My goal would be to find a big, fat subject that would occupy me to the end of my life, and when I finish it, I'll die. What's agony is starting; I hate starting them. I just want to keep writing now and end when it ends.
Finish what you start. Keep submitting until it sells.
Really, what you should tell a novelist is, 'Keep going until you finish the draft. Don't show it to anyone.'
I do have trouble starting books. I have ideas that I have trouble starting to write. But I'm the kind of person who tends to finish everything she starts out of sheer stubbornness.
The only way I could finish a book and get a plot was just to keep making it longer until something happens.
As an athlete, you're brought up with that mentality that you finish everything you start. If you're going to start a meal, you're going to finish it until the plate is clean. I had to change that mentality to one of where, 'I eat until I'm full and leave the rest.'
Put off finish as it takes a lifetime - wait until later to try to finish things - make a lot of starts.
I've always figured the only way I could finish a book and get a plot was just to keep making it longer and longer until something happens - you know, until it finds its own plot - because you can't outline and then fit the thing into it. I suppose it's a slow way of working.
I want you to break the spell. Finish it off.” "What do you mean?” "The spell you did on me and Dimitri.” "That spell is done. It burned itself out.” I shook my head. "No. I keep thinking about him. I keep wanting to…” He smiled knowingly when I didn't finish. "My dear, that was already there, long before I set that up.
I love TV now, and 'Modern Family,' but what draws me back to theater is that initial instinct of wanting to be a theater actor. I love the challenge of starting a play and not stopping until you finish. I love the immediacy of trusting your instincts.
One should always try to do the best you possibly can. I'm not in a race to the finish line - I won't put anything out until it's completely ready. You want to keep it special and unique for the customer.
Learning lines is on my mind until I do know them. I'll read the paper or paint the house to keep from starting to memorize. I've never found an easy way.
I usually plan to read a book for a half-hour before bed, but then I end up staying awake until 3 A.M. to finish it. Fortunately, my dog doesn't mind when I keep the bedside lamp on.
The only purpose of starting is to finish
There's no point starting something you don't intend to finish.
Rarely do I finish a song lyrically before I have a musical idea there, but then again, rarely ever would I finish a song musically before starting the lyrical ideas. So a lot of the time, they come in tandem, or they just come at a glance.