Trickery
When I gave birth to my second child, I was working in publishing and explaining everything that needed to be done on my books as I was walking out the door ready to go push out a nine-pound-something baby. I was a perfectionist then . . . I'm still that way now.
I've never crammed for an exam. Never wrote a term paper the night before. When I get deadlines, I dutifully write them down in my Daytimer. My desk LOOKS chaotic. Indeed, is chaotic. My schedule is insane. But still in the midst of it, I make it work.
Some of it is trickery. Fooling my internal self. I can't do x or y until I finish this chapter. I bargain with myself. "No reading the NY Times online until you fill out the author quetionnaire from your publisher."
I see writers with those little bar graphs showing word counts. That wouldn't work for me, I don't think. But you never know.
Heck, even the write a novel in a month challenge is a bit of trickery to simply get a book DONE. As a writer, you work for yourself. If there's a motivation problem, a boss isn't going to give you a pep talk, nor is he or she going to tell you your job's on the line. You've got to figure it out yourself.
I write lists just so I can check things off. More trickery.
So how do YOU motivate yourself as a writer? What trickery is involved?
22 comments:
If I can convince myself of a deadline, I'm good at getting a certain number of pages done per week. No deadline=total slacker.
Hope you're feeling better!
Jude:
Deadlines generally motivate me as well. I am often a procrastinator . . . so knowing it's looming shifts me into high gear.
E
Ooh, lists are my favorite. When writing a new list, I almost always put something that I've already finished just so I can cross it off and feel like I'm already accomplishing things.
I also negotiate with myself for internet time. When I was editing I was allowed to check my email or facebook after each chapter, but I couldn't check my scrabble games or gossip sites until after three. :)
Melanie:
You sound like me--totally.
E
I don't have a motivation problem, but I have a huge focus problem. It was tough in first grade. (There were two of us with ADD, even though they didn't have ADD back then. But we were both "different" in sort of the same way, LOL.) With writing nearly full-time, it's practically crippling.
I've resisted the idea of medication for 35 years, but I'm really close to going that route. If I dose high on coffee, I can focus. But you get a tolerance, and you need more and more, and I just can't drink that much coffee!
When I only have to think of one thing in a day (like when Glenn is here), then I can continually tell myself not to worry and just re-focus on that one thing. But when he's not here, I have to actually deal with the other things, LOL. Then I sorta freak at the ten million things and freeze. So my writing is extremely slow when he's gone. When he's here, 5K and 10K days happen often. Without him, my brain spazzes out every 50 words. I hate it. ADD is NOT a "gift," as they like to call it.
To-do lists and deadlines. In triplicate, now that I think about it. I have a yellow pad that is my to-do list and I fill it out every night at the end of the workday for the next day. I also have a calendar function on my computer that I fill out. Red stuff is "Other", blue is "family" and green is "work-related." All my deadlines go into that. Then I've also got a white board in my office where I list all the projects and their deadlines, so I cross them off as I invoice for them.
My wife and I were discussing the fact that my sister wants to be a writer and some of her pals in the past have bugged me about encouraging her, which I used to do, but I told Leanne that I wasn't doing that any more, she either finds the motivation or she doesn't. I used to send her job ads related to her field, but she always said, "Oh, I'm busy right now, I don't want to get involved..."
Well, that's it, isn't it? Either you're motivated or you're not? On top of that, I'm organized. My desk might not look like it, but really, I know what each pile is for.
Oh, I am so undisciplined compared to this group!!
:-)
I take it day by day. My husband has to travel at the drop of a hat (and it's been like this for a dozen years), so I'm left without a 'family' schedule if you will. I used to be so organized and goal-oriented, and I know this chaos has affected me. But I'm trying to get back a structure, a little at a time. It's easier now that my kids are older (9 and 11). So I guess what I'm saying is I haven't reached the "trickery" stage yet. I'm so grateful for any real writing time, I don't squander it.
