Why Motivation Is A Myth

You can’t seem to finish any of your writing projects.

No matter how amazing an idea sounds, it soon joins the pile of forgotten stories. Are you doing something wrong? Why can other writers finish their stories, but not you?

Many people try to write a book. From preschoolers to teenagers to adults to grandparents, everybody has a story to tell. Some of those books go on to be polished, edited and eventually published. But many, many more sit unfinished and forgotten, shoved in a drawer or buried in the depths of a computer.

The biggest culprit of these unfinished stories? Motivation.

Motivation is a myth. It can be a great way to begin writing a book, but it can also be the biggest downfall for new writers. It is the reason why there are so many books that sit uncompleted. It may be the reason why you can’t seem to finish writing your book, or why it seems to take you forever to write words on a page.

Millions of books are published every year, so not every single book has met a sad fate. How do published authors finish their books? Why don’t their stories end up forgotten and buried like yours?

In this post, I’ll explain why motivation may be the reason you can’t finish your stories, and what to rely on instead to finish writing your stories.

The Devastating Trap Many Budding Writers Fall Into

Imagine this: The idea to write a book pops into your head one day. As you write your book, you can picture typing the words “The End” in your story. You can see it venturing on the road towards publication. You can imagine that book making its way to readers all across the world.

In the beginning, it’s easy to sit down and write this story. But as the days pass, you can’t seem to find the inspiration to sit down at your desk and type. As time presses on even further, the book sits, unfinished.

Why is this happening? Why do so many writers get caught in this vicious cycle while only a few go on to finish novels?

Here’s Why Motivation Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be

Does this sound like you? I know many writers and artists who fall into this trap; I was stuck in it for a long time. Most beginning writers think that they need to feel motivated to be able to write, and that they need to feel excited about writing all the time. If you struggle to be excited about writing and finishing your book, how can so many other people finish their books and move on to publication? Are you doing something wrong?

Motivation Is Like A Match

One of my favorite summertime activities is camping. Camping is a great teacher, both in outdoor skills and more “indoor” activities, like writing. One fun thing that I’ve learned while camping is how to start a campfire.

When you first start a fire, you need a spark and fuel that catches fire easily, like paper or small sticks. The match, paper, and kindling will catch easily. They help make the small spark big enough to catch onto a log that can burn hotter and longer than the matches. If you don’t add bigger logs, the spark that was created will simply burn out.

Motivation is like the matches, sticks, and paper. It can make a great spark to begin a novel, but it isn’t sustainable to finish one. Just like how a match can’t burn for hours on its own, you need better fuel to finish writing your book.

Professional authors usually publish 1-2 books (or more!) a year. Think about how long it takes you to write a novel. In order to have a viable career as a writer, you need to be able to write well-written books in a short amount of time. Authors can’t waste time putting writing off until they feel like it.

How do they finish writing their books in mere months, while it takes you years to finish a draft of a novel?

Published authors aren’t using matches to build their fires. Instead, they’re using big logs of wood to finish their novels.

Try Momentum Instead of Motivation

In any industry or job, no matter how much you enjoy doing it, there will be parts that you don’t enjoy. Writing for a career isn’t going to be all fun and games. There will be days you will just need to push through and write to meet deadlines.

This doesn’t mean writing can’t be fun, but in order for you to make it a sustainable career, you have to be willing to go past just the fun parts.

Instead of relying on motivation, and only working when you “feel like it,” build up momentum. It’s more challenging to stop a ball when it’s rolling down a hill, carried by momentum, than when it’s sitting still on a flat surface. You will have an easier time pushing through when you lack motivation if you have momentum.

Relying only on motivation or writing when you feel like it can keep you from growing as a writer.

One of the best ways for a new writer to get better is to write regularly. You can build momentum to keep writing, even when it becomes challenging. Even if you don’t take fancy writing classes, if you can write consistently, you will go much farther than many other writers.

The best way for an athlete or musician to get better at their craft is through regular and consistent practice. Athletes train multiple days a week, and most musicians practice every day.

If an athlete goes weeks or months without training, and then decides to compete in the Olympics, it’s not going to end well. If a musician doesn’t practice before a performance, they will probably make some mistakes. The skills, strength, and stamina they would have built up disappears when they stop for a long period of time.

This principle is the same with writing. The best way to improve your storytelling is to write consistently.

If you stay in a cycle of only writing in sporadic bursts, and then going months without writing, you will grow very slowly as a writer. Writers need to write consistently, and in order to do that, they need to have more sustainable fuel than matches, or motivation.

We all have habits. Whether it’s bedtimes or breakfast preferences, the most ingrained parts of our lives are habitual. So, if you want to write consistently, no matter the circumstances, turn it into a habit.

10 Tricks to Build Momentum

#1: Find the Best Place and Time of Day

When you begin to build up momentum, start by finding a place where you can write regularly without being interrupted by family or other activities. This writing place needs to be a location where you feel relaxed and won’t be distracted.

For example, I have a hard time writing when my room is a complete mess. If I can take 10 minutes to clean up before I write, I can have a much more productive writing session.

You also need to find a time of day when you have enough mental energy to write. Some people can wake up at 5 am and be totally cognitively awake to write, while others have more energy in the evening.

Another option would be to write after doing something that restores your mental energy. I like to write after I take a lunch break in between schoolwork and my writing time. Being able to cook and talk with my family rejuvenates my mental energy so I have enough to write.

