A long hiatus and now to restart the writing practice. You are all refreshed and ready to go. Yet when you sit down at the desk nothing. Blank pages as far as the eye can see. What went wrong?
Nothing really you are back at work. Now the natural resistance and critic in your head have also gone back to work also. You need some strategies to help you over come these two stepping stones. Let’s take off from where we left off in talking about getting our writing practice going .
Long Hiatus Restart Morning Routine
Start with your foundation. Get your morning routine going again. Depending on how long a hiatus you took, will depend on what you have to adjust or if you can just fall back into the work. If it has been a while, start back at a low level to build the habit. I like to use Tiny Habits in these cases. Starting with a very low bar for a week primes me to want more, while it sets the basic foundation I need to advance. After that week is over, I usually scale up rather quickly to a higher level.
You can also use your new habit building time as an opportunity to change things up and try a new approach. For instance you could make a new habit you have never had the time to try, like Jack Dorsey’s scheduling his work in blocks of time arranged throughout the week.
A writer’s habit might work out like this:
Monday Rough Drafts
Tuesday Freelancing (Pay Bills)
Wednesday Edit
Thursday Blog/social media
Friday Catch up loose ends
Saturday Rereading the week’s work
Sunday Short Stories
Yes, I did fill every day. Who ever heard of a Steven Pressfield (Do The Work) student who would go a day without some work done.
The point here is to give yourself some time to grow, learn something new and see what comes from it. No writer grows without some changes.
Long Hiatus Rust
What if your long hiatus is rusty beyond a simple restart of your old writing practice? How a bout a warm up then? Try a go at NaNoWriMo. It’s a great place to build your basic skills while you develop your mindset and habits all in one, and there are no real outside pressures or stress with the added bonus of a manuscript at the end.
The point here is to let your self adjust to the new demands you are putting on your body and mind. Just like running a marathon, a runner that has taken time away from training does not just run run the Boston Marathon. They first take the time to get themselves back into running form. The same can be said for us writers. We have to be in writing shape. That means slow down. Relax. Laugh a bit at the changes you find. Let yourself become the writer you are now, not the writer you once were. Your work and your body will thank you.
Retrain your brain
When you take off, so does your mind. Writing is really just a series of habits to we use to catch our thoughts and put them on paper. After a while the process is smooth enough that we hardly notice that we are doing any of them. Like typing, grammar, spelling, editing, proof reading, etc…. Even the most skilled typist will come back to the board with a reduced rate. Most teachers will take the time to dust off their skills before they step into a class.
The first step then is to retrain your brain’s mind set with a little brush up on basic skills like sentence structures, style, etc… It’s entirely possible you will be reteaching yourself how to write a book from page one to The End. Bloggers can find themselves looking up SEO answers. There is a lot to get a handle on in the world of writing. Take the time to let the gaps fill in.
Remember to avoid the shortcuts though. Keep your work professional. Cleanup your work before sending it off to your agent or hit publish on your blog. Reread those drafts from yesterday when you’re habit says you should. Do not just leave them to later. It’s the little details that mark the professional minded writer from the hack.
Never be afraid to learn something new. Always ask questions, especially to your brothers and sisters of the keyboard. Relearn the best practices. No matter where you look there is always some thing new to learn. Be like Rikki-Tikki-Tavi “Run and find out.” Be a good mongoose.
My take
The main thing for the writer returning from a long hiatus is that restarting their writing practice is doable. Just set your plan, relax, sit and start back work.
How to restart your writing practice when you have neglected it for moths or even decades.
Restarting a writing practice is always a practice of remembering that you did not quit just yesterday. You have spent some time and lost some ground. Like the athlete or martial artist returning to a gym , swimming pool, or training floor under the same circumstances, you are going to have to remember to slow down, adjust, and ease back into your practice. Everyone is different and there are lots of things to try. Use what works for you and forget the rest entirely, or add them in as you go. It’s up to you. You are the one trying to relearn how to juggle a dozen things.
