Staying Motivated to Write

Anyone who has a passion for creating, not just written word but any kind of art, knows that in order to complete their work, they must stay motivated. We have all experienced the slip of concentration when it comes to our art, you are not alone. Whether it is just life getting in the way, or the fact that this piece is just not THE piece for you, it is not uncommon to lose focus and it is far too easy to just give up.

For years I have been thinking up ideas and in-depth storylines for new novels and beginning somewhat strict routines of putting those ideas into writing.

I would think something up late one night and jot it into my notepad, then the next day make a start on piecing the story together. I'd make sure I was making a note of who my characters were, what made them tick and set a word goal for each day so that my story would progress at a steady rate.

When I have an idea for a book in my head, that idea is often what I eat sleep and breathe, while I stay passionate about it, that is.

Every writer has that one thing that makes them lose motivation for their story, whether this thing is self doubt, knowing your characters but not knowing which direction you want to take them, or of course the dreaded 'writers block'. There is always something that is going to trick your brain into thinking that you cannot make this piece work. I personally have one very specific problem when it comes to remaining passionate for my creation and that is sharing the idea with people.

Yes, explaining the premise of my book to someone will 9 time out of 10 make me lose focus on the novel. This makes testing the waters extremely difficult. Do I stay quiet about what I am writing, or should I share my thoughts with someone and risk losing interest in it? More often than not I do the latter, then inevitably, my productivity slows and the ideas dry out until I am being asked 'How is that story coming along?' and I have to tell them that it didn't work and I have moved on to something new. I just know that this must scream 'flaky'.

I have come to the conclusion that, in my own mind, once I have revealed the basic plot of the story, that story has already been told, and so what is the point in carrying on with writing it? Well, of course I should keep writing. Those I have shared thoughts with have told me that they would enjoy reading it. That should be motivation enough to carry on.

Now that I have established my issue, I can conquer it. This time, I will keep writing and keep writing until the story is out there. The fact that someone knows about it is positive, they can help decide whether something will work. I will use these people as a guide and not as a block. At least I hope I will.

What do you find to be your blocks? Is there something that always, without fail, causes you to lose interest in your idea? If there is, write it down. Tell someone about your block and maybe the acknowledgement will help you to conquer it. If that doesn't work, think about it this way... a story which you 'almost' wrote cannot become successful. If you have a passion for something, you owe it to yourself to find out just how successful that finished artwork will become.