It wasn't very long ago that I felt I NEEDED to finish every book that I started. No matter what.
It didn't matter where the wheels started to go off in a book, I felt an obligation to get it finished. And the guilt of not finishing definitely grew stronger the farther I got into the story.
It is so difficult to devote so much time and effort into a story, only to have the book betray you with bad writing, impossible characters, or plain old boredom.
It's like a bad relationship and I'm a glutton for punishment. I go into each chapter hoping that it will be better then the one before, only to find more of the same. I know I need to make a clean break but I'm grasping at all the "good times" even if they are few and far between.
With age, I feel like I've gotten a little better about dealing with these types of situations. I won't beat myself up too much if I decide to just call it quits and move on to something else.
But deep down, not finishing a book that I have started still bothers me. And if I have decided to move on, I try to come back to it and give it another try later. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Yup, I'm definitely crazy.
What about you? Does not finishing a book you started grate you as much as it does me?
