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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/2902
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I can totally relate to this. I have five published novels, NOW, but it took me years to get around to writing the first one. I went through the same thing you did. I thought I wanted to write, but it turned out that I mostly wanted to _have written_.

For me, the solution lay in getting immediate feedback on my writing. I think the writer's group idea is solid, but unless you find one that meets a LOT, it might not be quick enough for you. You need to find an audience that will read quickly and appreciatively.

It depends on what genre you want to write in, I suppose, but you might want to consider fan fiction. Not as an ultimate destination, just as a way to get yourself over the first hump. Find a fandom you're interested in, write something, post it, get some feedback, write something else, and then something else, and then invite a few fandom friends to read your original novel in progress. Post regularly - once a week? a couple times a week? every day? and use the feedback as the incentive to keep writing.

You could try to do the same thing without the fandom element, but I think it's really hard to get an audience for original work by an unknown author. The beauty of fandom is the built-in audience!

Original score: 7