Momentum

There's more to it, but Newton's first law of motion is this: An object in motion tends to stay in motion. An object at rest tends to stay at rest.

You've might have heard about this law. You've probably seen it in action, and you've definitely taken part in it. I'll turn to Wikipedia for a simple example.

"For example, a heavy truck moving rapidly has a large momentum—it takes a large or prolonged force to get the truck up to this speed, and it takes a large or prolonged force to bring it to a stop afterwards. If the truck were lighter, or moving more slowly, then it would have less momentum." (Momentum - Wikipedia)

 Now for application to writing, or any long project really. When I'm writing, I often get frustrated by interruptions. I stop what I'm doing. I disengage my brain from writing, and then I deal with whatever caused me to stop. Then I'm stuck and I can't seem to start writing again. I look back at the screen or page (Sometimes I write by hand. Maybe I'll tell you why sometime), and...nothing.

The screen hasn't changed. The cursor still blinks away merrily, mocking my attempt to find new words. I could have even been in the middle of a sentence, maybe I knew exactly what I was going to write. But now my mind is blank. It's as if the words dried up in my mind  like a gooey plop of pooled ink at the end of a pen. My thoughts are all blocked up, walled away beyond my reach.

It sometimes takes me up to 30 minutes just to get writing again. It's frustrating. It's common. But it's not what I'm going to talk about. I'm talking about momentum on a larger scale.

What makes it difficult to finish a book when you've written 10, 20, or even 50 pages? Is it more difficult if you take a long break from writing? For some people it is.

Brandon Sanderson, a bestselling author and host of writing podcast Writing Excuses, talks about it here, here, here, here, and even here.

When you start writing, you will often be excited about your project. You'll have ideas about your story, character, conflict, or world. Something sparks your interest so much that you just have to start writing. You're book is like that heavy truck. You break past the natural resistance of the dreadful blank page and you write something.

As long as you can keep writing, day after day, then you will keep moving forward. Your mind is working on the story in the background, you come up with ideas in the shower, at the dinner table, sitting on the toilet, driving the car...practically anywhere.

But then something stops you. Like that truck that's moving forward, it takes a lot of energy to stop you. Sometimes we call it writer's block (I'll talk about that another time). Sometimes it's a plot hole that you didn't anticipate, a broken character, a negative comment by someone you thought supported you. Sometimes it's real life duties. But whatever it is, if you can't work through it, your momentum is gone. Sometimes it hits you like a brick wall. Your energy is sapped. All the energy that you had moving you forward is gone.

Now, I'm not saying this to discourage you. But I do want you to know that it's real. When you stop writing. When your brain stops working on your story in the background. When you turn your attention to something else for a few days. That's when your momentum will work against you. And that's when you have to realize that it's okay. It might take a few days or weeks to work back into your book. It might take your mind twisting and turning in the background while you feel stumped. It might take writing 100 pages of absolute drivel. But it's possible. If you turn back to what originally sparked you, or if you can find a new spark, then you can pick up that momentum again.

Another time I'll talk about ways to avoid momentum killers, but right now I just want to say that if you do stop, and if you do feel like it's impossible to start again. It's not. You've got a book gestating inside you. Some births are more difficult than others. But ask any mother if it's worth it. The answer, of course, is yes.