'Starting strong is good. Finishing strong is epic.' - Robin Sharma 

Having a groundbreaking idea is the best basis to spur ourselves on. In the beginning our motivation is high and we start implementing the vision with full speed ahead. 

However, for an uncountable number of reasons we tend to lose enthusiasm along the way. That´s the moment which separates the dreamer from the true visionary.

When courage fails, our heart is needed to approach the final stretch.

Endurance 

Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes. - Buddha 

It doesn´t matter if you are writing a book, participating in a sports challenge or working on any other key milestone in your life. There will be ups and downs, progress and setbacks. 

Nothing worth achieving comes easy.   

I´ve now written 15,000 words of my first novel.
Here´s how I´ve come that far:

1. Belief: I´ve never challenged my own skills. 
2. Patience: I´ve never forced myself to deliver when I wasn´t disposed to.
3. Imagination: I´ve always seen my finished book being issued by a publisher. 

It´s all about trust. Life is not linear, we just need to learn how to deal with the unevenness. We can do it because we can do it. 

 

Writing a novel is completely different from journal writing or blog post writing. 

Instead of just keeping our head down and pressing on, we need to constantly consider the overall structure and message. Every single sentence needs to contribute to the whole story: it either has to reveal character or advance the plot. 

There are good days and bad days. Sometimes you fly and sometimes you don´t.

'When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters.' - Ernest Hemmingway 

That´s exactly how I manage to endure. When writing I try to put myself in the position of my main character and then just keep the words coming. I want readers to sympathize with her right from the start. 

I want her to become a living person readers will fall in love with. That´s what motivates me to keep working on it every day.

This writing adventure is definitely an affair of the heart. 

Things don´t need to be easy, they need to be worth it. 

Life is not linear, so what we need to learn is how to deal with the unevenness. If it didn´t challenge us, maybe it wouldn´t appeal to us. True fulfillment is given when we exceed our personal limits and endure... UNTIL IT`S DONE. 

What separates a dreamer from a visionary is: the heart. 

Keep it coming, steemians! :)
Marly - 

Picture sources:
Title image: http://24.media.tumblr.com/
Easy quote: http://i.quoteaddicts.com/
Final quote: http://cdn.quotesgram.com/