Read a book to restart your writing practice
To write you need to fuel the process with what you have read. Reading is the basis point for a writer. It is also likely a key player in the murder of your process the last time. Skipping your reading is like passing up gas stations on the highway. The production loss is subtle warning light that is often ignored. If you are not careful, you are going to find yourself out of gas. When your out of words read gas, you are out of things to type. Your practice is suddenly dead right before your eyes. So start there. Read something. Anything will work, as long as you might write about it. Here’s a great starter list for most writers to fill their tanks on. So how do you do that?
Glad you asked. That means your writing practice restart starts with a reading practice habit restart first. I suggest you find a time, like say half an hour or so to start, you that works for you like the evenings before bed. Just make sure you do not put it in where you will be writing later.
Most of the rest of us can only stand on the side to applaud and gawk. Our lives are filled with movies, projects, hobbies, family, friends and the list goes on. Leave us not mention the need to work outside of writing to keep the lights on, eat and other little life details like that. Our writing practice restart just hangs there like those unused dance shoes we bought for learning the tango.
Steven King Keeps His Writing Fuel in Hand
The key is to remember that to be a writer is to be disciplined. You have to work to make writing work. When your inner critic starts up about this, remind him that Steven King once said, ‘If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.’ So read. Develop the habit and stop whining.
Realx as You Develop Give your Writing Practice Restart Time to Grow
Don’t over think your process. It’s real easy to compare yourself to other more advanced writers, such as indie arthorHelen Scheuerer, or worse the glory of your own past. The fact is Helen Scheurer took years to get where she is and started where you are. You need to as we used to say in the Marines when out on a hump, just put your head down and march. As for your past, well by now it is likely that that glorious view you have has had a big dab of Vaseline on the lens for a long time. You can not live the present in the past anyway, so don’t. Sit down and type. Forget trying to measure up. Just enjoy where you are now. You will not be there forever, so try to enjoy the view you have now.
Another issue that pops up is guilt. Guilt is natural and normal. It’s the conscience’s way of telling us we have missed a step, such as hurt someone. In this case though it might be hitting us for not getting our work done or all the wasted time we have lost.
Fortunately we can deal with guilt most effectively by dealing with it directly instead of putting things off. The strategy is simple. Make amends and start changing your habits.
For example you can compensate for your wasted time binge watching Netflix over the weekend by breaking down the project times you would have normally used to smaller chunks over the coming week to make amends to your writing restart practice.
Revisit Your Past Writing
You, more specifically your past work, is an excellent place to warm back into writing. Look at what you have done a bit to see where you have been and what you have still unfinished. This is a great way to gain some perspective on where you are now and gain some momentum. It also does a great job killing those memories of how great you were way back when. Less glory seeking from the past. More work now. As Steven Pressfield is famous for saying, “Do the work.”
Restarting your writing process is also a haven for writer’s block. So a trip into the past can give you some ideas you might be able to use now. Many a writer has looked back through their stacks to find an unfinished manuscript then stuck it back into the forge to find they have a fine story at the end.
The main reason your old works failed and they are a gem now is simple. You have changed since them. You have perspective, experience, and sharper eyes for story and plot lines (even if you have not kept up with your writing skills) from all the stories and writing you have been exposed to in the time you first penned that book. Remember reading is the fuel for writing. That fuel has been looking for a book or article to go into. You have a lot of it on hand. Use that to to restart your writing practice.
Getting Your Writing Practice Restarted
Once you have some momentum from a good foundation, the rest is just time and keeping on the path to mastery. That is all for now.
Tomorrow, we will do Part 2 of Writing Restart Practice after a Long Hiatus.
Criticism is normal in the writer’s world. How you take it is the key to learn and improve. A writer must learn how to take criticism.
Criticism is normal for everyone. To the writer it is part of the path. Writers swim in a sea of thought. Our work is to clarify those thoughts so that we can write something remotely readable and hopefully useful to our readers. That is hard enough by itself. It becomes problematic because everyone has their own inner critic they have to battle every step of the way. The last word is typed and the deed is done. We have taken the work as far as we can. We might be ready for a reader or editor to look at our work or it might be time to publish. Either way we are opening up the doors to external criticism and possible embarrassment.
