I have to admit that it’s sometimes hard to stay motivated. There are months where I feel like I’ve kept up on all of my writing goals, achieved a handful of minor successes, and even improved as a writer.
But then there are also months where I feel like I’m a “writer” in the same way Tobias Fünke is an “actor”.
On those down months, there are times where I feel like putting off writing and doing something else, like going to bed early or staying up late and looking up old Magic cards on Ebay. Or even, God forbid, watching network television. (That last one is a joke; I would never sink that low, regardless of how desperate I am to stall.)
But doing stuff really just makes things worse. The down times are when we really need to push ourselves and find ways to stay motivated. They are also some of the best times to improve.
Think about those times you didn’t want to go to the gym, but forced yourself to. What did you do? You either switched up your routine to make it more interesting, or pushed yourself a little harder to keep yourself from getting bored. Or you just half-assed your workout and said you’d try harder next time.
My guess is that if you were in the “make things more interesting” camp, you’re still working out today and if you were in the “half-ass” club, you haven’t worked out this year.
Writing is the same way. When you’re feeling down about it and not motivated at all, that’s one of the best times to push yourself to write. For one thing, by forcing yourself to work though it and push those words out, you’ll be training yourself to keep up with your writing schedule “no matter what” and much like pushing through a reluctant workout, you’ll try something new and come up with something a little more interesting.
Your writing can only benefit from this, so when you do find yourself lacking motivation, just push through it, try something new, and don’t let your short-term lack of motivation get in the way of your long-term goals.
What do you do when you’re not “feeling it,” but know how important it is to keep pushing it? Leave a comment and let us know!
