How to maximise your writing motivation
If you were on our recent Book Masterclass, you’ll have seen Sheryl talk you through the various stages of writing and publishing a book.
Most people start at the dreaming phase. This may be triggered if someone has said to you something like: “You should write a book about this…” Or you realise that you have an important story or expertise that you want to share with more people. And you know that a book is a great tool to do this.
And many people go through this dreaming phase for a long time thinking about what they could write.
Some go into the next phase and start talking about it.
Very few go and start planning and writing it.
And even less people actually then finish and publish their book.
But most frustratingly, many of these people are influenced by themselves or others who question whether they are good enough, whether they know enough, and whether they have something unique to say.
They find that the spark that was initially ignited is soon extinguished and it can take a long time for it to be re-lit again. Soon the motivation to get started – let alone finished – fails to happen.
The thing that keeps many of our authors on the straight and narrow with their book is the fact that they’ve invested in it. They’ve invested time, energy, emotion and money, so there’s little that may get in the way.
They also know that they’ll get accountability and support to make their book happen. But this motivation doesn’t just come from their coach, it also comes from the individual themselves. And it helps if you know how you are motivated.
How are you motivated?
I talk about motivation at length in chapter 8 of Your Book is the Hook. And there are various suggestions in the book that will help you to get motivated to start and finish the book. First it also helps to understand that people are motivated in two main ways.
Towards motivation
Some people are mainly ‘towards’ motivated. That means that they are motivated towards pleasure or success. Such as helping someone, making a difference, showing a better way of doing something, or creating a better future or life for themselves or others.
Some of our authors are motivated by visualising their success. They project themselves into their future. They see themselves at their book launch and get excited about the reviews that people are leaving them on Amazon.
They may be motivated by knowing that their story and their life lessons haven’t been for nothing.
Building on the third step we shared in the Book Masterclass – knowing your why – they may have a clear purpose to write their book and this will help keep them on track.
Away from motivation
Other people find that they are motivated ‘away’ from something to avoid pain or discomfort.
For example, they know that writing the book will mean that they can get away from the boss they hate, the difficulties they are going through, or the trauma that has affected them.
They know that writing the book and reliving some of the pain that they felt whilst going through a difficult situation will be cathartic and that it’s worth it to get through the other side.
Generally, however, if you’re motivated by moving away from something, the pain of staying where you are needs to be greater than the pain you may face to be brave and take action for you to move forward, i.e. to go on and write your book.
One question I love to ask people
Whenever I have a Book Strategy call with someone, I’ll often ask the following question:
If we were to have a conversation in a year’s time, what would be happening?
It’s a great question to assess your own motivation and whether you are ready to give everything you’ve got to make your book a reality.
How we can help your writing motivation?
This August, we’re running the 10,000 Word Summer Book Challenge, a 31-day online programme to motivate you to get started or get over the finish line with your book.
With five webinars and buzzing Facebook community, if you know that having cheerleaders on your side to help you to get focused and motivated with your book, then please join us. We start on 1st August for this annual challenge and you can find out more at this link.
And if you’d like a little more tailored and individual support, why not join us on the writing retreat in Spain in September? We are away for five nights in a small group where you’ll get the time to focus on what really motivates you, develop your confidence as a writer, find your voice, and so much more. And you’ll get the challenge for free! Find out more about the writing retreat here.
You can find more about all of our programmes at www.librotas.com/events, and you can book a conversation to discuss your next best steps by completing this short questionnaire and arranging a call.