External criticism can be either good or bad. How we take it and why is the danger . Whenever a writer takes external criticism or embarrassment to heart, we yield control of our minds and our self-worth. Any criticism must be worth it. It must have real value for us and our work. Destructive criticism is less than worthless. We waste precious mental resources and time when our work is governed by unuseful or harmful criticisms.
A writer can control and even eliminate such waste by limiting how open our mindset is when we validate our critics comments. We want to filter those thoughts rather than just accept them. The professional minded writer knows what to take to heart and what to ignore.
Your Critic’s Mind
Often frustrated people say things to vent their own feelings when they are not able to achieve a given goal themselves. A seasoned pro will ignore this prattle. Invalid criticism is only jealousy spit out by someone who cannot achieve the same kind of success they see in others who are busy moving forward. It’s the crabs in the bucket part of life.
Ego driven criticism is far more than just venting. It can lead to crippling mental afflictions that prevent us from attaining many of the life goals we set for ourselves. Such criticism affects everything from our fitness to getting married or advancing in our careers. It is never benign. That is why writers must learn to deal with criticism the right way.
Pro Mindset
The professional writer has developed the mental habit to evaluate all criticism when it is first encountered, then is able react appropriately. This mental shift to filter out harmful criticism is what marks the professional writer’s mindset from the armature writer. A pro writer takes the time to kill off anything that would weaken his efforts.
An excellent place to start is to demystify what we do. When we humble the ego nature of our work, we view it as just work. Writing is no longer some aloof artistic endeavor feeding our personal ego. No longer is it our art, it becomes just works. Work alone brings the creativity and validity we seek. In this way the critic’s opinions cannot hurt personally because the work itself provides the only validity that is needed. When work is no longer part of us we can more easily see if a given criticism is harmful or useful to the work itself without feelings of personal pain hindering our vision.
Pro Process
The writer who wants to develop the professional mindset uses a tough minded frame of reference. He banishes both hate and hope from the work. The only thought is to advance on his goal. It is very much the same mindset that the warrior poet Archilochus had in mind.
“Be brave, my heart. Plant your feet and square your shoulders to the enemy. Meet him among the man-killing spears. Hold your ground. In victory do not brag; in defeat, do not weep.”
Archilochous reminds us to not act reflexively with emotion like pride, fear or anger. We are encouraged to control and govern our emotional reactions with positive action. Do not to take the spears as personal attacks. A developed mind will not allow space for any outside influence to rule in their stead.
Criticism Do Not’s
Do not allow the negative influence of critics to break your belief in the value of your work. That road will only fritter away your time in anger instead of work. You will get zero writing done looking to prove anything to a critic. Do not justify anything or try to find reason, even in your own mind. It’s a trap. Just keep your mind on your current shot. Let those criticisms flow past.
Any kind negative emotional response needs to be shot down. The criticism is not a sign or some kind of judgment of the gods either. Also not allowed are feelings that something is out to unjustly get you be it god and heaven or just karma. That is just your critic using those outside influencers to reinforce its efforts. Ignore them.
What to Do’s
Remember you are the sovereign supreme in the moment. No blow or act from outside you can stop your focused action in the moment. Your job is to do the work before you. It remains in your power to do that work no matter what some outside voice has judged you, your work or anything else.
Remain compassionate with yourself. The writer defines his own reality. Other realities do not matter in your process.
Steven Pressfield
“Tomorrow morning the critic will be gone, but the writer will still be there facing the blank page. Nothing matters that you keep working. Short of a family crisis or the outbreak of World War III, the professional shows up, ready to serve the gods.” The War of Art, pg. 92-93
A professional mindset uses only the writer’s personal opinion to evaluate the value of his work and himself. As writers we must draw that value from the higher self instead of the ego or other outside sources. Our inner critic uses the negative feedback from those other sources to stall and end our efforts. Do not give those outside voice power to validate you or your work.
