Keep Going
Posted by Gina Black on 26 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Chit Chat, Writing Life
It’s my day to blog and you know what that means don’t you? I’m going to talk about staying motivated. Turns out that staying motivated is almost as hard as writing. There are so many reasons not to be motivated. Just from my own life: a very sick cat requiring extensive testing and now force feeding (he’s getting better thank you but it was rough going), the day job, the kids, worrying, lack of time, lack of energy, lack of inspiration, feedback (bad and good will stop me–oy, don’t ask), fear, and just plain laziness.
So how does a person overcome so many obstacles and actually get something done? I’ve tried reward systems, but they don’t work with me. I guess that’s because I wasn’t raised that way. No cookies when I was good. No money for good grades. I can’t even coerce myself with the promise of an iPod Touch. I’ve made my own deadlines and missed them consistently. On the other hand, every outside imposed deadline I got from mu publisher I made.
This points out to me that I can do it, and it has something to do with Newton’s third law (also called the law of inertia):
If no net force acts on a particle, then it is possible to select a set of reference frames, called inertial reference frames, observed from which the particle moves without any change in velocity.
Got that?
In other words, “An object will stay at rest or continue at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force”.
That’s me. I am that particular object in need of external unbalanced forces to get me moving.
So, let’s inventory the unbalanced forces . . . I have imagination, stubbornness, and determination and when I remember to use them (instead of just whinging about how hard it all is), I can count on them to push me through that part of the book where all is lost, because without that momentum I’m bound to agree with my characters.
A wise friend once convinced me that I had to finish my book or my characterse would never get their HEA. And I did it. (For the record, that appealed to my sense of responsibility which is what works with a publisher deadline as well.)
How about you? How do you keep yourself going?
An editor’s deadline will make me move faster than anything else in the world. I’ll scream and protest all the way through it, but I get it done.
I force myself to write every single day, but it’s frustrating to just stare at a screen. Some of it might be because I don’t have that desired contract.
Some of it is burn out. I don’t have any answers, I just know what doesn’t work in motivating me. So I’m trying to reduce my email to nothing, and forcing myself NOT to watch TV, although I’ll read.
By then, I’m hoping that I’ll be so bored it will compel me to write/finish my book.
Monica
March 26th, 2008 at 12:59 pmWhat a loaded question! For me, it depends on the day. I try to write every day, but I hit a period a few weeks ago where the words weren’t coming. So I took a week off, no questions asked. No guilt (okay, maybe a little), but I really tried to lay off and ease up.
Because if you’re constantly driving yourself or trying to force motivation, it gets harder because there’s no “break,” no end in sight. But if it’s okay to stop and think about a story for a day, a few days, whatever, then it’s easier to hit it hard when you do go weeks and weeks writing every day. Because you have permission to stop if you wanted, which usually keeps me wanting to go.
I hope that makes sense! It’s getting close to my bedtime.
Angie
March 26th, 2008 at 9:32 pmI have to agree, I like deadlines. I’m like Calvin, from Calvin & Hobbes, who says he works best under pressure, to which Hobbes replies, “You work ONLY under pressure.” A deadline and potential guilt over missing it is the surest way to make me work.
For internal motivation, I like to envision a scene coming up that I really want to write, and force myself to write forward to get to it.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:32 amEvery single morning I hit resistance. I can think of many things I’d sooner do (including force feeding a cat!!)But I have this goal–write every day except when I have company. Excuses are so easy but guilt follows as well as panic as deadlines pile up (even self-appointed deadlines are there in order to keep the work progressing at a timely rate.)
I have no magic cure. I only know the resitance is always there and I must break through it. One thing that helps at times is to open a new file and write about what I want to write about.
Now I must go see if I can break through the barrier yet again.
Linda
March 27th, 2008 at 8:39 amGina, I always read your posts here. You are very inspiring.
Deadlines help me prioritize. I keep my Day Timer handy for organization. Writing is so much a part of me, I feel cranky if I don’t write for a few days, but giving myself some time off - usually an hour a day to watch Charmed - keeps me fired up and happy to hit the keyboard.
I love the HEA story. I have a couple of half-finished manuscripts and every once in awhile I feel guilty for leaving those characters in not-so-fun situations. I mentally promise them I’ll get back to them one of these days!
Misty
March 30th, 2008 at 1:45 pm