Natasha:
I have less focus now than when I was in college full-time. I think it's from having to multi-task too much.
E
Mark:
I am asked often to meet for coffee or to talk with a friend of a friend who "wants to be a writer"--over the years, I've probably had dozens of coffees or lunches regarding it. In all those years, three people have actually gone ahead and started writing.
E
Chris:
I am grateful for the windows of calm in the chaos too.
E
I just have to laugh. Even if I had realized I wanted to be a writer before I was writing, it would have never occurred to me to meet someone for lunch about it. Um, if I wanted to write, I'd write, LOL.
Natasha:
Nearly ALWAYS, it was someone who viewed publishing from a more mercenary approach (i.e., not about the love of writing but because they were "sure" they could get a six-figure advance for their great idea).
E
Actually Spy said something on her blog that hit home for me. I can write a lot if I know ahead of time what I want to achieve when I sit down. Otherwise I'm easily distracted. She called it imagination time. So motivation to me is knowing what I want to say. It's really hard when I'm listening to Kid #1 scream, "Give me the ball back!" Kid #2 "you're in my seat." And somehow they are fighting about the same thing?
Richmond:
Sounds like summer around here, too.
E
I do almost everything that was mentioned-- rewards when something is done, to do lists, deadlines with writing partners, calendars, etc. But, what gets me instantly in the mood for writing is listening to the playlist on my Ipod for whatever I'm writing. I just throw on my headphones, and I'm there, within my novel. And, my writing ends up having its own soundtrack. (I try to avoid using it to drown out the kids!)
I love hearing about everyone else's process.
Heather
Trickery is a must. I'm one of those people who sets their clocks fast just to make sure they're on time... which has occasionally screwed me up because my husband sets the right time without telling me...
I do "to do" lists, but not so much to check stuff off... in fact the list often gets pushed to the side entirely, but I finish everything on it - I have to write things down, there's something about putting it on paper that makes it more concrete for me. Keeps me focused, helps me remember.
Right now I'm on blog hiatus and I'm not allowing myself to start up again until the current wip is finished... okay, after the first thorough revisions, anyway... And I am making myself little deals.. I can read a few blogs, but not comment... (okay, I still occasionally comment here - can't help it)
I think everyone does this to some extent, at least anyone who works from home or for themself... it's just a matter of how you self-discipline.
Deadlines motivate me, even self-imposed ones. But I've learned that sometimes I need to step back. I'm in a step-back position right now, stuck and stuff, and I got an idea, realized my antag is weak, and suddenly knew I needed to do actual, bona fide research.
So that's what I'm doing lately, and reading a great writing book (funny how certain books come along at certain times and you really "get" what they have to say, when a year before it would have been in one ear and out the other.
Also, summer is just not great writing time for me. The kids are home, we love to go waste the day at the pool, and we do a lot of social stuff like concerts. So I'm learning that it's okay to have a break. In a few years in the summer my kids won't want me hanging with them. But the writing will be there. For now, I'm making a lot of progress in my head.
Heather:
I am a major music junkie, and sometimes I play a genre that fits what I am writing, but I have never done a playlist/soundtrack. I really like the idea, though.
E
merry:
I first started working from home as an editor 14 years ago . . . I was always self-disciplined, but I still need a few tricks up my sleeve.
:-)
E
P.S. Nice to "see" you.
Starbucks:
Summer is tough for me, too. The level of energy ratchets WAY up with all four home, plus friends popping in and out. Oldest's friend often crashes on our couch. There's just only so many people I can cram in this house and still get things done. :-)
E
I'm totally out of sorts with my novel at the moment, so trickery involves making myself believe the break to write other things is necessary and will make the novel better when I go back to it.
When I'm writing anything - the novel or essays or stories - I also reward myself with television or internet playtime after a certain writing task. I don't always need that shove - but when I do - it works.
Amy:
It's nice knowing some of my unfinished stuff is there waiting for me.
E
Post a Comment