A helpful outside critique of any work seeks first to improve you, the work or both. That is valid and valuable. Any criticism that only finds faults with you, your work or both is a clear message that you are dealing with a destructive voice. Ignore it.
Writers Ignore Critics
Criticism can be a tool to improve our lives, or it can be a destructive force. The more common criticism is envy driven.
What makes even driven criticism so damaging is that the critics’ voices get in the mind. Once there our brain just does what it normally does. It allows those thoughts to join our mental conversation without editing them. Over time those negative thoughts weaken your efforts to advance. It’s helpful to remember that critics are just another monkey trying to set up shop that master mediators have long advised us to ignore. Those voices in your head are cunning and pernicious. They will do anything to shut you down with the “facts”. Without any effort on our part to purge such things, we find ourselves believing those “facts”.
The envy driven criticism is deadly for anyone. The writer must endeavor to recognize it immediately so that it does not setup house in his brain. Know that the critic is actually just spewing vitriol at the very thing he hates more than anything else, someone doing what he lacks the courage and tenacity to do himself.
How to recognize envy
So how to we know we are dealing with vitriol instead of a real effort to help us? The first step is to listen actively. Don’t just passively accept any advice, including what I am saying here. You need to weigh whether or not to follow the advice. Criticism can be painful, embarrassing or make you mad. Get to know what helpful criticism is and what the motivation of the person we are getting the critique from.
Motivation is the major determiner. Every case is different but in general I have found to ask questions about the critique and what the person is trying to do.
Helpful criticism
While someone may comment on a painful point, a really helpful critic will also seek to give you an answer to solve the problem they are talking about. I have found that most honest and open critics might even be a little more harsh because they favor a clear concise and direct approach. A CCD approach is not an excuse to be rude or destructive or personal. In the Marines, I have gotten such straight talk. It is not an uncommon thing. It did take the wind out of my own ego driven sails. That’s not a bad thing. It was never personal, all behavior. Sometimes that’s how we learn how to fix those things we did not even know we needed to fix.
Constructive critics are also likely to ask you lots of questions to understand your point of view to help them make useful suggestions before they comment. Even if they are working on instinct with no knowledge of exactly how to correct the problem, a constructive critic is likely to tell you it’s a feeling or hunch of what works and what does not. They do not claim some great understanding. This gut criticism can help you make better choices for what to change. Useful critics are often humble in their approach because their desire is to help and not feed their egos.
Egocentric comments are often brought from a omniscient position. All knowing all seeing. You are laid to waste with no chance of redemption.
Respect
Your level of respect for the person is also a great indicator of whether to give the guidance any credit. If the critique is from someone you know and respect who is more skilled than you, you likely are being helped. It’s worth it to spend some time getting their feedback on how to go about fixing things. By corollary, someone you do not respect is often mired in their own self interested failures, so they will lash out at you just to vent some of their bile at you.
Criticism is not about you
One of the most important things to note about any criticism is that you are never the topic. Constructive criticism is always about the idea or the action, not about the person. As such you learn not just what is wrong, but also why they think it’s wrong and what they think you can do about it. Again constructive criticism strives to help build you with some suggestions they think can help. It is almost always more of a suggestion than some kind of sage omniscient command. Constructive criticism often aims at try encouraging you to try again and keep going.
Destructive envy driven critics often put the blame for the problem on you as a personal flaw. The issue is explained vague terms as a problem. You can even be advised to quit rather than be humiliated further. If you pay attention you might even see how this builds them up, at least in their own eyes.
What to do about criticism
There are literally a whole list of questions you could use to evaluate any criticism you might ever come across. However, one of the best methods I have run across is to ask yourself: “Will the change make your life better or just validate the critic’s point of view?” If you will be better, implement the change. If it only gives credit to the critic, ignore it.
I have found this question very useful. A truly helpful person is not really getting anything out of their help other than having helped another person. An ego driven critic is just feeding his ego.
One last criticism point.
