You are reading this because you love to write. You have that personal need to jot down what’s in your head. You want to go for the big leagues--write the great American novel and earn accolades from it. This is your way to satiate your hunger for achievement. You’re not alone.

You’ve started twenty or thirty pages, maybe you’re now halfway through your novel. But something doesn’t feel right, as if you are dragging yourself to finish. To quit or not to quit: That is the question. Oftentimes, the decision is difficult because the element of having invested time in your masterpiece compels you to finish.

It is not that you have grown lazy about finishing your novel, it’s just that you find writing has become so hard that you want to stop. But is it reason enough for you to abandon your project? Perhaps there’s still a way to get around this difficulty. Is it writer’s block? There’s a difference between experiencing a creative slowdown and wanting to quit an existing project.

Writers are all susceptible to quitting. We face demons inside our heads every time we sit down to write. As F. Scott Fitzgerald once said: “Writers aren’t people exactly. Or, if they’re any good, they’re a whole lot of people trying so hard to be one person.” This illustrates how challenging it is to write. The writer could even find that he is at cross-purposes with himself. The writer gets the feeling of overcoming such a challenge when he manages to reconcile all those people inside him to become one.

Most of the time, a writer would crumple a piece of paper because he thinks his attempt is not good enough. His sanctuary becomes flooded with crumpled bits of papers and he gets buried in it. We all want to say the right things in the right way.

Writing may be easy for people who do not understand the nature of the process. Writing may be easy for those who think of writing a story or a book but never did. In some parts of the world, many uninitiated in this art even think that writing is not a vocation, but just a hobby to kill time. Insulting for those who toil to put words on paper. 

It is not surprising that some people have a condescending view of writers. Yet these very same people will never have the depth of understanding that only a meticulous writer can develop from a keen observation of life. And this is a great edge for an artist dealing with letters. Of course, not all writers develop this penchant for observation.

The truly tormented artist--the one who has overcome great writing adversity--is apt to take challenges head-on and is likely to survive.

Imagine how many great writers the world would never have known if they did not persist in finishing their masterpieces. I can drop names, but I know you catch my drift. 

Willpower is often tested under the most trying conditions. This is what separates the dedicated writer from those who just want to try writing. Dedication is what drives us to finish our novel. But is dedication enough? Are there any other factors to consider why we should finish or quit our novel?

It’s okay to feel defeated at times. Any vocation encounters this demon. But only you as the writer can do something about your predicament. No one ever said that life is easy. Your art is testing you as to how much you could stand, but nobody commands you to face the challenge. You always have a choice.