Writing is a marathon not a sprint. Much as we would all like to think differently, the notion of building story takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. So how do you stay motivated for the long haul? What keeps you going during the long hours of drafting, plotting, editing, promoting, and everything in-between?
Finding your motivation
Writing, the act of creating something – anything, really, can put some wear and tear on your spirits over time. Especially when caught in the midst of a massive project with no end seemingly in sight. To keep pushing ahead, to make the task a joy instead of a chore, take a moment every day to look outside your world for that little nudge of motivation.
Here are a few ideas to stimulate your creativity and get you back to work:
Follow another author’s journey.
Take a step back and realize there are thousands of others going through what you are at this very second. Trouble with a plot point? They’ve been there. Need that perfect piece of dialogue or the whole scene falls apart? Yep, same here.
Read blogs. Follow newsletters. Listen to podcasts. The creative energy you can find just by taking a few minutes of your day and living outside your own head can be reinvigorating to such a degree I guarantee you’ll be sitting in front of the word processor well into the night with fresh ideas and a positive attitude.
Read a good book.
Something completely out of your wheelhouse. Write urban fantasy? Take a peek at a biography or a hard-boiled detective story. See what exists outside your perspective and how it stacks up with your own writing. What works? Why does it work? Learn new rules and then take them back to your own writing.
Come back to your project with a stronger sense of self by visiting other authors’ playgrounds.
Skip ahead and reward yourself early.
This is a fun one. Okay, they’re all fun but this one can really bring it home and keep those words flowing on the page.
What sort of rewards am I talking about here? Well, they can take many forms. Maybe something as simple as a dinner out with a loved one. Possibly that bottle of wine you’ve been saving for the end of the first draft.
For me, because writing a long term project can seem so nebulous over a course of many months or possibly years, is to reward yourself by making your book “real” to you.
- Hire a cover designer early. You know your story. Why not get that cover made sooner rather than later. I did this for the last couple Greystone novels and looked at it every day as motivation to finish the project. It was fantastic.
- Commission artwork relating to your story. Before I set to work on the DSA I open a logo design I had drawn up months ago. It’s a simple badge that I hope to use on every cover for the series but it reminds me that this project is real, that it can happen and will happen. All I have to do is put in the time.
- Share your story. Some might feel nervous about this one and I totally understand it. Your narrative is precious to you. To share it might ruin it. But it also might save it. Talking out the story with someone who respects your work and the craft behind it can help clarify your own confusion and even bring out new details to add into the draft. Getting other people excited about your work brings it back to you, driving you to finish that project.
Find your motivation and keep writing. Every story deserves to be told and I can’t wait to see what you have in you.
Thanks for reading.
