I just picked up my latest quilt top from my friend, Kathy, who
put it together with the batting and backing since I don’t have a long-arm sewing
machine. She does a great job, and I’m excited about the way my quilt looks.
However, I have a UFO—an unfinished object. I still need to
finish the binding to make it complete. I know it will get done because it
needs to go to Salt Lake City for a quilt contest at the end of this month, but
sometimes the thought of finishing it seems daunting.
With my writing, I have several UFOs. Sometimes I lose
interest in what I’m writing, sometimes I don’t feel like finishing it so it
sits, sometimes I have an idea but it doesn’t go anywhere, and sometimes I
forget that I started the story in the first place.
To me, having UFOs isn’t always a bad thing. For example, UFOs
are okay if they are a way to get me to write every day, or at least several
times a week. I might wake up with an idea and write a few paragraphs to see
how it feels, to see where it heads, to see how interesting it is. It’s amazing
how many abandoned stories or blog posts I have that started with a strange
thought. It’s also amazing how many of those abandoned stories or blog posts have
later been finished or in the case of stories, fleshed out in more detail for
future writing.
I am also okay with UFOs that aren’t done because they
require more research. This is mostly because I only do research when I’m in
the mood. I’m not one to sit still for long and patiently try to find the
information I need. I have to be in the right frame of mind.
Many of my UFOs are undone because they need editing. I love
to edit, but it requires bigger blocks of time, and I’m often short on that. I
have to purposely schedule editing into my schedule otherwise my UFOs remain
UFOs for much longer.
The biggest problem with UFOs is that too many false starts
may start to trip you up. You might begin to think that you can’t write, that
you don’t have it in you to finish a novel, or that you are a miserable failure
because you can’t finish anything you started. If you have several UFOs, take a
long look at them and ask yourself why they’re unfinished. Is there anything
worth resurrecting? Are they UFOs for a good reason? Can you muster up the
enthusiasm to complete them?
Sometimes UFOs can be remedied by finding a contest to
enter—then you have a deadline. Sometimes they can be remedied if you ask new
“what if” questions and send it in a different direction. Sometimes they can be
remedied by tossing them out with the garbage.
It’s up to you how to manage
them!
