#19? As an aspiring writer for the better part of 5-7 years, I've scrapped an unbelievable amount of stories(that with a better writer could stand a chance) due to my inability to stay motivated, or even come up with proper ideas.
Hey @timid-izzy, thanks for the question!
Sorry that it’s taken me a couple of days to answer this. I’ve been away (am still away, tbh) from home, so it has been a little difficult to find a moment to sit down and answer this.
Okay, so, you want to know how I keep myself motivated.
Motivation is definitely something I struggle with. Before I get into my personal tricks, I’m going to list some of the things that interfere with it.
Chronic illness and fatigue
Emotionally draining and stressful job
4-8+ hours per week volunteer commitment
The need/desire to read, play video games, and/or watch TV
Okay, now I bet you’re wondering why I listed those. What does it matter that I do volunteer work, or have a stressful job?
Well, because everyone has a list like this of things that sap their motivation. It’s normal, and even if it’s frustrating, you shouldn’t berate yourself because there are health, or life, or other things taking their pound of flesh out of your writing. In my experience, the only times I’ve been able to dedicate a specific amount of time every day (like so much writing advice says you should) is when I’ve been off work (and on worker’s comp) due to injuries. Otherwise, I fit it in where I can.Sometimes I go weeks without writing a single word (or doing any other writing activity). But mostly I try to do roughly 30 minutes every other day. If i can do more frequently, or longer, then great!
Some people find things like #365k365day help keep them accountable. Personally, I find they just make me feel guilty about how inconsistent my writing habits are. Others like to use things like the Writometer app, or Forest, or any number of different productivity apps. Some people are able to set themselves deadlines and use that to motivate themselves. If any of those work for you, then awesome! If not, no worries.
Right, okay, so how do I motivate myself?
There are a couple of different things I do.
Talk to people about my work. It either makes me excited to get back to it, or makes me feel guilty that I haven’t written much lately (and thus prompts me to get some work done)
Reading. When I enjoy a book, it makes me want to write. Also, sometimes reading over some of my old work can inspire the same things.
Work on something story adjacent. World building (my favourite), cover design, research, designing swag, etc. While these can be sources of procrastination, they can also help refuel the motivation tank when its empty
And when all else fails, I just sit down and stare at that stupid blinking cursor until I write something. Anything. There have been days where I literally only write 30-some words. But I generally find that the writing days following are more productive. And even if they’re not, at least I added 30-some words (which is infinitely better than zero words).
Motivation is a tricky beast, and the more I write, the more I find that determination and stubbornness serve me better. Especially given how rarely I actually feel motivated of late.
Hope that helps you find a new way or two to deal with any motivation issues you’re having!
As for the second issue you mentioned--not feeling like you can come up with good ideas...Well...what is and isn’t ‘good’ is entirely subjective. So my only advice in that regard is to just ignore whether you think an idea is good or not. Write it anyway. Make the decision after you’ve finished, whether or not it’s worth refining. Until then, just keep writing, and improving, and growing as a writer.
Thanks for asking, and best if luck with your stories :)
