Writing stories is hard work. So often, you’re banging your head against a wall, trying to figure out the next step, the next plot point, the next thing your character will say and do. So often you feel stuck until the miraculous happens and your brain unsticks itself with the perfect solution.

So what happens when you continue to be stuck? What happens when you know, deep in your heart, that you have to give up on this story?

Sometimes stories just don’t work. Sometimes it’s not the right time to tell them. Sometimes it’s not the right medium: they want to be something else, something longer, something shorter. A book, a short story, a play. A television series, why not?

I’m currently in this position with a short play of mine. I’ve been working on it for two months now, and I just can’t bring myself to complete it. I don’t know what the block is. I don’t know if the story isn’t working, it needs to be in a longer form, or it’s just not the right time to write it. Maybe I’m feeling the pressure of the looming March 15 deadline (for an anthology submission) too much. But whatever it is, I just can’t write it.

And that’s okay. It has to be.

This is the life of a writer, having too many ideas and not enough time to write them. Not all of those ideas will make it into stories; not all of those ideas are viable stories. Sometimes a good idea is just a good idea. Sometimes it doesn’t go beyond that. 

Sometimes, you are not the person to write the story, for whatever reason. It’s not in your makeup to do it justice. It belongs to someone else, and that idea will flit off in time and find its true owner.

I don’t know, really. All I know is I’ve been wracking my brain trying to get this thing done, and the pressure is just too much. 

It’s funny, too, because after my experience and success writing my second-grader play Lost Wings—for a different anthology by the same company doing this other one—I was completely psyched to write another. This time, a horror story for teens. Not really my genre, but I came up with a comedic horror story that I was excited about. 

I’ve written a few different openings, but I could never quite get the full draft of it done. Which, of course, means I’m stuck, because you can’t edit something until you have a full draft, and you DEFINITELY can’t submit something that 1) isn’t edited and 2) isn’t even finished. So, I’m a bit screwed in that department.

This is the first time I’m really giving up on a story and a deadline. I’m so used to procrastinating and doing things last minute that I often don’t kick into high gear until that time. I expected to hit this gear come March 1, since I was dragging my feet and my spirits until that time. I expected to be able to churn out at least a first draft, have it flow and then spend all my time editing it until March 15.

That. Did. Not. Happen.

A writer’s career can’t rely on inspiration, but there are times where you show up to work and the muse doesn’t accompany you. You start writing, or trying to write, and you just don’t have it. You did the hard thing, showing up, but the other half of the creative process didn’t come along for the ride. Is it just that day? Is it other distractions in your life? Is it the wrong story? Is it the right story at the wrong time?

Who knows?

The important thing, though, is to learn what is a story that needs pushing through because it’s worth it and it’s there and a story that you need to back off for now. That’s a hard distinction to make because the feelings are largely the same. The only reason I’m backing off this one for now is because I won’t meet the deadline.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that this play is longer than the ten minutes I’m allowed for it. I thought of a kind-of second act to it that I think is BRILLIANT, and it definitely won’t fit within ten script pages. 

Maybe that’s my block. Knowing that it won’t fit, so why bother trying?

In any event, I’m putting this story aside for now, begrudgingly, but it’s for the best. Best for me, best for the story that I’ll hopefully finish someday. Sometimes, we all just need a break.

*cue Kit Kat jingle here*

What projects have you had to give up on in the past? How did you deal with that? How did you know it was the right thing to do, instead of pushing through? Share in the comments below!