 The publishing industry can feel like a battlefield where many writers decide it's time to hang up their pens. In this post, four seasoned authors open up about the reasons why they haven't quit.  After years in the industry, what keeps you excited about fiction writing? It can be easy to get into a rut of meeting deadlines, goals, or other people’s expectations. And sometimes life gets in the way (perhaps it’s a move, a job change, or caregiving). Eventually, it leads burnout. Recently, I just finished an epic fantasy trilogy that had me gasping for breath at the end partly because I moved to three different states while writing and life trauma. I realized afterward I wasn’t dreaming any more. I wrote because I had to. Thankfully, I had years of experience writing so I could meet my deadline but writing no longer sparked joy. I didn’t daydream about scenes or my characters. It is dreaming that keeps me excited about writing. Those moments when a scene pops into my head, or a song stirs my heart, and I start imagining my characters. Dreaming—and making sure I have time to dream—are what sustains me. It took two months after turning in my last manuscript for my heart to dream again. And once I did, the next story started writing itself in my head. Dreaming is what keeps the dream of writing alive. -- Morgan Busse https://morganlbusse.com/  There are always possibilities. It’s funny, I started fiction writing as just a way to entertain myself and my friends. Then I tried to be all professional and make a living at it. Failed spectacularly. And now I’m back to writing fiction as a just a way to entertain me and my friends. It’s just my circle of friends has grown a bit. I’ve come to terms with understanding that the level of success I chased earlier wasn’t realistic, not with my current day job circumstance. But, there are always possibilities. -- Michael Haspil https://michaelhaspil.apocprod.com/  The same thing that made me give up pharmacy for writing in the first place—the stories! The characters whose stories need to be told! Dialogue playing in my head! History that begs to be shared. I absolutely love fiction writing. -- Sarah Sundin https://www.sarahsundin.com/  Seeing kids during school visits is the most inspiring to me, to keep going. And I also love that stage in writing when you just begin a story and it can be anything. That feeling of infinite possibility still gets me excited, to see how I can meet the challenge of my own imagination. -- Fleur Bradley http://www.ftbradley.com/ Bonus Quotes Isaac Asimov: "I write for the same reason I breathe — because if I didn’t, I would die." Ray Bradbury: "You fail only if you stop writing." Octavia E. Butler: "You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence." Richard Bach: "A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit." J.K. Rowling: "My breakthrough with the first book came through persistence, because a lot of publishers turned it down." Isaac Asimov: "You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success – but only if you persist."  Learn secrets and proven paths to finding an agent with the book GET A LITERARY AGENT. The guide explains query letter writing, submission dos and don'ts, how to craft engaging opening pages, synopsis FAQs, nonfiction proposal tips, literary agent pet peeves, and much more.  This post was complied by Brandy Vallance, a literary agent with Barbara Bova Literary Agency, an award-winning author, and a Story Consultant for Writing Day Workshops. Brandy is the winner of two national writing awards, one of which included a $20,000 prize. Her novel, THE COVERED DEEP, has been featured in USA Today & Writer’s Digest. WITHIN THE VEIL has been called “passionate and riveting” and Publisher’s Weekly encourages those who like sweeping Scottish sagas to dive in because “the journey is wonderful.” Brandy loves helping writers break the chains of fear and self-doubt. You can find out more at brandyvallance.com.  Attend a Writers Conference in 2026:
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