Finding Motivation in the Tough Times

There will be tough days in writing. There will be days when you simply say you don't want to write. There will be days when you get too many rejection letters. There will be days when you stare at a blank screen and not know what to write. There will be days when you ask yourself "how did I get into this mess?"

Sorry, the lyrics got stuck in my head...

Still, you understand what I am talking about. Every author has these. And honestly, for many authors out there, when these moments hit, they simply quit and walk away. The pressure is just too much. The fear of failure is too great. The negative self-doubt is too strong to get over that hurdle.

And that is a shame. I have met a lot of great writers who I saw had potential who just walked away. 

I am, in no way going to say that those successful writers out there do not have bad days. Everyone of them do. But for each of them, they find a way to overcome that hurdle. My challenge for you is to find that way to get over the hurdle and get through that tough time. I will say, please, do not say you are going to give yourself a week or more off of writing. This is similar to those students who say they are going to "take a Gap Year" and often never make it to college. The time away allows your brain just to prove to itself that walking away was worth it. 

Here are some of the things I have heard authors do. All simple. All easy. All work.:

• Take a walk
• Garden
• Clean the house (that is my favorite)
• Go play a video game with your kids
• Bake a cake
• Go write something totally stupid and fun
• Take a day and help out someone who needs help
• Instead of writing, go and read
• Instead of writing, spend some time thinking of new plots
• Instead of writing, use the time to market
• Instead of writing, use the time to support other authors (and yes, that means you can spend way too much money at a bookstore!)

The thing is, that often, we run into these difficulties because we put so much pressure on ourselves that we are thinking more about the pressure and less about the work in front of us. Simply find a way to shift the focus.