Authors: Brian Henderson
Motivation, much like inspiration, can be very fickle. If yo
u’
re not motivated, chances are, you wo
n’
t be doing much writing as well and for writers, this is basically a kiss of death. Beginners are the ones who tend to succumb to this most, but more senior writers are not completely immune to it.
That being said, it is
n’
t as if ther
e’
s no solution o
r“
cur
e”
for it. In fact, ther
e’
s quite a lot of things that you can do in order to boost your motivation. All you really need is the discipline and the will to follow throug
h—
otherwise, yo
u’
d remain down in the dumps with plenty of blank pages and nothing to fill it with.
So, to get you started, here are some tips:
Every writer has their reasons for doing what they d
o—
the really lucky ones get to write for a living and because they are in love with the craft. Others are in love with it, but have yet to really make money off of their passion. The latter often leaves people frustrated and uninspired; stressed from their day job and lacking any real motivation to write. However hard it might be, this is something that one should do their best to avoid.
Give yourself any reason to write. Do you want a new pair of shoes? Instead of just going out and buying i
t—
make it the reward for being able to write a certain number of words. 5,000 for a pair of new shoes, 1,000 for your favorite coffee drink or 2,000 for a fancier dinner than your usual.
Do
n’
t stop there! Do you want to buy something bigger, like a brand new TV or a sofa? Well, try finishing at least one to two stories and pitch it to publishers. It does
n’
t matter whether it gets picked up or not. The point here is that you have finished two stories which you can send to plenty other publishers in the hopes of getting paid for it. Stop hoping yo
u’
ll get discovered and start doing something that will help make sure that they find you.
Why do you write? Do you do it because you feel some form of accomplishment, happiness or creative satisfaction whenever you do? These things are wha
t’
s referred to as internal rewards; they are also the most common reasons why a lot of people go into writing. However, there are also such things as external rewards and these include recognition and money. Some people write for both external and internal reason
s—
in our society, this would be the most practical. It is the dream of many beginners to someday make money off of what the
y’
re most passionate about: writing.
To get started though, you also need to have an understanding of your own motivations. I
t’
s always best to focus more on the creative aspect of things and develop as you go along. However, if yo
u’
re most motivated by external rewards then ther
e’
s certainly nothing wrong with tha
t—
as long as yo
u’
re writing what you love and enjoy, then that is all you really need.
Yes, it is the most motivating thing in the world to be writing about the things you love the most. Having the topics yo
u’
re interested in, not only makesthings easier to work with, but yo
u’
re also keenerwhen it comes to research. However, beginners would be lucky to get the opportunity to do this during their first attempt. There are stages to writing, especially if i
t’
s something that you want to turn into a career and get paid for your work.
In the beginning, you wo
n’
t always get to pick about what you writ
e—
this is especially so if you have to work under a management. In some cases, you might even get assignments that are outside of your comfort zone. A creative writer knows how to make things sound interestin
g—
so make sure you do this. Practice patience and tackle your work with enthusiasm even if it is
n’
t the most motivating thing in the world. Do this and yo
u’
ll produce great work which, of course, could lead to better writing options.
Remember, i
t’
s a process!
Write everything down. Were you able to accomplish what you needed to do today? How about sending sample pieces of writing to different publishers? Where you procrastinating instead of pushing for productivity? More often than not, writers tend to use their block as an excuse for not writing anything. However, this does
n’
t count as there are numerous ways of getting rid of that block and becoming productive once more.
By admitting any faults you might have, you can then begin work on improving them. Many writers feel motivated whenever they accomplish something and depressed whenever they end a day without having done as much as they wanted. YET, many still end up procrastinating on the job.
Set a goal for yourself and try to avoid falling into old habits. Should you do, write them down for the day and tell yourself to be better tomorrow. Slowly but surely, all these writer faults that you have would disappear. Just make sure you stay disciplined enough to make that happen.
Sounds easy enough to do, does
n’
t it? However, there are some writers who can be quite stingy when it comes to allowing people to read their wor
k—
whether it be a work in progress or something tha
t’
s already been done. There could be many reasons as to why they do this, mostly personal ones and a lot of them is valid as well. However, choosing a select few of your friends to review your writing before you do anything else with it can actually be a very healthy creative habit to have.
Just remember to take any criticisms and suggestions openly. This is also another aspect of this practice, after all. To gain perspective and see some of the things that you might have missed.
Her
e’
s the thing about most writers: They find inspiration in just about anything. In the most mundane of things, in everyday activities and even in their dreams. However, these ideas do
n’
t always make it into writing. Some get lost in the flurry of daily life whilethere are those that were
n’
t strong enough. Other times, opportunities are lost because the writers werenot responsive enoug
h—
meaning, they did
n’
t take the idea and really worked to mold it into something great.
This is what separates writers from someone who simply writes. You will be told that there is no such thing as an original idea; that something once came from somewhere els
e—
whilethis holds true in some cases, it is
n’
t always so. There is genuine inspiration and you will find it in many of the best creative works in both recent and classic times.
So the question now is, how does one become more responsive to inspiration? Some have it innately and do it without being truly aware. Others have to work just a bit more. Here are a couple of things that you can try:
It might seem silly, writing in order to get inspired to writesome more, but this is an effective way of recording your thoughts. W
e’
ve tackled this earlier, but not quite in depth. In this case, what yo
u’
ll be recording would be your dream
s—
these are great sources, if not endless founts, of inspiration. Your dreams would be able to show you things that do not exist in everyday life. If yo
u’
re looking for something new and never before read or seen? Then your dreams is a great place to start.
This does
n’
t mean that you ought to go through periods of being reclusiv
e—
certainly not. What it does mean, however, is that you should learn how to appreciate your own company. Whenever we are alone and in the quiet, we become more aware of our surroundings and of what goes on in our heads. Everything seems clearer and much more vivid than usual. Take advantage of this and observe people; observe everything tha
t’
s happening around you.
How do peopl
e’
s laughter sound? What about the wind passing through leaves? The light of the sun against rooftops? What of the sky? By becoming more observant of things, you gain the ability to capture the simplest of actions and images then turn them into something beautiful in writing. There is poetry it everything; and in some way, it is up to the writer to bring that to the surface.
With just a little bit of work, you can slowly become more responsive to bits of inspiration tha
t’
s scattered everywhere. All you really need to do is open your eyes more, listen more and feel more - as writers often do.
Thank you again for downloading this book!
I hope this book was able to help provide you with more ideas when it comes to boosting your creative writing and becoming a better writer overall; that you need not do or experience something spectacular in order to get things moving. Sometimes, i
t’
s the simplest of things that end up inspiring us the most. All you really need to do is a bit of physical and mental work in order to find it.
Finally, if you enjoyed this book, then
I’
d like to ask you for a favor, would you be kind enough to leave a review for this book on Amazon? I
t’
d be greatly appreciated!
Thank you and good luck!