The Secret Reason Successful Writers Abandon Novels—and How You Can Overcome It
So you’ve been working on your novel for years, and you can’t get it across the finish line. You’ve tried everything, and there’s just no more gas in your tank. What do you do when you just can’t finish that novel?
Meredith posted this question on my “Ask A Question For My Blog” page:
Hi Randy,
Big fan of yours over here. I love that you answer questions on your blog and thought this might be a good one for you.
I’ve been working on a novel for about 4 years now. It keeps shifting — the characters stay roughly the same, but the genres and plots change. I keep getting about 75%-80% of the way through an outline (either through Snowflake Method or my own) and then end up with a blockage. I’ve workshopped this book in a WIP format and got pretty discouraged by feedback both at the idea and at the word level. I took a 3 month break from it to work on other things and have returned, but keep having the same problem.
CHECK OUT THE HOTTEST DEALS AND MORE ON AMAZON!
The Correspondent: A Novel
$19.58 (as of July 14, 2026 17:01 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
The Gilded Blade (The Grandest Game, 3)
$17.59 (as of July 14, 2026 17:01 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Rand McNally 2027 Large Scale Road Atlas
$30.75 (as of July 14, 2026 17:01 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?: 50th Anniversary Edition
$4.82 (as of July 14, 2026 17:01 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World – A Progressive Political Playbook on Saving Democracy from the #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Shameless
$27.02 (as of July 14, 2026 17:01 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
