Cialdini says that he harnesses the Zeigarnik effect himself in that he deliberately finishes writing before he’s ready. Finishing early, in mid-sentence and when you really want to keep going – is a tactic writers can use to help them keep focussed so they come back to the writing feeling motivated,

Instead of exhausting every last idea and bit of energy, he would stop when the next plot point became clear. This meant that the next time he sat down to work on his story, he knew exactly where to start.