Wannabe Writers #17 - Finishing no matter what

Wannabe Writers is the brainchild of Sarah of Confessions of the Un-Published.  It is a writing group for the un-published and anyone is welcome to join. It's a place where future authors can ask questions, share stories, and get feedback. Click (here) to find more about how it works.

Where I am in the writing process:   Still working on the first draft of WIP3  Eyes in the Ashes.  WIP1 Floating on the Surface is waiting in the wings and being entirely rewritten. WIP2 Winter's Illusion is waiting patiently for editing. 

My current problems:  I'm taking a break from writing, though I'm still thinking about the story.   I also have another one drifting around in the back of my mind, which I don't want to start because I really, really, really want to finish Eyes in the Ashes first.   We're quite busy with other stuff.  We have 8 weeks left of lessons and James will be done with 4th grade.  I are going to power through without any days off so we will be done by mid July.  So my mind's on that plus planning for 5th grade.  My Nobel Literature class will be done as of June 20th which will be a relief even though I'm enjoying it.  Lot more work than I expected.  I'm looking forward to the summer break and getting back into the swing of writing.   When I have too many things on my plate, writing is the one thing that suffers.  


Sarah's question of the week:  Do you recommend finishing (and polishing) a novel, even if you know the story would never be strong enough for publication?  To finish just for the sake of finishing or to focus your energies on a better project? 
 
Definitely recommend finishing a novel no matter what.   Writing is an ongoing learning experience.  I think Floating on the Surface has turned into my practice, figure it out, learning manuscript.  It was the first thing I ever really wrote and  the first draft was okay.  I keep going back to it time and again and reworking, rewriting.  It may not ever be published but the experience is helping me to be a better writer and I'm applying what I'm learning to my other WIPS.

To see more answers to Sarah's question of the week or to join in, go here.

"The writer writes in order to teach himself, to understand himself, to satisfy himself; the publishing of his ideas, though it brings gratification, is a curious anticlimax. " ~Alfred Kazin, Think, February 1963