Ups and Downs
The Writing Roller Coaster Continues...
As probably most creative people will tell you, motivation and inspiration come in ups and down, highs and lows. Sometimes the muse inspires, sometimes she goes on vacation.
When mine gets back, I hope she has some cool slides to show me.
For the past four, maybe five, months my workday routine has been to get up at 5 a.m. for some dedicated writing time. It gives me about an hour before my wife gets up and allows me some quiet and solitude to be with my thoughts. It’s not that my wife is “loud” or constantly chatting or anything, but this hour sort of gives me “official” writing time, if that makes sense. At the time of this writing, I am working on three Kindle Vella stories, as well as this newsletter, all of which I try to update once a week when possible. During my “hour of peace” (as my wife and I jokingly refer to it) my goal is to either write content, work on plot points, or expand story/character notes. If I manage any of those three, I consider the time productive and a “success”.
Lately, it seems that my dedicated writing time hasn’t been as productive or successful as I’ve been wanting.
I can’t tell if it’s just me being tired, lazy, or in need of a little break. I’ve never been a fan of calling a lack of motivation or story direction “writer’s block”, so I won’t use the term…but I’ve been having both when it comes to writing these days. Before catching COVID back in June, I was in a pretty good pattern of both writing and exercising. Writing from 5ish a.m. to around 6:30, then hitting the kettlebells or stationary bike. While I recovered from COVID relatively fine, the good habits I had built up didn’t fare so well.
The past month or two has been tough when it comes to writing, I’ll be honest. One of my main motivators to press on is that little voice in the back of my head reminding me that I finished an episode of “The T.E.M.P Agency” with a 101.7-degree fever, so I can press on while feeling normal.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still writing and still pushing through, just not at the pace I had been or one that I’m satisfied with.
In the past, I’ve used a few methods to try to force help me get through a ‘lack of direction’ (remember, it’s not writer’s block!) which include:
Writing a short scene with some of the characters in a setting totally different from their story and see how they might react.
Having characters from one of my stories meet characters from another.
Writing a “journal” entry from a character’s point of view.
Moving from one story to another if the motivation isn’t there.
Exploring possible future story ideas for either the medium you usually work in or another (if possible).
Getting another cup of coffee :)
I’m also not opposed to just getting up and doing something else until motivation or a decent idea pulls me back. I think, sometimes, we put a bit too much pressure on ourselves with self-imposed deadlines and the struggle to meet them. There is nothing wrong with setting a deadline for yourself, but there’s also nothing wrong with having some wiggle room when it’s warranted.
Poll Results:
I ran this poll for a week and wanted to thank you all for participating. It seems that the numbers say more about “writing and the writing process” while most of the comments say, “write about what you want” (which I do appreciate!). Strangely enough, this post wasn’t a reflection of the poll but was something I have been thinking about for the past month or two and wanted to put out there. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I really like hearing about other people’s writing processes and how they jump those motivational hurdles that life seems to throw in our way.
If you’re a writer/creative person, how do you go about grabbing motivation by the tail and holding on for dear life? I want to know!
Until next time—
Those are very ambitious goals you’ve set out for yourself! Very admirable but also completely understandable if you hit a lull in that. I say don’t beat yourself up for moving more slowly than you’d like to, and perhaps try switching up the routine (if possible) from time to time. I’m about to publish a post on writing advice and this reassured me that it’s the right thing to do as we could all use a refresher about how to go about obstacles in our writing. It’s also nice to see that I’m not alone in this struggle. Thanks for this!
“(Over)expectation”--I like that descriptor better than “perfectionist.” But whatever word you use, I was born one! Through the years I’ve learned to be better about that, and this year really threw me into the practice of doing “just enough.”
In the chaos of family situations, I decided to start writing again, and I chose Substack as my platform. The first couple of months were difficult because I expected myself to be in a regular writing routine, but my week to week schedule was all over the place, making “routine” one big, fat joke around here.
So I began writing in spurts, piecing things together between appointments and travel and work commitments. And what I found is that it worked! When I had an idea, I wrote a couple of sentences in my notes app. Then I would come back to it and start a draft in Google docs. Then I would chip away little by little.
In the end, though, I do think breaks are necessary and provide time to just think. That’s another thing I prioritize--the thinking. Turn off the TV, put down the phone, stop reading. Just go for a walk and think. Works for me every time.
Good luck, Mark!