Staying Motivated While Writing Your Story

When I was taking a sociology class during freshman year, my professor asked each of us what had drawn us to sociology. Most of us said it was mandatory, some were interested in the subject, one kid said his friends had raved about how hot my professor was. She smiled and replied, “Whatever gets you here.” I think a similar logic applies when you’re writing a story. Writing consistently is a hard thing to do and sometimes I find myself avoiding even a work I adore. So here are some ideas to stay motivated:

1. Decide a Limit

Decide the amount of words you’ll write every day and stick to it. This is the best type of motivator because it gives a concrete record of your efforts. Avoid a vague parameter like “I will complete a chapter a day” because your chapter could be two pages long or two hundred. Take something definite like “I will write five pages per day.”

The biggest mistake you can do is make an unrealistic goal. Don’t be bothered if people recommend writing 5,000 words a day and you’re comfortable with 500. You are your own unique person and no one else’s style is going to work for you.

2. Mark Down Your Achievements

I have a little word chart which I fill out at the end of every day:

Date	Targeted Word Count	Targeted Total Words	Accomplished Count	Total Story Words
19. March	3,000	3,000	2,579	2,579
20. March	3,000	6,000	3,098	5,677
21. March	3,000	9,000	3,423	9,100

The best part of this chart is that I can see where I slacked off and then make up for it later. Plus, you can even set up a little reward system if that helps.

*Remember that such a word limit is really just to show you how you’re doing, if you go a little above or below the limit, don’t worry about it.

3. Music

Some people prefer to work in silence and that’s fine, but let me share my experience about the importance of music. When I’m working on a story, sometimes I find that a song in my library fits a particular scene or character perfectly. This helps trigger the mood that needs to go in writing that scene. For example, when I write sad scenes, I’m usually in a good mood. So I switch on “Hamlet Walks the Plane,” and let the music work its magic. Try it.

This is a personal quirk, but it might work for you. Sometimes when I’m listening to songs, I start playing out scenes of my story against the song like a music video. Seeing a visual reinforcement of your story can really help you out. Then, again, I’ve never heard of anyone else using this method, so I won’t swear by it. But who knows? Maybe it’ll work for you, maybe I’m starting a revolution!

4. Adore Your Characters

While I don't "adore" Claudia,

I do think she's very pretty, 

and I needed a pretty visual in 

my head for the heroine of my 

story.

You and your characters are sharing the same space, so if you don’t get along, it’s going to be like sworn enemies trapped in a cave. Here’s silly trick that I used for my last story. I was rewriting a classic so the characters had already been defined by the real author. This made me feel rather distant from them and for a while, I didn’t have any internal enthusiasm towards them because I hadn’t created them. So, I started imagining my favorite actors as those characters. Naturally, my enthusiasm skyrocketed. As long as you aren’t actually “soul plagiarizing” some real life person, it’s acceptable to have a vested interest in your character. As my sociology professor said, “Whatever gets you here.”

5. Daydream A Little

I’m guessing that you have dreams of making the NY Bestsellers list. Use that. A great way to pick yourself up after a slump is to imagine your book being a success. Heck, in dream world, it can get turned into a movie and your favorite actor/singer/football player will be so impressed by it that they will track you down, tell you how much your book impacted their life, and eventually ask you to marry them (and no, I’ve never actually dreamt that far).

As long as your dreams aren’t clouding your actual achievement, it’s fine to encourage yourself with a promise of the future.

6. Force Someone to Encourage You

I suggest this point as a last resort, I’ll explain why later.

If you’re desperate, pick the passage or page (not more) that you’re most proud of and show it to a friend who you know won’t trash it. Sometimes a hearty praise is what you need to hear. After all, you wouldn’t be writing this book if you didn’t want others to read and like it.

Warning: It is my sincere request not to dump your stories on some friend/relative every day and punish them because they are tolerant. The reason I say this is because I’ve been that friend/relative often enough. Unless you’re T.S. Elliot, chances are the draft you are working on right now isn’t your magnum opus. Our sense of accomplishment can blind us to the crap our work actually is, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world is blind. I know that sounds harsh but if you want to keep your friends (and their respect), you’ll take my advice.

7. Know When to Quit

There are enough quotes, clichés, movies about winners and quitters, but the truth is you should know when to quit. I’m not saying quit forever, but take heed of warnings when your mind is saying it just can’t go any further.

After I finished my first draft of my story, I felt like I was okay with abandoning it forever. I knew this wasn’t an option so I continued for one tortured week before I had burnout. Now, a month later, after not having looked at it, thought about it, talked about it, I’ve rediscovered its charm and am ready to take it up again.

If you start to associate your story with fatigue and hatred, what’s the point? Yes, writing is hard, but it’s also supposed to be fun. So when it stops becoming fun, put down your pen and throw your plot completely out of your mind.