Do you have any tricks to keep up motivation when writing?
As an example, one thing I do is write whatever I have an idea for at the moment, regardless of whether I’ve written any of the text before or after.
I used to believe I had to figure out a lot more stuff before I could start writing “properly”, but it caused me to lose the motivation since I never got to that point.
Writing whatever is in my head at the moment allows me to get going, and fuels me to keep going even after the immediate idea has been brought to paper.
Brief answer for those in a hurry:
Give yourself treats when writing. Condition yourself to feel that pleasure when you write. Find some passive inducing activity that gives you pleasure and associate it with writing.
Long answer for the details:
As a craft, there are many ways you can approach writing. But like any craft, you can only get better at it by doing it. Thinking about it won’t get you there. So you’re right. Write things down. Write them unfiltered. That’s a start.
Now, like any other craft, you may start having more fun the craftier you get at it. And to get craftier you have to write. So here’s my trick to kick start the process.
I like music. I like music a lot. Music is sweet. And like all sweet things, I can only take so much of it before it starts to become too much (dopamine depletion). So I decided I had to go for a diet. What if I only listen to music, and the music I really like, when I write?
That’s what I have been doing. For more than a year now, I only listen to music when I write. Like a well trained pet, this has triggered a conditioned behavior. Now, whenever I feel like hearing music, I also feel an urge to write. Sometimes I hear a song playing somewhere, and I’m reminded of things I want to write.
Funny how this goes. As of now, I’m finding pleasure in writing qua writing. In a way, I feel I’m starting to ride this craft no longer needing those musical training wheels. But since I always have music at hand, I always feel safe. If I’m assigned a writing task that I’m not particularly fond of, I turn the music on and the task becomes a bliss.
Personally, I find it easiest to establish a pattern or habit to push through a block of writing.
I write for myself, not others. I try not to worry about what others might think when they read my story. I try not to care about any typos and grammatical errors and misused words. Those worries are for when I’m editing my draft. I also remind myself that no story starts great, it doesn’t matter if your draft is terrible. You just need to write something. You can improve what you wrote later, but you do need some kind of foundation to build upon.
