Promising yourself...

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"What gets you
(or any writer)
to the end of the book
is not inspiration, or second wind,
or a visit from the Book Fairy.
It's process --
and dogged, unswerving, stubborn commitment to process.
It's promising yourself
that you are going to write
every day, by god,
whether you feel like it or not.
And it's keeping that promise
when you don't feel like it.
It's doing ten pages a day
on the days that you can,
and at least one page a day
on the days when you
think you can't do any.
It's putting bad words on paper
if you don't have any other words,
just to meet your goals
and keep your promise to yourself.
It's trusting that
better words will come,
even if only in the rewrites."

~ Holly Lisle, Your Book Is Not Your Baby