I think the vote things are like popularity. The more votes you have, the more popular your story is. To be honest I have the same problem that you have. I lack motivation, which is why I never finish anything. The only reason I finished my NCIS fanfiction was because I had readers that actually begged me to keep going. I guess the biggest thing would be the readers. That's what motivates me to keep going. I advertise my writing a ton on facebook and stuff. When people get excited about wanting to read what I wrote it makes me want to write more. I don't know if that helps, but I tried. :) Happy writing.
P.S I have a story that I'm working on right now called Unconditional. I've only written 6 chapters and they're all up if you'd like to read it. It's a romance and the beginning is a bit depressing, but I think it's pretty good so far. Read it if you'd like :) okayy byeee
