all, it will be a strong stepping-stone on your journey to publication. But it can only do that if you finish it.

And you are well on your way to developing discipline. I can’t wait to see your finished novel.

What is your biggest struggle when it comes to discipline?

 Have you completed a novel/project yet?

Let me know in the comments below!