Millions of people have tried to write a novel and millions have failed. So what is the secret to being one of the very few that actually finish? It’s all about ego, stubbornness and understanding that your book may be bigger than anything you think or understand about it. These are big concepts and that is why most people give up. To have the mental staying power to complete a novel requires you to commit to finishing it regardless of how you feel about it. And our feelings dictate nearly everything we do. So if we start to feel bad about a project, we usually abandon it. We believe that we feel bad because it must be terrible writing or because we have an instinct that we are wasting our time and should give up and do something else. But those feelings are actually irrelevant. This is the KEY. Don’t trust your feelings when you are writing - you just can’t. They are not your friend. They will tell you to give up, they will tell you your writing is sub-par and they will mock you for even trying. This is the ego’s way of making sure you don’t evolve as a human - writing and completing a book will shift your being and the ego hates that. You must fight the ego and the best way to do that, is to be STUBBORN. You tell yourself, I’m writing this book because something in it may help someone else. Once the onus is on someone else, it’s easier to keep going. You are doing it for the readers, you are doing it for the greater good, you are doing it in the service of art and your feelings don’t count. Have a deadline, commit to it and get that book done. And when you get to the end, it will still need a heap of work but I guarantee it won’t be nearly as bad as your ego protested.