How to get some writing done when you don’t feel motivated

You can find my initial post here. I would like to revisit that post and add some more thoughts.

“Sometimes getting myself to do any kind of writing is like trying to get a kid to eat his vegetables. You have to find creative ways to get the job done. Sometimes he eats them whole but sometimes you have to puree it. Sometimes it takes 2 minutes and sometimes it takes the whole day. Some days you’re grateful if you can get a spoonful in and if you have to follow that kid around with that spoonful until he feels like it, then that’s what you’ll do. The most important thing is to get the job by any means necessary. The how doesn’t matter.”

• Don’t give up on yourself: Be patient with yourself.

I recently had a revelation. I am at least 10 times more patient and forgiving with people close to me than with myself. Being a big proponent of self-love, that hit me hard. If I am not patient with myself: who will? I owe it to myself to be patient with myself in the race for meaning and accomplishment. The same way I have to get along with my boss (to some extent) if I want to keep my job, I need to be patient with myself if I want to last long enough to accomplish all of those things I have set my mind to. Therefore I have to make a conscious decision to extend to myself the same love, courtesy and kindness I so freely and gracefully extend to people who sometimes are not even worth an ounce of my time. This is definitely one thing I plan on working on.

2) Track your progress and action: Keep a list of all of your accomplishments

Nothing can motivate you as much as realizing how far you’ve come, how much you’ve accomplished. But for that to happen you need to keep track of all of your actions no matter how little. When you do get discouraged, because it’ll happen, all you have to do to get pumped up all over again is whip out that journal or that excel spreadsheet with the recording of all of your actions. It’ll serve as a breath of fresh air. 

3) Follow your natural curve of your excitement

Sometimes when we have things to accomplish, we tend to want to force ourselves to  observe a rigid schedule and forget to be watchful of those moments during the day where we seem clearly more motivated for a particular task.

As an example, I use to work on my novel early morning and I kept that schedule for a good while thinking to myself I was definitely a morning person. But lately I have been noticing that during lunch time I seem to have a burst of energy and excitement. I also tend to have another burst of excitement after working hours not a long one but enough to get some stuff done and make me feel like I’ve worked for myself that day. As a result of this observation I’ve switched up my writing routine a bit to work a minimum of ½ hour  on my novel during lunch time and another 40 minutes after work. If there seems to be moments when I feel particularly more inclined to work on something, I don’t question it, I just run with it.

4) Start with 2 to 5 minutes

There are days when I can’t seem to motivate myself to do any writing. In those cases which happen more often than I would care to admit, I just tell myself:”Fabienne, just do 6 stretches of 5 minutes of writing at a time until you totaled 30 minutes and give yourself the whole day to do that”. Once I totaled 30 minutes of writing I go and reward myself by watching an entire episode of Hercule Poirot.

Sometimes getting myself to do any kind of writing is like trying to get a kid to eat his vegetables. You have to find creative ways to get the job done. Sometimes he eats them whole but sometimes you have to puree it. Sometimes it takes 2 minutes and sometimes it takes the whole day. Some days you’re grateful if you can get a spoonful in and if you have to follow that kid around with that spoonful until he feels like it, then that’s what you’ll do. The most important thing is to get the job by any means necessary. The how doesn’t matter.

Thank you for passing by and gros bisoux!

When I don’t feel like writing, I read these quotes:

Hi peeps just want to share with you a few quotes that have been keeping me sane for the past few weeks: Hope you enjoy them as much as I did and refer to them often. Here we go:

On not feeling like writing and waiting for motivation to kick in, this quote is my all time favorite:

“You are never going to feel like it. Ever.”

Mel Robbins

I used to think if a book is beautifully written, it is automatically guaranteed to be published until I read this quote from Ginnie Sayles

On putting the work necessary to be fulfilled: Pursuing meaningless goals while meticulously avoiding putting in the work in order to find true fulfillment for your true hear’s desire. In other word trying to escape your own good:

“When we are afraid to pursue our true heart desire we hide out from ourselves. We hide out in jobs that are not really who we are and that are not fulfilling. Oh, we may fill up our lives with lots of interesting ‘activities’ and interesting people and we may enjoy all of them on some level but by and large a deeper ‘core’ satisfaction is missing.” Ginnie Sayles, How to write a book in 3 weeks

 

”…Publishers are not in the business of publishing books, they are in the business of making money. The sooner you accept this truth, the less confusion you will have about writing books..” Ginnie Sayles, How to write a book in 3 weeks

It is easy to forget that far more than talent, good writing is a skill that can be developed if you have enough passion for it. At times when I feel I am not skilled enough or good enough a writer and I get discouraged, I read this quote:

…”A book can be brilliantly written but if publishers think it will not sell at a profit, then it will not get published, no matter how beautifully written it is is. Conversely , a mediocre manuscript—-or even a trite one—-that has a good market (people to read it) ready and waiting—will be published immediately. That is because publishing houses have a staff of editors who can whip a mediocre manuscript into shape in no time and sell it. This knowledge should make you feel better! Why? because it means that you do not have to write a masterpiece—which means you can stop prejudging your book as not good enough—-because it does not have to be good enough, just marketable. “

Ginnie Sayles, how to write a book in three weeks

When I need to put failure in perspective:

“…Not taking a a risk is dangerous because we risk never knowing the joy of fulfillment…….Hiding out from ourselves deprives us—and in the end not taking a risk to be who we are is the only true risk, the only failure….”