Writing What motivates you to finish your novel?

[Eldoria]

What motivates you to finish your novel?

We know... many novels are never finished, whether because the author experiences writer's block, gives up, or is forgotten due to busy real-life situations.

But there are also novels that are successfully completed, even though they take months or even years. There are also long-hiatus novels that are revived after years of being buried in a corner of the digital world.

My question is, what motivates you to finish your novel no matter what, at least as long as you're still alive?

 

[Bartun]

Love. You won't be able to finish anything you're doing if you don't love what you're doing.

 

[Hoshino]

Hate. Hate. Hate... All you need to feel is hate... hate towards yourself, hate towards the reader, Hate towards the characters, H A T E towards everything. Enough... enough hate to wait until the end to destroy every character in the most tragic way possible; enough hate to conclude with the biggest cliffhanger... ENOUGH HATE TO BREAK EVERYTHING. enough Leave nothing behind... Hate... If every word, every line, every character were engraved with even a trace of hate... there wouldn't be enough. Enough hate to keep this all going, enough hate to reach the end—nya.

 

[ArchlordZero]

Love. You won't be able to finish anything you're doing if you don't love what you're doing.

Hate. Hate. Hate... All you need to feel is hate... hate towards yourself, hate towards the reader, Hate towards the characters, H A T E towards everything. Enough... enough hate to wait until the end to destroy every character in the most tragic way possible; enough hate to conclude with the biggest cliffhanger... ENOUGH HATE TO BREAK EVERYTHING. enough Leave nothing behind... Hate... If every word, every line, every character were engraved with even a trace of hate... there wouldn't be enough. Enough hate to keep this all going, enough hate to reach the end—nya.

The duality of man

 

[DeepWater]

Pain

 

[Akaichi]

My readers... If not for them demanding more chapters, I would have long went to some other project.

 

[Ai-chan]

Money.

If you want your favourite story absolutely completed, give Ai-chan money. Not much, $100 is enough. $5000 is better. You will see how fast Ai-chan finishes the story then.

Or you can wait like everyone else for Ai-chan to feel motivated from comments.

 

[Corty]

Numbers go up. If I see the story being read, it motivates me a lot to keep doing it.

 

[EchoHellion]

My main motivation is I just want to tell a story. If it succeeds or not, doesn't really matter to me. As long as I put a piece of me out there, that's enough.

 

[JayDirex]

Because I don't have anything better else to do but finish.

On SH I have 4 completed novels. and I'll finish the girls love one in the next 6 months or so.

BUT HERE IS THE REAL QUESTION @Eldoria After you finish the novel, then what?? Because the only part I enjoy is the writing. I have ZERO INTEREST in then trying to navigate Amazon and placing a novel up there only to have basically no control of it anymore unless I take it down from Amazon. I had put one up once. It made some chump change (maybe $22) so i took it down.

Completing novels makes me sad. Because then I'm empty until the next story idea comes

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Vergil.

 

[Eldoria]

BUT HERE IS THE REAL QUESTION @Eldoria After you finish the novel, then what??

I can't answer this question yet because my four novels are all still ongoing. But perhaps if I were to consider a realistic scenario, I would create some sort of after/before series, such as a spin-off, sequel, or prequel with different protagonists but still within the same universe. After all, I've designed my novels as part of the same universe from the start. But I don't know when I'll actually finish them.

And like most writers, I also experience writer's block, not from running out of ideas, but from creative exhaustion. So work on my novel has slowed down, and even been delayed recently.

 

[JayDirex]

I can't answer this question yet because my four novels are all still ongoing. But perhaps if I were to consider a realistic scenario, I would create some sort of after/before series, such as a spin-off, sequel, or prequel with different protagonists but still within the same universe. After all, I've designed my novels as part of the same universe from the start. But I don't know when I'll actually finish them.

And like most writers, I also experience writer's block, not from running out of ideas, but from creative exhaustion. So work on my novel has slowed down, and even been delayed recently.

oh no! I want you to finish them because THERE IS a smug satisfaction when a novel is complete :)

 

[Ruyi]

hah...
a sense of responsibility for finishing what i started—which clashes horribly with a need to "make it good" so i'm stuck at a standstill

and the fact that no one else will tell my story exactly the way i want it to, unless i finish writing it myself. also it just feels nice to close the chapter on my characters' lives so i can move on with my own. currently trying to figure out how to tie up loose ends with a story i still have ongoing and another that's barely started but paused after ch 3. i feel less bad about that one since it never actually got on its feet, but the other...

yeah i wanna finish that. one day. for now i have a rough idea of events in my head and that's good enough, because motivation to write it is a whole other case.

 

[Paul__Michaels]

Shear utter stubbornness?

 

[Bartun]

Hate. Hate. Hate... All you need to feel is hate... hate towards yourself, hate towards the reader, Hate towards the characters, H A T E towards everything. Enough... enough hate to wait until the end to destroy every character in the most tragic way possible; enough hate to conclude with the biggest cliffhanger... ENOUGH HATE TO BREAK EVERYTHING. enough Leave nothing behind... Hate... If every word, every line, every character were engraved with even a trace of hate... there wouldn't be enough. Enough hate to keep this all going, enough hate to reach the end—nya.

I have no words... and I must cry.

 

[goth_dropping_in]

Stats and ranking. Someone had to say it. That sweet sweet satisfaction of knowing someone enjoyed my work enough to reading list it or read it, even if they didn't leave a comment. Not gonna make #1 in my tags if I stop writing, now am I? I'm competitive at heart.

Mind you, that can be its own problem when you're trying to relax and have a fun time. The temptation to rot for clout is there sometimes.

Also in my mind is the fact that my characters won't get a proper ending if I don't write it, and the fact that underneath it all I really just enjoy writing. When a series isn't clicking for me I generally shelve it for a while; it's the responsibility to the characters and the readers that brings me back.

It also helps to have a lot of free time.

 

[ElenaV]

I finish my stories to start new ones. Not sure if my method applies to others, but I usually have some floating idea. When one consolidates into a tangible form, I write the first few chapters, then one of the MCs will make a cameo in my current story. So that is my motivation to finish the current one and start with the next one.

Also, this is something I know my job, I make public statements. Author notes, is the way. I state how many chapters are left and when I will complete. With my current ongoing, I already made the announcement that in 5 chapters they will fight the BBEG. So I will tie up the story in 10-12 chapters.

Hope this helps other authors too.

 

[Astrolust]

I’ve started around 20ish stories in this site. Of those 20 I’ve finished 5. 4 of those were passion projects I adored. And the fifth one I liked a lot but I only finished that one to prove I could still finish a story.

 

[MLLeeAuthor]

Wanting to complete my story, simple as that. If my stats continuously went up or I got frequent reviews it’d encourage me to finish as well, but I remind myself that the story is worth writing and telling even if it doesn’t look like anyone is reading it. I write because I want to improve my narrative storytelling and produce the stories I imagine.