Summer has never been kind to big cities. The daily life of a local resident consists of a series of short trips from shadow to shadow. In the middle of one such city, two girls were trying to find their own sanctuary away from the heat.

The search led them to a humble cafe—there was nothing special about it, and nothing special about the conversation the girls had over some coffee.

But the day itself ended up being special for them.

A: I'm telling you, espresso is a high-speed train to a productive day!
B: More like a high-speed train to death.
A: Boo hoo. You're drinking unhealthy stuff, too.
B: Yes, but in moderation.
A: You love that excuse, don't you? Just admit that you enjoy life-shortening beverages like everyone else.
B: I do enjoy them. In moderation.
A: Sure.
A: And I... haven't been enjoying my writing sessions recently.
B: Still working on that cheeky short story? Hasn't it been months since you've told me about it? I thought you'd be done by now.
A: I thought the same.
A: You see, I've been bothered by a certain question.
A: And when I say "bothered" I don't mean "it keeps me up at night". It's more of an "occasional knock at the bedroom door" type of "bothered".
B: That makes it sound creepy, if anything.
A: That's not what I... Eh, whatever. The question in question is the following:
A: "What motivates people to make things?"
B: Ah, wonderful. Here we go again.
B: I am shaking with anticipation for the inevitable discussion about creativity that ultimately leads nowhere.
A: Rude. People have discussed the creative process for centuries, and to this day they still have heated debates about it.
B: That's not surprising when it comes to questions that can't possibly have solid answers.
A: Why not? Sure, there can be many different answers, but that doesn't mean they're all invalid.
B: Then maybe the word "definitive" would be more fitting. These topics take you on a journey with no destination. That's the point I'm trying to make.
A: So what? Can we not have a discussion just for the sake of ruminating on ideas?
B: I'm afraid that if it goes on long enough this "rumination" of yours will change from the English verb into the psychology noun.
A: Glad you're still on that dictionary grind.
B: Fine. Let's get it over with. Motivation, you say?
A: Motivation.
B: Could be literally anything. From real life experiences a person wants to express, to random dumb thoughts that pop into a person's head when they're bored on a Tuesday afternoon.
A: Yes, but that's merely the initial spark. The starting point. That spark won't be enough to carry someone through the actual process of creation from start to finish.
B: Sometimes it's enough. Though not that often, I guess.
A: That's what I'm saying. I'm sure an enormous amount of people have had some kind of creative idea at some point in their lives, but as soon as they started working on it they immediately burned out.
A: The specific motivation I'm curious about is the motivation to see your ideas through. After all, it usually doesn't take long to find out that the process itself is a nightmare.
B: Is it though?
A: Of course it is! Any creative process is hellish. That's why everyone's been saying that you have to "love the craft" in order to actually finish stuff.
B: That's bullshit.
A: Huh?
B: This is absolutely, most certainly not how it works. If you want to finish your thing, "not hating the craft" is more than enough.
A: Huh.
A: Elaborate on the difference. I'm all ears.
B: There's this simple trick that you learn with enough experience: if you don't hate the process itself, you can try to lightly push yourself into that process, and then you'll be rolling through it on pure inertia. This may only last 10 minutes, or it can hook you for hours. Regardless, it results in some progress.
B: Of course this "light push" might not work at all if you're in a completely horrible state of mind, but in most cases it works pretty well.
B: Some people wait for some magical moment when a fairy comes down to them and grants them the gift of motivation to continue their work. But such moments might not happen for weeks, or even months.
B: Those people don't realize that quite often they're one step away from losing themselves in the work. They just need a bit of a poke.
A: Unless that poke is what pushes them off a cliff.
B: Okay, spit it out. I can smell that something heavy is on your mind. You're not the one to pivot to dark metaphors—that's my shtick.
A: I... actually have made a lot of progress. And it seems like I've reached the stage of "I'm not sure if anyone is going to care about this". This has resulted in a crazy mental roadblock.
A: The worst part is that I'm well aware of it! I can see the roadblock, but I can't work my way around it.
A: I've tried to convince myself that I'm writing "only for myself", but that's a lie. I obviously want people to read it. So I can't fool myself like that.
B: I see. Well, that's nothing new. Even the most experienced authors are often unsure about how others will perceive their new work.
A: Yeah, but I'm not even experienced! This is basically my first serious project.
A: Which also means that it's going to suck. I am aware that it's normal for early works to be terrible, so I've already accepted it, but...
B: ...but you're afraid that the readers won't like it, right?
A: Of course! I can accept my work being bad, but showing it to the others when I'm convinced that it's bad is kinda...
A: It's like knowingly betraying them.
B: You're dramatizing it.
B: But hey, if you're a real writer, then it's your job to dramatize.
A: Oh shut it.
B: Seriously, I think you're just assuming that every reader is going to be a hardcore critic. That's not the case. Not even in our social-media-poisoned world.
A: I don't know...
A: Maybe I should pivot to meta? Super self-aware works and all that. Seems to attract a lot of attention these days. And it allows you to easily get away with some misses.
B: Do you want to write meta?
A: No, not really.
B: Of course you don't. You're too honest.
A: What's that supposed to mean?
B: Don't mind it—just some musings of mine.
B: Look, it's gonna be fine. People rarely create masterpieces on their first try, or second, or even third.
B: Just roll with what you've got. Finishing stuff is key. Can't improve if you don't get feedback; can't get feedback if you never finish your work, right?
A: *sigh*
A: Yeah.
B: After we finish these "life-shortening beverages", I'm dragging you to the book store. We'll look at some popular books from up-and-coming authors and read their synopses. You know what those stories usually look like; this should boost your confidence.
A: Wow, that's... Guh, you're so ridiculous sometimes. Also, why are you so rude to those authors?! You haven't even read their works!
B: Relax. It's not like we're gonna post our reactions online. Let's go already.
A: Fine, fine. If it helps, then so be it.
A: That reminds me, weren't you practicing writing music? How's that been going for you?
B: Oh, don't you dare go there!

While either of them may not have done any creative work on that day, at least they've had motivation to spend time together. But did they have enough to "see it through"? What a silly question. Of course they did. As a result, they've finished writing another page of their own story.

Written by yours truly. Edited by Gantann.