No matter the type of advice you receive, it is always best to keep your emotions out of it. Avoid trying to be defensive or getting angry. Remember you are the gate keeper. You decide whether the criticism is valid or not. The control here is yours. This allows you to be gracious, so remember your manners and say thank you. Don’t forget to have some compassion for them too. This is kind to the person trying to be helpful. It is infuriating for the critic trying to level you. Either way you win.
Start writing is among the three hardest things to do as a writer. The other two are simply to work, and finish. Each of these diabolical phases kill off more writing than was lost in the library at Antioch. At no point is the writer home free till he can willingly walk away knowing there is nothing more that can be done. What a writer need to get past that trio of traps is a lot of little habits and traits that push us through to the end.
Starting Writing
I have to agree with Walter Mosley on starts. The first few words of anything you write is the highest hurdle. It seems that there is nothing there to write when you sit down, and that is where so many writers stop without so much as a word being produced.
That first hurdle is also why there are so many ways to cajole, persuade, rationalize, bribe, and threaten ourselves to sit down to scribble a few lines. Some have a ritual to transition, others skip it to dive straight into the ice water. There are arguments for music and total silence. We see those who must have the lucky pen or a specific space set up to look a certain way. There are those who write dictating to a cell phone while standing on a bus or walking down the street, and I even know of one writer who said he tacked his home mortgage above his typewriter for inspiration when he did not feel like writing. “Oooh, look inspiration,” he said as he mimed rapid typing.
My own routine is pretty simple. I make sure I write every day and I take steps to make sure I hit some really easy targets when things try to kill what I view as the most important two things a writer can have on his side, a habit and momentum.
Reinforcement
Habits remind us to get to work and our momentum brings us back. Sure I shore my writing sessions up with some things to reinforce the habit and ensure my momentum stays up. For instance I do like to get in a writing frame of mind when writing. For me that is free write three morning pages and to read from Steven Pressfield’s books to remind myself what a professional minded writer needs to think like. Aside from that I am fairly fluid with what I am doing. I can get my work done with a laptop or a Bic Crystal pen and loose leaf paper in a hotel room, library or anywhere else if I had to.
Sure I have a space, a corner in the dining room facing the wall. I use a desk pad too, but mainly because I hate writing on a hard table like surface. If I did not have it I would just use some more paper under what I am writing on. I also have my preferences for tools. All this is nice reinforcement. I think we all need that, but in the end for me two things matter. Habit and momentum. Aside from that there are some steps to have in place to get these points in play.
Decide to start writing and what to write.
The point here is to make a clear commitment to getting words down on paper and know what you are going to write. This can be as specific a plan as you need it to be, though I would avoid long lists and complexity. A minimalist approach that gets drafts done is probably best. You should also avoid trying completely winging it with zero end game in mind. The clearer you see where you want to wind up the better you will be able to anticipate your needs and make a working plan that works for you.
Start writing with the questions.
What type of writing are you doing? Is it literature or a blog or copywriting for clients? How long is it? A book, a blog, a ten thousand word white paper? How much time do I need for a completed post or chapter or piece? What am I writing about…aka the topic/theme I am working with? What requirements do I need to keep in mind? You might not know exactly what you need when you start, but getting stuff down on paper is a great focus tool. The clearer we can make our thinking, the better and easier the work will go.
Know your interest level.
If you are not interested in what you are writing about, it is going to show up in the work. Even in non-fiction a lack of interest will lead to problems ranging from a lack of quality research to failure to answer the reader’s questions or taking a prospective reader’s point of view into account. Even on those pieces you don’t like, your writing will be better if you try to find some element of the subject interesting so you can focus on it.
When you star writing just to finish something you are supposed to write without any interest will likely take you back to those wonderful high school days where assignments were the worst thing on earth. Taking a little time to find some interest will shorten the process.
Which writer are you?
There are two main ways to start writing. You will either have something to say or something to document. Both ways work.
Few writers start out with something to say. Most of us kind of fall into what we want to talk about as we write about other things. There is nothing wrong with documenting instead of creating. It’s how many of the great writers of all time learned what they wanted to talk about, after they had finished their own journeys of exploration and learning.
