A Little Happier: The Danger of Finish Lines, According to Kurt Vonnegut
Katharine Vaughn Mentor Text
About Gretchen
Gretchen Rubin is a writer who relentlessly explores human nature to understand how we can make our lives better. She believes there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for becoming happier, healthier, more productive, or more creative; when we know ourselves and what works for us, we can change our habits and our lives.
Through her bestselling books (The Happiness Project, Happier at Home, Better Than Before, The Four Tendencies, Outer Order, Inner Calm), her award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, my video courses, and her app Happier, she shares insights, strategies, stories, and tips that help people understand themselves and create a happier life.
The New York Times called her “the queen of the self-help memoir.” She would say that her work is self-helpful, not self-help.
Some highlights from her writing career include being interviewed by Oprah. She started her career in law and was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.
What Is It?
This segment is from a recent podcast from Gretchen’s channel “Happier with Gretchen Rubin” that focuses on setting goals, maintaining goals and, of course, the finish lines that come with those goals and how we can apply this knowledge to our writing.
Why Does It Matter?
Setting and reaching goals can be challenging, especially when there are so many factors that can determine the results of those goals that are set. The same can be said for our writing. We tell ourselves that we want a certain final product and set these goals that we may or may not achieve. Setting goals is beneficial and extremely rewarding when we finally reach them, but we can’t forget about the “finish line.” What exactly is our finish line? What happens when we reach that finish line? What have we gained (or lost)? What does this mean for our writing and the many stories that we have to share?
What Can We Take From This?
I’d like to believe that everyone has their own unique story to tell- that is, MANY stories to share. These stories shape who we are and play a fundamental part into what we’ve been learning this semester in this course. They form the past, the present, and the future, which is essential to what we’ve been working on in class (“Where I’m From, Where I Am, Where I’m Going”)
One of my favorite things that Mat says after we complete writing prompts or segments is to never end a thought “just in case if we want to come back to it later.”
I think this is such a powerful statement simply because Mat reminded me that our stories never end, and each story is intertwined with another. For example, I couldn’t write about where I am today without having written about my past and how I grew up. Each plays a crucial role in sharing my ultimate story–the story of my life as a whole–and the same can be said for you! This is a reminder that we don’t always have to have a finish line in our writing, and sometimes, we shouldn’t!
So, as we head toward the end of the semester in our last component of our writing, I started to wonder, as many of you might have already, what is my goal? What’s my personal finish line, or do I even have one? Do I need one??
A finish line marks a stopping point, and once we stop, we must start over, and starting over is harder than starting. - Gretchen Rubin
“I have seen a lot of writers stop writing or at least slow down after getting an advance. They have a feeling of completion after making a deal. That’s bad news creatively…I advise you to carry on without an advance, without that false feeling of completion.” - Kurt Vonnegut
Something to Think About…
Have you ever found that hitting a finish line meant that you stopped doing something, even if you'd been doing it successfully to that point?
How have you seen how finish lines affect (or don’t affect) your writing?
How can we replace the idea of finish lines with the idea of having momentary goals instead, and how do we think that will affect our writing?
What Can We Do?
From this, I would like to focus on setting goals rather than trying to reach that “finish line” in our writing. In searching for your goal, or what you want to leave your audience with, we can ask questions like, “What’s the purpose in my writing?” or “What point am I trying to convey or get across?” or “How is my writing beneficial, and who is it beneficial for?”
Though this class will end in a few weeks, that doesn’t mean that our writing has to. We are constantly experiencing new things in life that shape who we are and what we become, and our story goes on. We still have much to write about and share with the world, so I encourage you to look past the finish line and explore reaching those goals that we all have for our writing.
So, what’s my goal?
Going back to Mat’s quote, he tells us to “never end a thought just in case if we want to come back to it later.” My goal is to continue my writing, in whatever form that may be, and continue to tell my story by adding more and more parts of myself, my identity and my community as time passes. I want to focus on relishing in my writing instead of rushing toward that finish line as quickly as possible and reiterate the idea that we don’t always have to have a finish line, that while certain moments/experiences in our stories may end, our story as a whole is yet to be complete.
Let’s Try It!
For this last part, I would like to see all of you write out a goal that you find possible to achieve, whether that be in writing or just in general. Just as we can with our stories, we can go back and modify or adjust this goal however we like! And remember, this is just a goal and not the finish line :)
For my goal, I decided to stick to a goal that pertains to my writing simply because writing has always been a huge part of my life. Of course, feel free to choose whatever you like!
I hope to inspire others with my writing and be able to share my many experiences with them. I want to help others, especially those who are not directly in my community, understand these bits and pieces of myself and how I ended up where I am today. I want to be able to use my knowledge and experience that I’ve gained throughout my life to be able to learn from them and teach others what I have learned…
I touched on the idea of never ending a story, so I figured it would be cool to add in a finishing touch–the use of an ellipsis.
“Ellipsis points are important because they tell your readers that something is missing. The points help your audience understand that you have only quoted part of something, and that they can go back and fill in the blank should they wish to.” - https://literaryterms.net/ellipsis/
I really like the idea of an ellipsis because, again, it signifies that our writing is not yet complete and that these goals that we have formed are not the finish lines in our lives or our writing. They’re intentional, we can always go back and add to this goal once we’ve reached it or explain the challenges that arose in attaining these goals. Go ahead and add one! Who knows, maybe you’ll come back to this segment in a few months with your goal completed!
As we’ve discussed, finish lines can be tricky and undermining. But when we set goals, we’re able to relish in our writing and not have that anticipation of rushing to that finish line as quickly as possible. Similarly to how our goals are constantly changing and never-ending, so are our stories. We have many to share, and that’s why I inspire you to, in the wise words of Mat, never end a thought “just in case if you want to come back to it later.”
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