How do you keep going when you’re typing an endless book?

We all like goals especially when we achieve them but how do you stay motivated when you yourself keep moving the goal posts?

Everyone Likes a Story

I’ve really been putting in the hours over this last chapter and it’s gained mixed feelings. The chapter once again is awesome and I’m really enjoying finally getting out some stories that I haven’t really ever shared with anybody before. Like when I broke my toe five minutes before I competed in the International triathlon or when I set the security alarm off at the airport because of my hidden gold medal.

It’s not about the length

The problem that I have, if you can class it as a problem is the amount of stories that there are. I understand that all the stories have to be typed so that they can be shared so that it can be decided if they stay in or not. The problem is that they keep coming and because of that the chapter gets longer and longer. It’s not the length of the chapter that bothers me it’s the time it’s taking to produce.

I love to hate you

Eight hours worth of typing should roughly produce one chapter but instead I’m not even half way through it. Because of this it becomes a grind. The goalposts keep getting moved. Spending time on it seems to be a bottomless pit and the only way to address the situation is to spend more time on it. I love it, I hate it, I love it I hate it.

The voices in my head

There becomes a little voice inside my head that says “maybe you don’t need to share that story?” or “Why don’t we just abbreviate that story or description?” or even  “Let’s not spend time painting the picture for the reader but just tell them what’s going on and then move on!”

All Change?

Anyway, on it goes. There’s also a temptation to move the submission dates for each chapter but I know that that is a slippery slope and one that I do not want to venture into.

Only I can do what I gotta do

I want this book done. Typed, edited, produced and out there for people to read. I’m immensely proud at what I’ve achieved so far and I know that ‘only I can do what I gotta do’. At the moment I’ve got to just keep typing.

I wonder how other people stay motivated when in a similar situation.

How do you keep motivated when goal posts are constantly moved?