Struggling to keep the flame, you so eagerly want to blaze high, lit inside?
As an aspiring writer I’m certain you have felt the cold breeze of insecurity, comparison and doubt try to blow your flame out.
I certainly have.
It’s a bitch, a struggle, and a fight you constantly need to put effort into keeping at arm’s length.
But as you probably have noticed, it’s so creative in finding ways to blow your flame out and make you stop.
And let’s be real, unless you’re knee-deep in shit and your life depended on it, haven’t you wanted to just let it win?
I’m by no means an expert, and I’m not much of a motivational machine myself, but I love to find ways to stay motivated and I’m currently on an 8 month happy streak of writing.
Here’s my biggest tips on how you can keep your flame lit without burning your fingers and make sure you satisfy your need for results.
Flame = Passion = Motivation
Just to make sure we are on the same page.
When I say flame, I mean motivation, passion, interest. Anything that makes you write. It’s the flame I’m referring to.
“How? You may ask.”
At first, I was highly motivated by the end goal of having a finished novel. I was sure it would propel me to the top of the bestseller lists if only I put in enough effort.
And while I’m not saying this can’t be true, for me or for you, because you still have to believe in yourself.
I’m saying, the only thing I was left with was a finished novel and a 2 feet longer nose.
There was only more work at the end, and I couldn’t find myself content with this. I wanted to give in to the doubt and leave writing behind, but an invisible hand with its claws dug deep in my skin holding me at the desk.
I had spent 3 months writing my novel and there was something inside of me that didn’t want it to go to waste. Something I just didn’t understand at that moment, but something a later revelation would reveal.
“Jack, why are you telling me this?”
Because it’s okay not to have found your true motivation. It’s okay to battle with the motivation to keep going, especially if you just started writing.
Motivation will come and go. It’s its own master.
But, and here’s the mind twister, what if I told you that the writing motivation you think you’re looking for, isn’t the one you need?
The true form of writing motivation
The motivation that got you started and (which might be) what keeps you going, in the start, is external motivation.
It’s a motivation born out of passion for a goal.
It’s your mind wrapping itself about the fact you want it to accept you’re going to spend hours on something that might work out. So, it needs something to hold on to. This can be the sales, the fans, the bestseller lists. It just needs something.
And the moment you start doubting you can give it what it wants, it’ll leave you for another poor soul.
It’s a motivation born out of passion, but it’s a motivation as traitorous as a venomous snake.
And that’s why you need to find the internal motivation, but unlike its ugly brother, this sister is massive, intimidating and will eat your lunch just to watch you starve.
The bitchy sister
She isn’t doing this to bully you. She does it to provoke you.
It’s all to force you to prove to her you are willing to power through the empty feelings, the hard things and the moments you want to quit.
She wants you to show her you want it and the moment you do, she’ll lean back and smile, because she knows you’ll understand her powers are at work.
And that’s the beauty of internal motivation: The only way to get it is by writing. And by writing, she will give you more energy to work.
It’s a loop.
But unlike a 360 loop at a festival park that’s over in a second, where you torture yourself with the fear of getting stuck with your head hanging down, this is a Ferris wheel.
A ferris wheel where you sit with an ice cream in one hand, candy floss in the other and a beautiful partner beside you.
I have hung with my head down a few times, and my skin is still smooth, but I do carry a few scars curtesy of this miss.
It’s all about the system
I don’t know if I can say this enough: Your writing motivation level will equal the fortification levels of your system.
If your working system’s foundation rests on rotten wooden sticks, it’ll break at the slightest breeze. The mission is to build solid and beautiful cobblestone pillars that’ll support you through even the strongest tsunami.
And the way to build one of these is to start small and at the bottom.
I have said this a million times over, but I have a minimum of 30 minutes of writing every day. My colleagues, my friends and my family know this. Hell, even you know it, and therefore, I hit this goal every day without fail.
Some people think it’s because I’m unable to stop working or I’m unable to rest, but it’s actually the opposite.
My writing motivation is always high in the morning and it’s because I know I’ll write at least 30 minutes first thing in the morning. Every morning.
It’s the first thing I do.
If I need to do anything or I have something scheduled in the morning, I’ll move my alarm back at least 45 minutes, so I have 30 minutes to write.