Tolstoy did not write will after he had traveled and served in the military. Orwell first lived as a tamp in London and Paris before forming his views on communism in the Spanish Civil War.
So what if you are still starting?
You have no convictions to guide your words. What then? Give Gary Vaynerchuk’s advice a try. Document, don’t create.
When you have nothing to write about, you can write about learning what you want to write about. Document your process. Start writing about where and who you are now. The biggest hang up for a lot of writers is that they think they know nothing, so they never write on anything.
Writing is all about setting out on a journey you have not traveled. When you start writing from having walked the journey, you write from what you know. When you document, then you are writing from discovering as you go along. Find new things that are important to you and talk about them. Both tracks work. Pick one.
Now keep going.
Shoot for a word count and set a minimum daily goal. No wussing out. Write every day, even if it is tiny, and have a minimum standard, even if it is even smaller. A daily habit ensures progress like nothing else. So, build that habit. I have found that shooting for around 700 to 1000 words with a five word minimum fallback position to ensure I have something done every day to be a very effective habit for me. This simple habit has allowed me to become more consistent and productive than at any time since I first started writing in school.
You have started writing.
There you go. That’s the plan to start writing. Repeat the habit again tomorrow. Learn a few more things to improve your work as you go along. You are writing.
Motivated writing after skip day. We all delude ourselves that a day off will fix all our woes. So we skip a day of writing. Then the next day comes and we find that our self motivation is tough. The key to making the most of your vacation is the certainty that will outpace the low motivation we now feel. In fact the rewards are far better than almost everything else. Here are some of the best tools I have fund.
Habit and Ritual Magic
Keeping a regular writing time puts a routine factor into the writing process. We tend to get stuck in routines, so you can use that tendency to juice up your writing. When you view sitting down to write as just another part of your day, it provides a little motivational push to be there on time writing instead of skipping the day.
Mantras
Have a mantra and a goal for the good and the bad times. You will hit both. Having a mantra like “I got this” may sound offbeat to some, but it works. Even using a work like “peace” to promote a feeling when you sit down to work can have a great effect on your willingness to get the work done.
Praise Works
You can ward off the need for motivated writing after skip day if you remember to praise raise yourself when you show up. Don’t just kick your own ass when you don’t do well. If you show, you get credit. Showing is 90% of the game. Self-praise recognizes your work and we all love to be recognized. All too often we forget that we can do that all by ourselves. Praise yourself first, if you need a critique do it after the frustration of a bad day wears off.
See Work as a Game
Staying in the game means turning your head game on. Prizes come. Prizes go. The best thing about working like your writing is a game is that there is always another reward down the road. Treating your work like a game will allow you to provide yourself with all kinds of rewards for leveling up, improving skills, and scoring points.
Imagine you are Writing.
Strange as it may sound, the mind can be tricked. It can not tell imagination from reality. If you imagine yourself pounding the keys or scribbling along with the pen, the mind will believe it. The feeling you get from your imagination is a more powerful motivative boost than just telling your mind to get to work.
Write Now. Edit Later.
Trying for a perfect draft on the first go is a recipe for failure and frustration. Speed write your ideas. Get the rough done first, then you can go back for an edit and cleanup. Break away the perfection monster in your head. Getting started is one of the better ways get traction and some momentum. Once you have a draft feel free to let that edit monster to rampage like Godzilla.
Daily Minimums
Avoid taking on too much in one day on a project. Set your goals based on the size and scope. Set your daily minimums so low that you will have no excuse for avoiding the work. The interesting thing about minimums is that once you are rolling you will likely do more. Consider it a bonus. But, keep the starting jump small to motivate you and build both momentum and more confidence. Instant motivation, writing done, no skip day what so ever. What could be better?
Change the Process.
Self-sabotaging procrastination is what every writer faces. Even the big guys will do it. The first big chunk is to sit down. Do that first. Avoid thinking “I will write tomorrow.” You won’t do it. Write today. Gain motivation tomorrow. Avoid the skip day entirely.
Track it.
