Motivating Yourself to Write
Overcoming the daily grind to pursue your passion of writing a book is easier than you think once you understand what is hampering you.
(PRWEB) July 28, 2005 -- For those who have ever sat in front of a computer
or a typewriter to attempt to write a three to five hundred page novel, there
have been many days, and will be many more to come, when you don’t feel like
your creative juices are flowing. Whether you have published twenty novels or
are starting your first, this is a problem that has plagued every author at some
point in their career. It is the most common killer of careers in the writing
profession. Walking away can be more devastating to your dreams than you
realize.
How does one come to the point of not wanting to write? For many
it can be caused by a bad day at work, an argument with a friend or relative, a
family emergency, another ejection letter from an agent or publisher or a myriad
of other reasons that bombard our happy lives. It is easy to procrastinate with
so many issues trying to invade and dissuade us from our imaginations.
So how does an author get out of the quicksand that is constantly
shifting beneath his or her feet? Discipline and passion. Plain and simple.
There will always be roadblocks to keep us from achieving our goals, but
we should always be prepared to drive around, crawl under or hurdle whatever
gets in our way. With all that the normal person has on their daily plate, it is
easy to see why so many new writers give up before they have even finished their
first novel. Let’s face it. How many more people would become serious writers if
they didn’t have a full time job or family to raise? Plenty. But those who make
it are those who dedicate themselves to write no matter what is going on their
lives. If a person managed to write only one page a day for a full year, they
will have a book by its end. Sounds easy when you say it like that, but most
people don’t look at that way. Writing a book sounds daunting to most people
because they look at the book as a whole instead of all the parts that were
created to put it together.
Everyone wants to be at the end before they
have written their first word. Impatience is one of the main problems of
disciplining yourself. Still don’t understand? Basically, take it one day at a
time. Put one foot in front of the other and don’t worry about page counts or
deadlines. Write a set amount of pages a day and the rest will take care of
itself. And don’t worry if the pages aren’t your best stuff, that’s where the
editing and revising comes in later.
But being an author isn’t only
about writing a book, of course. There is much more beyond it. Another reason to
give up. What most new authors eventually learn is that finding an agent is
almost as difficult as finding a publisher. No one wants to receive a hundred
rejection letters before they find out their masterpiece will never go into
print. At this point you have to ask yourself, are you writing to be published
so you can make a ton of money, or are you writing because you love
it?
We all want to be rich and famous, but as we all know, not everyone
can be. If your goal is to only see your work in a book format, well, you can do
that yourself by seeking out a reputable vanity or subsidy publisher, especially
if you don’t have the patience to be offered a contract by an agent or
traditional house. If you can market well on your own, you could still be picked
up by a traditional house later. If you are writing because you love to write,
that can be a danger as well. No one wants their writing to be a hobby forever
if they are seeking a contract, which, let’s face it, most people are. What’s
the point in writing all those fancy phrases and conversations if you will have
no one to share them with?
You now see the dilemmas we authors face when
trying to stay motivated. I don’t think a person should one day say, “I should
write a book. Everyone else is doing it, why can’t I?” That’s not a very good
attitude to begin with. Instead, they should be saying, “I’ve always wanted to
write and would like it to one day be my only profession.” That’s a reasonable
attitude to jump into the pool with. It doesn’t set expectations too high at the
beginning when one first begins down the road as author, but it does say you
want to take it seriously enough that you will do what it takes over the long
run to be successful at it. And that is where discipline plays its part. From my
own personal experience, the more a person writes, the more success and
satisfaction they will find. It’s like any other line of work. The longer you
are at it, the higher your chances will get to finding your way into a decent
publishing house. You learn the bulk of what you need to in order to make it
into a career faster than you think, as long as you dedicate yourself to it
daily.
But how do you know for sure if you will be a writer that will not
just flounder for a long time and never find success? You will develop a passion
for it. And that passion will drive you to victory. Writing will become more
than just a hobby. You will take yourself seriously and strive for the best. And
once you understand what I am saying, there will be no stopping you.
Scot
R. Stone is a publsihed fantasy author with Behler Publications (www.behlerpublications.com). To view Scot's novels, please
visit his website at www.scotrstone.com.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb266211.htm