Happy Sunday!

I don’t know why, but these last couple weeks have been really hard for me, concerning the writing spectrum. I’ve been having to force myself to sit down and type just 100 words for me to meet my word count goal for the day. I have to be honest: it’s been a rough few weeks.

How? How are we, as writers, supposed to write when it seems like we have literally no motivation for doing so?

I don’t claim to be an expert on giving advice. I’m not an expert on much, period. But here are some things that I’ve learned during these past few weeks that have helped me just sit down and spew out sentences.

But first off, maybe I should define what I mean by “no motivation.”

This week, I haven’t been motivated. I sit down at my keyboard and iPad screen, ready to write, and . . . then I do absolutely nothing. I don’t feel like writing, and I wonder why I’m even trying to write.

This is what I mean by being unmotivated. You don’t feel like writing, and you may not even want to write.

So what should you do if you have no motivation?

Turn off Wi-Fi

You probably knew I would say that, didn’t you? :) But the past couple weeks, after staring at my cursor blink in my document, I would go straight to the Internet and google, for instance, “TED talk about introverts” and start watching a 19-minute video that has nothing to do with my story.

(And yes, that actually happened a couple days ago XD)

So click that button and turn off your Internet. If you’re not motivated, you’ll use any excuse to stop writing. At least give yourself another chance to write a couple more words.

Skip to the Exciting Stuff

Sometimes, the reason I have no motivation is that I’m trudging though scene after scene of my characters walking to their destination. Absolutely nothing happens, except maybe to introduce a plot device.

There’s an easy fix for this.

If nothing really happens during this time, make something happen. Are your characters fugitives? Maybe have assasssins find them. Maybe make up an entirely new character and place him near your characters.

Or, if you want, skip ahead a week, reference what happened in the parts that you skipped over, and go straight to the action.

(Just so you know, I don’t really take my own advice on this. I struggle through. And let me tell you, it is NOT FUN. But all of the points on here are just advice. You don’t have to listen to any of this.)

Remember Why You Do It

Why do you write? Why do you sit down at your computer screen every day? Why do you choose to pour your heart out onto a page?

Remember your reason for doing it, and maybe reconnect with that reason. Prayer is always a good activity. Read an inspiring book. Watch an inspiring movie. Or . . .

Listen to Motivating Music

This actually does help. Right now I’m listening to my Motivational playlist, which features a lot of intense soundtrack music. Sometimes music can just put you in the right mood to do things. You can use this to your advantage.

You can also pretend that what you’re trying to do is something extremely important and the world will end if you don’t do it. Role-playing can be extremely motivating.

Hey, if you have to pretend that you’re in an epic movie, go for it! I do it all the time at work.

Take a Break

Nadine Brandes recently made a YouTube video debunking the writing advice “write every day.” I won’t tell you what she says, exactly - you guys should watch it for yourselves. But I CAN’T write every single day. I just can’t. I need more refuel time or I get so sick of writing. I don’t know why.

This is from personal experience, but if I have no motivation, I’ve probably been writing too much with no refuel time. If this is the case for you, take a break. You will write more and better when you have refuel time. I guarantee it.

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This was a short and sweet post - I’m busy trying to do EVERYTHING before school starts. *insert ominous music* There’s just TOO LITTLE TIME! But I’ll still have a post next Sunday. (Just in case you thought you could get rid of me. :) *cackles*)

See you guys around the blogosphere! And if your school is starting up this week, tell me in the comments and we can suffer together!

-Nicole