You Can Do This! Tips to Help Writers Stay Motivated
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Writing is primarily a solitary business, and a bad day, the grumpies, a negative review, or someone’s snarky comment can easily send you to a demotivated state. If you want to be a published author, you need to persevere. Writing and publishing are work. You need to keep at it. Here are some ideas that can help you get going .
Look at the feedback/criticism. Learn from it, but don’t dwell on it.
Keep control of that voice in your head. Be aware of your self-talk. You don’t need to make things worse by fixating on them.
Take a break and do something else for a while. Physical activity will clear your mind and get your endorphins going.
Do something else that’s creative (e.g. paint, draw, knit, sew…). It will boost your energy.
Be grateful. Count your blessings. You’ll be surprised at the list of positive things in your life.
Volunteer or help someone else. You’ll often find that your troubles aren’t as challenging as what others are facing. And you are often able to make a difference in someone’s life.
Writing is work, and it’s a long process. There is a lot of waiting (e.g. on queries, responses, contracts, edits…). You need to stay busy during the down times. Write your next book.
When something happens that you don’t like, take a minute to cry, scream, yell, or eat chocolate. Get it out of your system and move on. You’ve got things to do. Don’t waste precious time wallowing in self-pity.