Put an initial for your project on the calendar for the day’s work, then add a check mark when you are done. You can use a scheduler too. Though, a Calendar is more impressive when you can see the entire month at a glance. You self motivate and reafirm when you can see weeks of checkmarks filling the pages in a streak. Bonus. You can hang that calendar beside where you can see it, so when you are writing you get that little pick me up to get going or keep going.
Writer’s block got your motivation?
Get up and move. Take a walk or a swim. Tap into other creatives with a book, podcast or TV for a short trip. Go to a coffee shop and people watch while you day dream. Sometimes what you need to trigger your own thinking is another idea, even if it is not your idea or even the right idea. Even no specific ideas at all should you choose to use the daydream approach. The point is to change your perspective, move some of the blood from your feet to your head and or just clear your mental decks to get the idea machine in your head moving.
Outside Support
Writing alone can be more than your motivation can handle. Take your motivation needs and your writing to a writing group. Getting outside feedback, encouragement and accountability are excellent pluses for writer’s groups. Far better solution than a skip day.
NaNoWriMo for the Win
A great writer’s group to try is NaNoWriMo–National November writing Month. Every November members write a 50,000 word book.
Sometimes motivation is partly about knowing you can do something with confidence. Everyone starts out in the same place on this. Using a writer’s group for a specific project, like writing a first book in a month, is a good way to use some training wheels to get that confidence and motivation for other projects.
Changeups
The project stalls in the middle. Change up time. Use a different writing style. Move to a different scale of project like moving from your book to a short story or blog post. Turn your work into a commercial or your ad into a drama. Change where you are writing. Take your show on the road. Bloggers can write guest posts or write for an entirely different blog. You can write a creative post for social media post, just don’t spend all day doing dozens of them.
Writing Prompts
Use writing prompts to break out a new idea. You can find them all over the web and books like Writing Down the Bones or Unjournaling. You can also use real life. Recal something that happened yesterday or from child hood. Newspapers and Magazines both are idea mines, just do a little digging.
Bribery.
It’s ok if you reward yourself a cup of coffee or some treat for some milestone you want to get to. There is also extortion. No desert at the restaurant Friday if the words are not met. The key here is to not be over indulgent or vindictive. You want to motivate yourself, not left wondering what Jenny Craig meal you want tonight or never tasting a cookie ever again.
Ask Yourself: “Why?”
Get back to your why. Take some time to remember why you are writing. Why did you take on this project? Knowing and using your why is a very big motivator. Take some time to recall and visualize the finished project too. Use your feelings as well. How does it feel to be done? Then get back to work.
Cut your Workload in two.
It’s easy to pile up a long list of things to do. Cutting down the things you have to do closes all kinds of mental folders and allows you to focus on the remainder with far less worry and far more focus. In general it’s best to have only three to five major things to be done on any given day as well.
Change your schedule around.
Instead of working first thing in the morning, try to write at night. Eat lunch late by a couple of hours. Skip swimming laps to hang out with friends. Time and event changes stimulates excitement in your brain that gives you happy feelings and a need to put things to right again.
Toys, Uh I mean Tools
Use writing tools so that your work is better, faster, less frustrating and intimidating. Nothing kills a lack of motivation like the right tools for the job. Timers to take the guess work out of how long you have. Stimulate some idea generation with Quora, Writing programs like Grammarly and editing programs like Calmly, Trello and Evernote organizine your research and work. Readability tools like The Readability Test Tool Writer take out of much of the worry and stall factor from many writing hang-ups and fill in many of your writing gaps and needs. Here is a great list of 50 of them to look through for what you need. 50 Writing Tools
Other Writers
Talk to writers by joining a group of writers. One good one is The Writing Cooperative . Getting advice from other writers or making contact to get advice from with a writer you admire can be an incredible boost for your motivation.
Simple Self Motivation
The trick to making self-motivation work is found in consistency and variety. We all need motivation every day. If not for that day, to save up for those bad days that are going to rain down on us in the future. That’s why a little motivation every day will go a long way and your skip days will be few and far between.
