by Justin Fike

I’ve been hard at work on a novel for close to two decades now.

It’s the project through which I’ve learned how to write well, how to understand story, how to self-publish, and even how to orient my energies towards a worthy goal.

Now, after years of work and revision, I’m three chapters away from finishing off the third and final draft, but now that the end is in sight making progress has become harder than ever.

The doubting, nagging, and accusing voices are always lurking somewhere within the creative process, but if you’ve ever pushed through to complete a large and worthy effort then you know as well as I do that the voices of opposition are always loudest the closer you get to the finish line.

There are a few reasons for this.

The first is that finishing makes it real. As long as you’re still working your project has infinite potential. You can always draw energy from the possibility for improvement. Mistakes can still be...