Particularly during the summer, it's hard to find the motivation to write. It's so easy to just neglect your half finished novel for months, and make excuses. And sometimes we forget (*cough cough* like me forgetting this blog post until today) Sometimes people really are that busy, but when I find myself making bad excuses to ignore my novel these are some of the things that help:
A good mix of routine and change.
Routine is extremely helpful whenever you'd like to be able to snap into a certain mindset. Even if you hate routine, small things like eating a peppermint right before (and only right before) you write can help so much. Having a specific place where you write and only write, a time when you write each day/ week, a shirt you wear when you're writing, etc. can help as well. However, introducing a new variable can help me see things from a different perspective when I'm feeling stuck. Coffee shops are wonderful for this!
Don't compare.
Everyone lives in a different situation. We're all at unique combinations of stages in our writing lives and our novels themselves. How can you compare the 500 words you got this week (during which you had work, babysitting, and try-outs) in your novel to your neighbor's 10,000 words she got this week (during which she was bored and excited with her novel)?
Incentive.
Telling myself I can finally read that cool novel once I've written 1,000 words is wonderful for my writing. Sometimes small goals work better for other people- an M&M for every 100 words, or larger goals such as telling yourself you can go see a movie next week (but only if you write three chapters this week).
Think about what you're going to write beforehand.
This way you'll feel more accomplished. It's much easier to write- after all, you already planned out what the hero was going to do when they ran into their crush at the ice cream store! You don't need to stare at a blank page/ computer screen / whatever you write on thinking. I've also found it's easier to brainstorm when I'm /not/ staring at said blank writing object!
I hope this was helpful!
On another note, it's almost August and both me and Alexandra Grey will be busy with school and other activities shortly. To allow for this, we will be switching from posting once a week to once a month.
Question of the week/month: What motivates you to write?
Stay foten!
-Elly Toast
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