This time also needs to be a time that you can repeat regularly. Having a regular time and setting will signal to your brain that it’s time to write, which will make getting into the habit easier.

To recap, when you start building momentum and writing consistently, find a time that:

• You can write without being interrupted by family or activities.
• You have enough mental energy to write.
• That can be repeated regularly.

You also need a place that:

• Is free from distractions like siblings, pets, or other activities.
• Makes you feel relaxed and calm.

#2 What You Write Doesn’t Matter

What you write doesn’t really matter at first.

The fact that your writing consistently and regularly is much more important than writing perfect paragraphs and plot hole-less stories. If you constantly stress over writing perfection, writing will be much more challenging, which will make getting into the habit harder.

So write anything from fanfiction to brain dumps, or character interviews to poetry. Anything that can help you write regularly will help you build that momentum you need.

#3: Utilize Calendars

Calendars can come in handy when life gets busy, like around the holidays or summer vacation. You can also use calendars to make writing goals.

I like to decide on a date for when I want to finish a project, and then divide the work up for each week. This can help beat procrastination and break a big or overwhelming project into smaller, more workable chunks, which will make it easier to sit down and write.

#4: Find Other Writers

Many people think writing is a one-man job. It’s not. Having people around you, especially other writers, is crucial for a beginning writer.

An accountability partner is very helpful for when you really, really don’t feel like writing. Your accountability partner can encourage you, remind you to write, and sometimes maybe even force you to write.

Participating in writing events like NaNoWriMo and Crazy Writing Week can help you build momentum too. The Young Writers Workshop also has an amazing community of writers who can give you encouragement, support, and fellowship that is invaluable to your writing career.

#5: Talk To Your Family

It may be challenging to find a quiet and peaceful time to write. Siblings, pets, and other activities can easily get in the way of your writing time. Your parents can be a great help in minimizing distractions.

Talk to your parents and explain to them that you need some time without distraction. Make sure your whole family knows that they can’t distract you during your writing time. This can help you have accountability and make it easier to build more momentum.

#6: Know That Your Routine Will Change

Life isn’t stagnant. Everything is constantly changing, even just a little bit. As you get older, and move into new seasons of your life, your writing routine will change.

It’s important to stay flexible with your routine. Regularly evaluating your writing routine and how it flows into the rest of the day can help you keep a routine that works with a changing life.

#7: Give Yourself Grace and Rest

As with any other activity, you can become burnt out from writing. Know that taking breaks and resting is perfectly okay. We all need a breather at some point.

I know a lot of writers take breaks around the holidays or summer vacation, or after finishing a particularly long project. Giving yourself time to rest and recover can help you keep the stamina to write regularly.

#8: Change Up Your Writing Space

If you’re struggling to find a time and place where you can be productive, experiment with new times and places.

Instead of writing in the early morning, experiment with the evening or the late afternoon. Figure out what times and places work for you, and which ones don’t.

There are lots of new places you can move to:

• You could write outside.

• You could write at a library.
• You could write at a coffee shop.
• You could write in a different room of your house.
• Or even sit on the floor to write (one of my favorites!)

You could even move away from your computer all together. Sometimes simply switching to pen and paper, or even a quill pen, can help you push through a lack of motivation.

#9: Move Around

We spend so much time sitting at a desk and staring at a screen. Going outside, even just for a few minutes, can help you reset and rejuvenate to be able to focus on getting work done again.

Go on a quick walk around your neighborhood, let your mind wander freely. Even if the weather isn’t nice outside, walking around your house can help you to focus.

Another option is to try a standing desk. I recently got a standing desk, and it’s helped me feel less cramped while working at my desk.

If you want an easy, cheaper option, you can simply stack books up, and then balance your computer on top. It’s slightly precarious, but it can be a good way to try out a standing desk before making any purchases.

#10: Use an App Blocker

When we have low motivation, it becomes easier to get sucked into the internet and social media. Writing without getting distracted by the internet can be harder than other activities. But we still need to build that momentum.

You can use an app blocker like Freedom or Cold Turkey. They are super helpful if you want to write without getting distracted in the wide world of the interwebs.

Why You Still Need These Habits, Even If You Don’t Want to Write Professionally

By examining your priorities and interests, you might realize that you don’t want to write professionally, and instead, just want to write as a hobby. Storytelling is such a valuable art, whether you’re doing it full-time or simply for a hobby.

Having the ability to communicate clearly and effectively, especially through writing, is a very valuable skill for any job. Just because you aren’t going to write professionally doesn’t mean that the time you spent writing was wasted.

After establishing these writing habits, you might notice that the principles seep into other aspects of your life too. After starting to write consistently, I found myself trying to make time to do other hobbies consistently too.

The principle of building momentum rather than relying on motivation can help you not only in writing, but in nearly any job or hobby you may try.

Motivation Is Your Spark, Not Your Fuel

In the end, motivation is a great spark to start a fire, but not a sustainable fuel to keep the fire burning. If we want to be professional writers someday, we need to be able to write during the times when it’s fun and when it’s not. We can do that by building momentum and habits to write consistently, no matter the circumstances.

Pushing through to finish your projects can be challenging, but the thrill and excitement afterward makes it all worth it. Oftentimes, the best views come at the top of a tough climb.

To help you have an easier time gaining writing momentum, I’ve made a questionnaire to help you find a writing routine that works with your life, along with a habit tracker to keep the habit going — click the image below!