Motivation
By: Karen Einsel
Motivation is a funny thing. Here
you are 25,000 words into your latest novel and Bam! You hit a brick wall. You
become speechless, or maybe wordless. Your muse is playing with the dust
bunnies under the bed and you think you have writer’s block. But what if it
isn’t? What if the words are there but you just cannot seem to get your
motivation revved up to move forward. This happens to everyone from time to
time, in all lifestyles, no matter what your job is. Therefore, I have come up
with a few ideas to help you find your motivation and get back on track.
Goals: we all set them and, like
New Year’s resolutions, sometimes they are unrealistic. The problem with
unrealistic goals is that if we don’t achieve them, we slip into a funk, and
then it’s even harder to find the motivation to move forward. Set mini goals.
Take baby steps. Instead of saying, you will write 5,000 words today, say
you’ll write for just 10 minutes, but don’t set that as your goal everyday. Mix
it up. Ten minutes today, a sentence tomorrow, and a paragraph the next day.
Your
best time: We all have a certain time
of day when we are at our best. I’m a morning person. If I haven’t accomplished
anything by noon, the rest of my day is shot. However, if I have accomplished
things, my motivation carries over way into the evening. Find your best time.
Whether it is after everyone goes to bed or at 3 a.m. it doesn’t matter, as long
as it works for you.
Listen
to music: If there is certain music
that you associate with your story, crank it up! If not, find songs that make
you feel good. Feeling good keeps motivation up!
Research:
You say
your novel is not historical so why should you do research? The first book in
Chris’ Journey takes place in the 70’s and one reader asked me, “Why are they
having financial problems?” Well that was one thing I didn’t feel was relevant
to the story, but evidently someone feels it is. Even if you just research what
kind of clothes they wear, or the cars they drive, do some research.
Work
on your cover: Even if you are planning to
hire a cover designer, you should have some ideas about how your cover will
look. Search for photos of how you envision your characters or settings ( http://morguefile.com/ and http://www.dreamstime.com/
are
good ones to try). Go out and take photographs that could be used for the
background. Clouds and scenic photos are great for those, and you get some fresh
air.
Challenge
yourself: Ray Bradbury said, and I
quote, “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad
short stories in a row.” I haven’t quite mastered this, but I have been
trying. Google Ray Bradbury, he has many great writing tips to help keep you
motivated! Another way to challenge yourself is to write outside your normal
genre. If you write romance, try writing a short mystery story or a child’s
picture book.
Last
but not least…
Take
a break: I know you have a deadline,
but writing is hard work. You need some down time. Get up and go for a walk,
take a nap, lift weights, or… What you do really doesn’t matter, but your body
and mind will thank you.
Well
those are some of my ideas. What do you do to keep your motivation up or
jumpstart it when it feels that you don’t have any?
About Karen: The idea of being a writer never crossed Karen’s mind, but after closing her gift shop in 2011 she found herself with too much time on her hands, and a story in her head. Taking pen and paper in hand she found a whole new world open up to her and she’s enjoying it immensely.
Karen's Blog: karensdifferentcorners
Karen on Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Different-Corners
Karen on Twitter: @K_Einsel
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Hi Karen
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your words on motivation today as we all need to take ourselves in hand and find our individual formulae for finishing books. One thing I have learned is to forgive myself when I don't stick to my plan. Castigating my inner muse does no good. Much better to go for a walk, smell some flowers, bake muffins, and then go back to the keyboard.
Hi Elaine
ReplyDeleteI have a bad habit of telling myself; You can't work on this, until you finish that and then I end up working on neither.
My favorite things to do to get my muse excited and my characters talking, is to mow the yard :-) And nobody ever bothers me! Imagine that. Haha
Great post, Karen. I particularly like the Ray Bradbury comment on writing lots of short stories. I think quantity will give rise to quality eventually but if you keep putting off the writing you'll never get to that point. I have lots of stories that fall short of the mark, quality wise, and they'll stay in my bottom drawer. But it was time well-spent getting them written because I learn so much every time I complete a story.
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