Blog

What can a writer do when motivation is elusive?

1/9/2014

Alphabet Dating Mug and Kindle EditionI’m having trouble getting my writing motivation back in this new year.

There are several reasons/excuses for this – it’s summer holidays here so there’s no routine, I had a big end of the year work-wise and I’m regrouping, I probably have too much time on my hands and I do better when I’m busy – among other things.

 

 

Still I need to get back on track so what are some good strategies for this?

1. Read

I find reading to be motivating for me. It gets me thinking about my own characters and what they might do in a similar situation. If a book is well-written and engaging that inspires me to do better and if it’s a bit lack-lustre (especially if it sells well) I think “surely if this book can find a market mine can too.

2. Connect with other writers

Right now most of my writing buddies are away at such exotic locations as India, Paris, Uluru and Byron Bay to name a few which is part of my writing problem I think (they keep me honest) but I belong to lots of online groups where I can go for advice and motivation.

3. Make a plan

Honestly, having a plan motivates me. I like to know I have deadlines to work towards. What’s that saying “Fail to plan, plan to fail.”

4. Focus on the marketing

Write some blog posts, line up some guest blogs, get my social media hat on and focus on that aspect of writing. It’s most definitely not my favourite part but it’s a necessary evil and you can at least get to the end of the day and say “Hey I did achieve something”.

5. Just write

I know that seems kind of obvious but you just have to start sometimes. Start small – write a scene or a page even and you often find that you just keep going. Or set a word limit of just 500 words. That’s nothing really.

In the end a combination of these things usually gets me moving again. Fingers crossed that happens today. Meanwhile I’m off to read.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *