“I’ve lost my motivation!” have you lost your writing motivation? (Here are some tips to get it back)

“Why do I have no motivation to write?”

We’ve all been there where the idea of writing just makes us feel dread.

Even things like cleaning the bathroom seem more appealing and it’s so confusing because writing is our passion, right? So why do we lack the motivation to write sometimes? Well, if you do join things like writing groups, you will understand that everybody goes through it at some point, so the first thing is not to worry or to doubt yourself.

It happens to everybody no matter what their success.

Sometimes the lack of motivation could literally just be physical.

You’re really tired. Especially if you’re still working a 9-to-5 job that could be draining.

You may have a job and have a family (and pets) to take care of and the last thing that you feel like doing is writing where you’re having to think or you’re having to plan and using up a lot of brainpower that you simply don’t have at the end of the day or the beginning of the day when you’re thinking about how stressful your your day might be.

So it’s completely understandable why are you lack the motivation to give 100% to your writing and in some ways you may feel like a failure because you know that you’re not given 100% you’re writing.

Please don’t feel bad, it happens to everybody.

I sometimes feel an element of guilt like I’ve chosen this as my living, my profession and my passion. I should always be excited about planning stories, right?

But you know what? You’re human.

Sometimes you just think ” I’m not feeling it today”. Discipline does come into play where even though you don’t feel like doing it, you know that as long as you do something whether that’s just writing down some ideas that can help or think of some new scenes or characters, that can stop you beating yourself up.

But if you’re feeling that guilt, that is completely normal too. Even people who are millionaires doing things that they’re passionate about whether that be sportsmen and women, they do have some days where they don’t want to get up and train. They don’t want travel the world, which might seem like a dream to everybody else but we’re all only human and sometimes doing the same thing over and over again at some point does feel tedious and that can lead to a lack of motivation.

Another reason why you might not feel motivated is, you may be editing as soon as your writing so you feel like your writing isn’t fluid. You feel like that writing is hard work instead of just letting it flow and almost being a kid and excited about the story.

Instead, you want to edit straight away and that is your inner critic coming out and that is something that will come onto but it could just simply be that you feel like that your writing isn’t good enough, but it’s at this stage you shouldn’t be worried about that at all because books go through different stages of editing in order to get it ready for your readers.

Another reason that you might not have any motivation to write could be that you’re simply not excited about your project.

It’s almost like a difficult child to love if that makes sense?

We went through the exact same thing with one of our projects. It felt hard to allocate time in our busy day to dedicate to it.

In the end, we literally re-did it and then we came up with a storyline that we were excited about.

So if you’re not excited about it, you’re not going to be excited writing it and your readers will not feel as excited reading it because there is something magical happens when you’re you are passionate about a project.

It’s like your readers can feel that passion off of the page so if you’re not feeling your project then that is an indicator that maybe you should stop and fix it.

Being scared to fail is another reason why some people lack writing motivation.

This is so common.

You can also be scared to succeed as well which might seem a bit crazy but it is so true. You might be surrounded by people that think that what you’re doing is silly or you should ‘get a real job’ or that you’re not making a lot of money so in the end, you feel like that every word that you write, you’re almost drained from the social construct of people around you but it’s your passion. So you’re in this conflict and it just feels like a job too far because if you succeed you may not feel like you deserve it, and if you fail, then you’ll feel like that everybody is thinking I told you.

It’s that conflict (and pressure) of whether you succeed that can stop you from writing.

What can this mean?

This means that sometimes it’s just easier to not write, and instead to have that project always in front of you as something that needs doing ‘one day’ because, in a way, that feels like we get the best of both worlds.

We have something to look forward to but we don’t experience the painful feelings of failure of things like writer’s block or of the conflict of having to go against what the social construct is.

So if we always have it in front of us it feels like a more comfortable position than battling through it and like I said we’re all human.

it’s easier to take an easier route but you know what also it means? That your incredible story doesn’t get released out into the world. Your incredible story doesn’t get to inspire other people or to help them escape from whatever surroundings they are in, so you also don’t get to experience the amazing highs of seeing your story on Amazon or wherever you’re going to sell your book.

Trust me, it is something that never gets old when your book gets released into the world and then the reviews start coming in and other people feel the same passion about your story as what you do.

it’s a wonderful feeling.

When you experience this, it seems shut such a shame to keep it hidden or to keep it locked up because not everybody has the ideas for books so if you’ve got amazing ideas, yes, in the short term it may seem uncomfortable but the long-term is a beautiful experience.

What you need to think of is, do I really want to sacrifice the amazing highs for some short-term self-doubt or inner critic and maybe people who don’t believe in our dream?

What motivates a writer to write?

Experiences – A writer may want to inspire other by sharing something they have overcome and realising it may be a good story to tell.

Passion – When you can’t stop thinking of characters, storylines and plot twists, you can’t help but want to write these down and release them into the world.

Being able to write for a living – Yes, you can make a full-time living writing if you work hard enough with creating the best books you can and knowing how to market them.

Our writer friend, Simon McCleave is absolutely smashing it and he only released his first book ‘Snowdonia Killings’ at the beginning of 2020.

Tips to help you with your writing motivation:

1. Set easy to achieve goals (at least at first). Don’t ‘eat the elephant’ all in one go. Even if you say to yourself. ‘I’m only going to write for 5 minutes’ and set a timer. 5 minutes feels so much easier than 3,000 words doesn’t it? You’ll be surprised at how often you will go a lot longer than 5 minutes. Just build up slow,
2. DO. NOT. EDIT. If you edit as you go, you will lose the flow. (Erm that rhymes!) It is our inner critic that prevents us from cutting loose and freeing our story. Editing comes later.
3. Plan well. I’ve got other blogs with how we plan our books and trust me, it really helps with the writing motivation and you don’t feel like you have to use up a lot of energy to create a scene. It’s already been created (using notecards etc.)
4. Clear your desk! I’m going to sound weird. But, if my desk is cluttered, I literally avoid it and make every excuse going to not sit at it. It’s like the clutter makes my mind noisy. When my desk is clear, I feel like I’m ready to go and take on the day. Do you have a nice, clear space where you can feel creative? If not, make a space just for you and keep it tidy.
5. Don’t end the last sentence you write. When you are writing and are about to finish your session, don’t finish the last sentence you are writing. Why? Because you’ll know that in your next session, you will pick up (easily) where you left off and get straight back into the groove.
6. Set a deadline. Even if it’s ‘500 words this week’. That may not sound a lot. But we want to achieve our goals and get back into the groove, not punish ourselves. Even if you only write 500 words a week in 2 writing session and that was your goal – You’ve succeeded! When you get your confidence up, gradually add more word count to your goal.
7. Get your front cover designed professionally. You’re probably thinking ‘why on earth is this tip in here?’ Whenever we invest in our front covers to be designed (at a point when we are fairly sure of our characters and storyline) I get super motivated to get the book finished as it’s a kind of visualisation. I then want to see it on the virtual shelves of Amazon. It almost seems a waste if we have paid out for our front cover and then we don’t bother with the story.

Writing motivation website for you:

If you click HERE, you will be taken to an excellent resource to help jump start your writing motivation.

Some other blogs that may help you:

• Outlining Your Novel: The Perfect Tool to Keep Readers Engaged! – Tips and Tricks for Crafting an Entertaining Plot
• Avoid These Common Self-Publishing Mistakes: A Quick Guide to Success
• Write a Nonfiction Book: Tips and Tricks for Success
• Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Compelling Novel Outline – Unlock the Secrets to a Strong Storyline!
• From Idea to Epic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Fantasy Fiction