Finding the motivation to write

When you’re thinking about creating a writing routine, what tools come to mind? Where is your source of motivation—deadlines or supports from the outside? Or a desire to create that comes from within?

External motivation

External motivators are structures in the outside world that keep us on track to meet our goals. I’m talking your workshops and classes, writing buddies—anything that gives you deadlines and someone to report to will help you make good on a project you’ve decided to do.

Pros and cons of seeking out external support

Of course, setting goals and creating systems of accountability to help you meet those goals are key to moving forward with your writing. These external motivators can be really effective, depending on your personality.

But—there’s always a but, right?

And writers, particularly creative writer types, are sensitive. We want to be moved. We need to feel things to make art!

Pushing yourself to create x pieces in x weeks just for the sake of finishing a challenge can make your writing cliché or superficial. Not only that, without a strong sense of why we are making this project, the goal of hitting a set number of words each day is not enough. That sort of daily writing practice can leave us feeling blah, despairing about work that feels flat, and wondering what on earth we were thinking imagining we could be writers. Sound familiar?

A structure to fit your personality

Some people thrive in structures of external accountability. They love a writing class or a challenge. NaNoWriMo people, I’m talking to you! And these can work great in the short term, but they are not a perfect fit for everyone. (If this works well for you, more power to you!)

Others (and I’m talking about me now) go into robot mode to meet the deadlines. We begin full of enthusiasm and good intentions—we’ve got our forum buddies, we’ve got our plans mapped out. We manage to rise to the challenge for a month and freaking write that novel or those 28 flash pieces in 28 days. But by the end, we’re just kind of limping across the finish line. We find ourselves completely exhausted. Personally, after something like that, I don’t feel like writing again for weeks again or maybe even another month. After a job that grueling, I need to recover.

Still others hit the wall of writer’s block in the middle of a challenge. Writing just for the sake of meeting a deadline loses its sense—they don’t know what they are writing about anymore. And more importantly, they are not sure why they are writing. What is the point? They risk coming out of the challenge on the cusp of an existential artist’s crisis, and will need to spend a lot of time working through feelings of failure and inadequacy before they feel brave enough to write again. 

Internal motivation: Fuel your writing over the long term

Now I don’t want to give you the impression that I hate deadlines. They are super important! Personally, as a mother of two young kids, I can’t write without them. But to consistently write for months at a time, I need to tap into my passion. My obsession, even. I need to be sure I’m working with topics that get me up out of bed early, that make me feel excited to open my notebook or computer.

To be able to write regularly and produce work that is deep and interesting—to ourselves and to the readers we want to reach—we also need to cultivate our internal motivation.

Locate your personal sense of meaning

One way to think about this is to focus on choosing projects that are personally meaningful to us. What do I mean, exactly? These are projects connected with an idea or theme that sparks a strong feeling for you. Really, any feeling will do!

And your passion and curiosity—or whatever feeling is sparking for you, whatever the deeper undercurrent may be—will sustain you on those hard days full of logistical challenges. Because there will always be a sick kid, a problem at the day job, or a dark mood. Don’t let these setbacks derail your writing routine!

Freewrite to spark your passion

Here’s a quick freewriting exercise if you’d like help generating a list of personal themes. I call mine a Spark List or My List of Obsessions. I keep mine in the back of my notebook to come back to on days when inspiration is running a little low. Respond with the first answer that comes to mind. ?

I am currently feeling:

• curious about … 
• excited about …
• passionate about … 
• obsessed with … 
• delighted by … 
• enraged by  … 
• confused by  … 
• sustained by … 
• inspired by  …