Ideas are exciting. Bringing ideas to fruition, however, can be daunting. Writing is as much keeping motivated as it is a creative process. For most self-published authors, writing is also an act of love. Seldom does the work pay the bills or breed rewards of oodles of praise or reviews.

So how does one keep motivated to write the next line, the next, page, the next chapter? Here are a few ways to keep going:

Remember why you started writing. Most writers start writing because we love it. Fame and fortune would be great, but if that’s what you really want, try to being an actor. The odds are better.

Celebrate the small victories. Finishing a book isn’t the only reason to celebrate. Figuring out a flaw in a plot or fleshing out a character or coming up with spot-on dialogue deserves a pat on the back.

Keep your goals in mind. First, set realistic goals. For instance, if you work full time, maybe you want to take one week to write an outline of your plot.  Then the next week, maybe you want to write a bio for all main characters. Next, remember your goal. Write your goal and print it out if you need to. Look up at your goal. Smile.

Writing is the priority, not selling. Do you have a sales goal? Then make extra time to market your books. But don’t steal from your writing time to do it.

Editing is a part of writing. Many people hate editing. I love it. I find that during editing my characters become more dimensional and my scenes more vivid. Don’t forget to edit your books. And then, send it to an editor. No one can edit their his own work as well as it deserves.

Form a healthy writing habit. As NaNoWriMo winds to an end, you may have a complete first draft or perhaps you have a solid start to a novel. Either way, it’s a good time to build writing habits that last. Think about a writing habit that fits your life. Some authors write 2,000 words a day, others set a time limit. Try some habits on and keep going.

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Adrian W. Lilly is the author of the novels The Devil You Know, Red Haze, The Wolf at His Door: Book One of The Runes Trilogy, The Wolf in His Arms: Book Two of The Runes Trilogy, and The Wolf at War: Book Three of The Runes Trilogy. His short fiction and poetry have been published in Hello Horror, Blood Moon Rising, 69 Flavors of Paranoia, Nervehouse and The Weekly among other publications. He can be found online at http://www.adrianlilly.com.

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