Halfway through NaNoWriMo, it’s easy to imagine that many writers have reached their Mid-Book Doldrums.

Most of you are probably thinking: “What did I get myself into? How am I supposed to keep this thing going?”

It can be difficult to maintain momentum throughout a story, especially in the middle of your work. (Though truth be told, I have found that the place where I usually face the most difficulty is just as I’m approaching the end. We’ll discuss this more next time, because I think that’s an even more dangerous place than the middle.)

Still, the trick to get through all of this really is to just keep writing. Now, that is far easier said than done, but there it is. Just keep going! Write, write, and write, and then worry about editing and revising and making things pretty later. That’s for your second draft.

I’ve gathered together some quotes from writers about writing, as that seemed like a good source of motivation for those who are currently stuck in the middle. Take a little break, read what others have to say about exactly what you are experiencing right now, and then get back to work!

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” –Ernest Hemingway

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” –Toni Morrison

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” –Stephen King

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” –Louis L’Amour

“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.” –Neil Gaiman

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” –Jack London

“Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time–proof that humans can work magic.” –Carl Sagan

“There’s no such thing as perfect writing, just like there’s no such thing as perfect despair.” –Haruki Murakami

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” –Robert Cormier

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” –Martin Luther

“You can’t edit a blank page.” –Nora Roberts

“Books choose their authors; the art of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.” –Salman Rushdie

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne