Found out 90% of writers in a survey said they never finish a first draft and that blew me away

I was reading through some stats on a writers' forum the other night and saw that number from a NaNoWriMo study, and it made me wonder how many of us actually push through that rough middle part where everything feels like garbage?

3 comments

3 Comments

jana_shah1mo ago

The NaNoWriMo study mentioned the 90% number, but I wonder what percentage of that group got stuck around the 20,000 word mark specifically. That's usually where my own drafts hit the wall and the plot holes start glaring. Did the survey break down where people actually stopped, or was it just "never finished"?

betty_wells1mo ago

Wait, did they actually track where people stopped or just lump everyone who didn't hit 50k into one big "failure" pile... I've hit that same wall around 20k so many times it's not even funny. Seems like the real killer is when you've used up your initial excitement but haven't built enough momentum to push through the messy middle. Did the survey ask about what people did when they got stuck, like switched projects or outlines, or was it just a blunt "did you finish or not" question? Because knowing where exactly people bail could actually help someone avoid the trap, you know?

seth_shah1mo ago

Ngl I think yall are overthinking this whole thing a bit. Its just NaNoWriMo not some PhD thesis on writer psychology. Most people who dont finish probably just got bored or life got in the way, not some mysterious 20k word wall that needs a whole study to figure out. Ive bailed on plenty of projects right at the start or halfway through and honestly it was usually just me losing interest or finding something better to do with my time. Like yeah it sucks to quit but does it really matter where exactly you gave up? You either finish or you dont, thats the whole story.