Finish What You Started 2026

a bunch of drawn diagrams of hand stretches. the text at the top reads MAKE TIME TO STRETCH! it shows wrist extensions and flexions, with the arm straight out and hand palm out with the hand gently stretched up and down. the same stretches with the hand in a fist. the same stretch but with the palm against a wall. a stretch of pressing your palms together with wrists parallel to the ground and slowly lowering the heels of the palms. and a gentle shaking out of the hands.

since this will always be circulating, i might as well be the first one to put it here: the stretch tips i made many years ago… remember to stop and stretch and take care of your hands! be mindful of your work time & listen to your body.

These all might feel obvious to you, but maybe someone else hasn’t considered them before. What gets you motivated to work on your wip? Do you have any tricks that always work for you? Share them with your fellow participants here!
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If you want help from others also working on wips, come join the discord! We have a space for accountability buddies to help keep you on track and a place to write during timed sprints, as well as many resources. This link should not expire!
discord.com/invite/ZPVF9...
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For myself, I like to set session/day goals, weekly goals, and monthly goals. That way even if my progress isn’t linear, I can see myself approaching where I want to be. Incremental goals can feel really good! But if holding yourself to a number doesn’t help, find what does.
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There’s a famous anecdote that whenever author Terry Pratchett sat down to write, he set a goal of 400 words. Whether he wrote more or not, he did his 400. By the time of his death, Terry Pratchett had written and published over 40 novels.
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If you struggle just to get through that goal, congratulate yourself on making your session goal! You can go do something else now. Decreasing the pressure on yourself can help get creative energy flowing. When you make your goal consistently, you can up it, but not too much.
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When you do start, set a small goal. It can be word count based or time based, whatever makes sense for your project. Make it very achievable: maybe just five minutes or 100 words. The thrill of reaching that goal can help carry you through another 5 minutes, another 100 words.
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If it’s not distracting, set the mood for your work with an applicable playlist or soundscape. Make sure you won’t be interrupted or distracted during your work time by silencing notifications and minimizing other windows. Let yourself focus on this one thing.
[9/15]

Don't forget about stretch breaks while you work! Here's a couple guides to stretching your wrists and hands.
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www.tumblr.com/tizzymcwizzy...
bsky.app/profile/brud...

When you’re ready to work, it can help to do some warmup stretches, especially for artists and sewists, but writers, musicians, and others craftspeople benefit from a good warmup stretch too! I plan on doing a Tools Tuesday later about both writing and drawing warmup exercises.
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Be kind to yourself if you feel stuck. You can’t intimidate or yell yourself into productivity!

[6/15]

Read through the last part you wrote, your notes, check the pattern, etc. Make notes about what you have, where you remember you wanted to go, and what's inspiring you now. That scene you got stuck on might make sense now or another angle you could draw that tricky pose comes to you.
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But finishing is daunting, especially for long projects with no end in sight, or ones that you’ve struggling with for a long time.
When you have a big project, especially one that you may have started and put down years ago, it can be intimidating to pick it back up.
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Today is about motivation to start and setting easy goals to keep the momentum going.

Starting a project can be the scariest part. Good news! If you’re participating in this event, you’ve already completed that step!
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Post by @finishwhatyoustarted-event · 2 links 💬 0  🔁 2  ❤️ 3 · Tools Tuesday - Motivation to Start and Setting Goals - March 3 · It’s the first Tuesday of the event, so it’s time for a Tools Tuesday! Tools Tuesday is a weekly part of the Finis…

You can find this Tools Tuesday in a Tumblr post here, if scrolling through a thread is troublesome:
www.tumblr.com/finishwhatyo...

Have a resource you want to share? Send it in a message here or on Tumblr and I’ll take a look!
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It’s the first T̶u̶e̶s̶d̶a̶y̶ Thursday of the event, so it’s time for a Tools Tuesday! Tools Tuesday is a weekly part of the Finish What You Started event where I share various resources I have found to help everyone complete their WIP. Apologies for the late posting here!
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Our event starts tomorrow!
What will you be working on? Please quotepost or reply if you want to share your goals for the event :D Let’s hype each other up!

Rules posts here
bsky.app/profile/fini...
you can also find it in a single post on Tumblr
www.tumblr.com/finishwhatyo...

As always, if you have questions, don't hesitate to reach out!
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Also, please don't passive-aggressively send this event to the author of an unfinished fic you want to see done faster. 😥
Be cool, respect each other, and keep any interpersonal disagreements to your own bskyspace.
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This is a positive, shared space. Do not belittle other creators' medium of choice. Please no fandom/character/ship/creator bashing, and don't berate artists or authors for not being done with something, even if they don't finish by the end of the event.
[23/25]

Keep in mind that when I quote-repost your finished work during a Finished It Friday, it may reach a wider audience than you may be used to.
Q: Can multiple works be submitted?
A: Of course! Work on and complete as few or as many works as you are able to. There are no minimums nor maximums.
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There are also many topics that are in poor taste to make fanworks around. The event organizer and mods reserve the right to not boost your work if they decide it is rage-baiting or trolling. They are not responsible for any negative reactions to your works.
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(cont) All content created must be your own and must abide from other stated rules.
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Q: Are there any restrictions on media that can be submitted?
A: The usual restrictions based on laws and Community Guidelines of course apply, so you may need to tailor how you post to which event space your interacting with. Bsky, Tumblr, and Discord all have their own rules.
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Q: Are there any restrictions on topics?
A: No, so long as your event post is properly & fully tagged for content (see rules about tagging above). "Dead Dove" topics are allowed. Some submissions will be 18+. For me, this is less about the content and more about finishing it.
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FAQ:
Q: Are original works acceptable?
A: Yes. This is primarily a fanwork-focused event, however we have many participants who work on non-fandom or original projects, especially in the physical crafting sphere. If it is posted publicly when finished, you may tag it for boosting.
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Important note: please use Omegaverse or A/O/B for that content. The original letter order is a slur against Aboriginal peoples and will not be tolerated here, even with the slashes. It, like other racial or identity-based slurs, fall under hate speech and are thus not permitted.
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Do not letter-swap or abbreviate content warnings. These are so people can mute them as needed.
Example: "gore" not "g0re"
Please use genderbend or genderswap for characters depicted not as canon genders.
Example of content warning: “cw NSFW genderbend gore //”
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Content warnings should be separate from the slashes so they can get filtered. That also means that if it is included anywhere in the post, it can be filtered; putting it at the top is more of a courtesy to let people visually see the content warnings before interacting with the larger post.
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