Writing motivation

If theres one thing that every writer on earth struggles with, its
motivation. For the simple reason that writing a book is hard. Thats why so
few people do it!

But there are ways to motivate yourself and make the process a little
easier, and I want to share a few of them with you here today celebrating
small successes, silencing self-doubt, and a few quick tips for keeping
motivated.

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Celebrating small successes in writing

If you think about it, finishing a novel is all about delayed gratification. Its hardly
an instant gratification situation, is it? But that doesnt mean you cant reward
yourself along the way for smaller achievements.

The kinds of rewards are up to you. Try to strike a balance between indulgent
rewards and enjoyable ones a few pieces of chocolate or a glass of wine are a
great reward now and again, but not every hour! Buying yourself a present or a
book can be an excellent reward for a significant achievement, but not your daily
writing goal For that, perhaps you want to give yourself a walk in the fresh air, a
cup of tea and a daydream, or a soak in the bath with a good novel its up to
you to figure out what works.

Its a good idea to set some of your rewards in advance, though. Choose
achievements based on reaching milestones finishing your Now Novel
blueprint, for example, or part one of your book, or your first 10,000 words. Make
sure they are spaced far enough apart that you have something to strive for, but
not so far apart that you have to wait ages for the next reward. A small
milestone every week or two is generally a good time frame.

Its also important to reward yourself when writing is especially difficult. Some
days are just struggles. You dont want to sit down, and even when you do, the
words just dont come. If you can make yourself write for ten or fifteen minutes,
you usually get the momentum to keep going, but sometimes continuing is just
as hard as getting started. When you persevere and push through a difficult
patch in your writing, give yourself a reward! You deserve it, and you dont want
to feel like Sisyphus, constantly pushing boulders uphill with no reward (or worse
yet, the boulder falling back on top of you!)

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As important as it is to celebrate small successes along the way in order to
maintain momentum, its also worth keeping in mind that to some degree,
progress should be its own reward. Writing is, at heart, a joy, and writing a novel
is as much about the journey as the destination.

But what about when the demons of self-doubt come out to play? Here are a few
ways to silence them

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5 ways to silence self-doubt

Self-doubt plagues all of us sometimes, and writers are particularly prone to

wondering whether their efforts are worthwhile and if anyone will ever want to
read their work. Here are a couple of things that always work for me:

1. Read Anne Lamott.

In her book Bird by Bird, she suggests that you visualise picking up the little
gremlin of self-doubt and dropping it in a jar with a lid where it can continue to
shout at you but you can no longer hear it.

2. Follow your thoughts to their ridiculous extreme.

Sometimes, it can be helpful to simply indulge your anxiety to the point of

absurdity. Maybe your writing is so bad that if people read it, they would have you
arrested to ensure that you could never write again. Likely? No most of your
worries are probably just as irrational.

3. Remind yourself of your accomplishments.

Keep track of the times youve been published or praised. Write down what
people say about your work and pin it above your writing desk. Look at what
youve achieved so far. When youre crippled with self-doubt, look over that
positive feedback.

4. Dont compare yourself to others.

There are always other people ahead of you and behind you in your writing
journey. You have the unique strength that is your own voice and experiences.
Focus on that and let your own voice shine through.

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 5. Keep writing.

The best remedy for self-doubt is to stay busy and produce more work.

Self-doubt often takes the form of an overzealous internal editor whose criticism
of every word leaves us too frozen to write. This is one cause of the infamous
writers block. But self-doubt can also manifest in a more general sense that will
destroy your confidence by insisting that you lack what it takes to be a writer. I
can assure you: this is not true. What it takes to be a writer is to write and you
can do that, cant you? Just a little bit each day.

Here are a few quick tips so that you stay motivated to write, a little bit each
day

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3 quick tips for staying motivated

Sometimes, writing can feel a bit like exercise you enjoy it while youre doing it,
and afterwards youre glad you did, but it can be hard to get started. The key is
giving yourself reasons to pick up your writing again each day.

Limit your time.

Many writers who have quit their day jobs have observed that they actually found
it easier to be productive when writing was something that had to be squeezed in
between other obligations. Whether youre still working full-time or not, you can
learn from this. Maybe youve set aside a whole afternoon on Saturday or even an
entire day to work on your novel. Unfortunately, this makes it all too easy to
whittle away the time, doing time-wasting tasks that seem like they wont take
long but quickly add up. If you find yourself wasting large blocks of time, try
giving yourself just an hour to do your writing. You may also find it useful to use
a timer. Tell yourself youre going to write for just fifteen minutes, set the timer
and go. Chances are at the end of the fifteen minutes youll be working at a good
pace that you dont want to interrupt.

Plan your time.

Not knowing what youre going to do when you sit down to write can create
excuses for procrastination. Some writers have advocated stopping in the middle
of a scene or even a sentence so youll have someplace clear to pick up where you
left off, but this might be a little too drastic. Instead, at the end of each days
writing session, make a few notes about your plans for the next session. That
way, when you sit down to write the next day, youll be able to dive right in
instead of wondering which direction you should go in or trying to figure out what
exactly is missing from your sentence (i.e. procrastination techniques!)

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 Reward your time.

In a perfect world, writing would always be its own reward, but no matter how
much we love it, sometimes its just a slog. The reward could be something
youre tempted to use as procrastination, so tell yourself that when youve done
your writing for the day, you can finish that chapter, catch up on your favourite
television show or phone your friend. Or, of course, any of the aforementioned
rewards

The most important thing to remember is that you need to do whatever it takes
to keep writing. Because thats the only way this book is going to be written: word
by word, by you, one page at a time. You can do it!

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