How to Turn Incomplete Drafts Into Some of Your Best Writing

A great writing tip is leaving a sentence incomplete gives you both a break and a shortcut back into the train of thought

Sometimes I get random bursts of writing where a sea of ideas gushes onto the page. Eventually, the flow starts to trickle out and I start to feel like my writing is forced. Maybe I get caught up navigating which idea is the best or I just frankly don’t know what I really want to say. No matter the case, I never try to force myself to write. I respect this craft, I love this art, and so I write when it feels right. That means that when outside the right mindset I take a writing break and leave my draft unfinished.

Before I close up my laptop, which I love to do with a dramatic clasp, I make sure I don’t finish that last sentence I was on. Yes, that’s right, leaving my writing incomplete is one way I get some of my best work. Before I started being okay with leaving my writing incomplete I used to feel anxious thinking about losing my train of thought.

I’ve learned that staying productive means taking breaks because ideas don’t run at 100 miles-per-hour. Leaving even a single sentence unfinished gives me both a much-earned break and a shortcut back.

Too often, writers, including myself, put too much weight on trying to write in one sitting. Trying to complete a full draft of a piece in one go can be done. However, trying to pump out a piece in one sitting can tax the quality and quantity of work you can do completely. This burn out is a harsh truth I learned my first semester of college trying to write several final papers overnight. We sometimes need to walk away from a piece if we want it to flourish.

I used to feel like I was abandoning my ideas if I closed my laptop during a writing session. Yet, my perspective changed after I started seeing how an unfinished draft was the best way to come back to a writing session. When I leave my writing incomplete I’m actually giving myself time to nourish the ideas and return with clarity.

As mentioned, we often think that if we leave a piece partly done then we may forget how to complete it. Yet, have you considered that if you’re having trouble finishing a sentence than you actually don’t know how to complete it? While it sounds like common sense, we often forget our sensibilities when we’re caught in a writing storm. Trying to force a conclusion out or trying to race to the bottom of the page is often a losing scenario.

Either your paper will be peppered with errors, like skipped words or poor grammar, or you lose your steam by the end. With writing being a process, you need some steam left in your engine if you plan on revising and editing afterwards. And let’s not forget that revision and editing are not the same things!

Before you feel like all your fuel is gone, save your energy and your sanity by leaving your piece in an incomplete limbo. Whether you take a coffee break or scroll across socials, no matter how you take a break just get some distance. When I come back to my writing I often start reading from the beginning. I could also read for some context clues, regardless I’m getting a refresher on my own writing. As I start to follow the words before this unfinished sentence I can hear and see the ideas starting to link together. As quickly as I thought I forgot what I wanted to say I find almost a dozen ideas race onto the page.

Like I mentioned the flow of writing in the beginning, leaving a piece unfinished builds like a subconscious pressure. Whether you knew how you planned to finish that sentence or not you’re going to have to find a way of wrapping it up before you can keep going. And this pressure to finish is exactly why this writing tip has worked for me and everyone I’ve given it to.

Instead of searching for inspiration, the motivation to write is that you have something you have to finish. A sentence without an ending invites a world of possibilities. The same idea may pop back up, or you could have a new thought that wasn’t on the table before. By giving yourself permission to imagine an ending you often find writing that naturally develops.

Remember that the first idea that pops into your mind isn’t often the best one. This idea could be premature, or in my case, sometimes pretty basic. After leaving to work on something else my mind does not forget about this sentence looking for closure. Our minds are amazing things that have a million ideas all at once. And by leaving a draft incomplete you’re leaving a door open for all that creativity and genius to come right back in. Rather than when you wrap up a sentence and you close that door.

I invite you to try not to finish a sentence the next time you don’t know what to write next. Give yourself permission to come back to your piece with an open invitation in the form of an unfinished sentence. Don’t think about it as abandoning your ideas. Instead, consider your incomplete writing like a new frontier-ready to welcome and nurture dozens of new and old ideas. The next time you don’t know what to write, try not to write anything at all!