Though I failed to meet my goal last year of getting better at finishing stories, I think I learned something from the year-end push.
Deadlines seem to work best for me when I’m sick of working on something and I just want to finish it. I think I need to be a little mad at myself for not getting it done any faster. I think making a public statement helped (if posting on a blog hardly anyone reads is really all that public). Putting on a progress bar definitely helped me stay mad at myself for not making the bar move much.
Which is to say, whereas my cosmic poem about who wakes up every morning is inching along, and whereas it’s been “close to done” for months, and whereas I generally want to see if I can get more use of deadlines, I want to finish that poem by the last Friday of this month, January 28.
Writing Every Day 
Not finishing a story is a common problem. It takes dedication to get it done. I like the progress bar idea. When I start my next book I will get a progress bar. Good luck this year with finishing your stories!
Thank you for your encouragment!