Structured or disciplined?
“But why in the morning?”
Because it helps me feel accomplished and I haven’t been influenced by anything: bad moods, thoughts, or feelings.
By working first thing in the morning, they haven’t influenced my system yet. And by doing it first, it leaves my mood in a positive way and I feel accomplished. All this just from one little thing.
This also means, no matter what I’m doing: If I have an important task, a friendly gathering or wedding to attend, I’ll prioritize my writing system.
This doesn’t mean you have to write first thing in the morning.
Your schedule is different from mine, and you might be more productive at other times.
The point is to set a system and stick with it, and if you are just starting out make it as favorable as possible.
Don’t just write for 6 hours because your neighbor does it.
If you’re just starting out, keep it to 20-30 minutes. It’s more than enough and at this point you just need to get the work going and show up to make the sister pay attention to you.
Keep some kind of score
I know this seems ridiculous, but I keep tab of how many hours I have worked and then whenever I have reached 10 hours, I’ll send myself a paycheck into another account that I call “book savings.”
It seems dumb, but isn’t the goal to be paid for writing books?
Sure, I’m paying myself, but it doesn’t really matter where the money is coming from. I mean you can send the money to your mother/partner and them send the money to you if it’s more powerful for you.
But this is twofold.
First off, seeing that you have put in the work is like a pad on the shoulder. I can always sense an invisible female silhouette stand beside me and giving me a pad on the back whenever I update my working hours.
It’s also a constant reminder of how much closer I’m to the ultimate goal.
“But Jack you said,”
I know what I said, but if you combine it with something like this then it’ll be powerful.
Use external motivator as a reminder
You don’t know when you’ll reach your goal: Is it 500 hours, 2 years or 20 years? But seeing the counter goes up it does something.
It’ll feel like a tickle inside your brain and when she comes to checks, you can show you have put in the hours.
The score shows you are using your time on something great and are willing to invest in your craft. And if you’re like me and struggle with stress and not feeling like you are utilizing your time well enough. Then you have got a new best friend there.
The other thing is that you get to invest in yourself while improving as a writer.
I made a wishlist of things I wanted to buy. A long list of things, but it was all material things.
Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with material things, but if this is your main focus, you’re relying on external motivation again.
So instead I decided to put mine to the side for potential benefit for the book instead of material things.
It doesn’t matter what you use your money on, as long as you see the money go up. It’s like a gigantic feel-good farm you can only grow by being productive and putting in the work.
Some might call it a money lifehack; I call it a production lifehack.
Keep learning
Okay, this is more of a bonus point than an actually thing.
I know you might think it’s trivial, but if you keep on learning you’ll get even more attention from the sister. The constant search for knowledge and how you can improve as a writer. It’s motivation for you to stay on your toes with your writing, and create interesting and exciting pieces.
Personally, I thought I sucked at writing scenes and dialogues. I couldn’t write a scene that was believable or dialogue that was interesting.
So I got to work.
I studied and started exercises, like writing short scenes in my notebooks to test my new skills.
It was cool because as I saw myself getting better and writing scenes, I enjoyed them even more. And then as things got better, I got even more motivated to keep writing.
It made me feel like I was worth something as a writer and it’s the reason why I think it’s important to believe in yourself.
I don’t mean this as a cliché, because none of this will matter, if you don’t believe in yourself.
And while you might be at the level that you truly think or are below, then it’s still important to believe in yourself and believe that you are capable of reaching the level by putting in the work.
I think if you keep having it in your mindset then eventually, you’ll feel even more motivated to keep going once you start seeing even the slightest amount of improvement.
Conclusion
Writing motivation is a lot of things. It’s external and internal, but in reality, you might be focusing too heavily on the external motivation.
It’s the ugly brother that’s too easy to get to, but who’s quick to leave you. What you need is the ugly brother’s sister. She’s the intimidating one, but prove your worth and she’ll make sure you reach your ultimate goals.
You only have to show her that you are worth her effort of looking after you.
Are you?
Get out there, put in work and let’s get you towards the goal you have envisioned for yourself.
That’s a wrap for you today.
Until next time – Hope you have a productive and creative day.
Your writing buddy,
Jack