You kind of want to write, but… you’re just not feeling it. How do you get enough writing motivation so that you could actually start AND finish your writing projects? Let’s talk about that!
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What do you mean by motivation?
When you say you’ve got no motivation to write, what do you mean? Because when I think of things I don’t feel motivated to do, it’s stuff like emptying the dishwasher or cleaning the litter boxes: important but also boring things I need to do over and over again regardless of whether I feel “motivated” or not.
If you really want to write but you can’t make yourself, could this be an executive function issue? I’m not saying everyone who struggles with motivation is neurodivergent even if I am, but maybe there’s just too much other stuff going on that you’re literally unable to start doing anything. That’s not a question of motivation.
So maybe give it some thought and see if there’s a different issue besides “motivation” at play here, and try to address that issue directly.
Do you really need writing motivation?
Here’s the thing: you can do loads of things without being particularly motivated or inspired. Yes, it’s a lot more fun when you’re really into it and fueled by it, but you can still do it without that stuff.
If writing is a “just for fun” thing for you, then sure, only do it when you feel like it. But if you’ve got some sort of goals in mind, you probably can’t rely on fickle things like motivation or inspiration if you want to reach those goals.
When you know you need to write, give yourself a little talking to and see if you could write anyway even without “motivation”. I know you’re more than capable of it and you should remind yourself of that as well.
Why aren’t you already motivated to write?
Remember what I said about the litter boxes earlier? Does writing REALLY feel like that to you? Because if that’s so, that’s a huge problem.
Why do you even want to write? Do you like the idea of being a writer but you aren’t actually prepared to do the work that would make you “a writer”? No wonder you don’t feel like doing it if you’re more interested in the end result than in the process.
Another possibility is that you do want to write, but you haven’t found the right idea, or perhaps you think there’s something that you’re supposed to write that is different from what you want to write.
If you want to be a writer, writing in general should get you excited, even if it’s not super inspiring and motivating every second of the day. If it feels like a slog, something is wrong.
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Internal motivation and external motivation
As a mother who tries her best not to mess her children up, I know it’s important to try and teach them to have internal motivation about things and not just external motivation. As in, they should tidy up their rooms because it gives them a pleasant living environment and it’s important to look after your stuff, not just because mummy says so.
When it comes to writing, it’s good to have both kinds of motivation. Feel motivated to write because it’s important and because the process of creating worlds with words is satisfying to you, but you can also feel motivated by the thought of other people reading your stories. (We’ll get more into that later.)
So think of what kind of internal and external motivation you might have, and you might be surprised to see that you’re actually more motivated than you thought. Or, you know, you might realise you don’t have a good enough reason to write, at least not this particular story. Make changes accordingly.
Are you okay?
I love having clean hair and boiling myself in the shower, but that doesn’t make me any more motivated to shower when I’m depressed. Sorry, people I live with, I might smell. Tough. That’s why it doesn’t matter how motivated you are to write in general if you’re currently suffering from depression or a physical illness.
If you’re unwell for one reason or another, give yourself time. Yes, achieving your writing goals might make you feel better, but don’t burn yourself out in the process. There’s a reason why you’re not feeling motivated right now and you’d do well to listen to yourself
Are you overwhelmed by your goals?
If you’re writing an entire novel, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of that project. When you know that any progress you’ll be able to make is minimal, it can be hard to motivate yourself to take those baby steps.
If you’ve been trying to work on a novel for ages without making any kind of progress, maybe it’s time to scale back. Try writing something much smaller, whether that’s a short story or a 100-word drabble.
Even if you really do want to write a novel, don’t de-motivate yourself by thinking you always need to write 3000 words in one go. Give yourself much smaller word count goals, try to have weekly goals instead of daily goals, or stop thinking about progress as a number of words. Write a scene, write a conversation, write a reaction. Little blocks and units like that feel much more achievable than thinking you need to write an whole-ass novel.
Does writing feel too difficult?
If you want to write but it feels like there’s just too much that you don’t know how to do, no wonder it’s hard to motivate yourself to do it. You need a clear plan that saves you time and effort so that you can focus on motivating yourself to do the next step instead of just fumbling in the dark.
My free Start Your Novel course will get you started the right way and you can leave the task of worrying about what to do to me. I know I feel a lot more motivated to do something difficult or new when someone gives me a roadmap that I can just follow.
But also, if you’re not confident in your skills, it’s a lot harder to make yourself do it, and I don’t blame you. Fortunately for you, I’ve got an answer for that too, and that’s my free database of writing exercises. Focus on improving your skills first, and it becomes easier to feel motivated about writing.
Commitment matters more than motivation
Did you know that you can just decide to do something, and sticking to those decisions becomes easier the more you do it? If not, it’s time to start working on that.
If you’re in the habit of not keeping the promises you make to yourself, it’s so easy to weasel out of writing when you don’t feel like doing it. But what if you were committed to writing and you knew that you’ll do it whether you’re motivated or not? You’d make a lot more progress and you’d have a reason to be quite proud of yourself.
When something is important to you, you can just decide to do it. Yes, life can be unpredictable, but when it’s a fight between a firm decision and lack of motivation, the winner should be clear.
If this sounds like an impossible task, I know it’s easier said than done, but you can also practise it with smaller decisions. That way you can train your brain to do the difficult things, too, and not default to staying put and staying comfortable.
Remember the end goal
Think of your internal and external motivation again. Why, exactly, do you want to write? What do you think you’ll achieve with the end result? What will your life be like once you’ve finished writing? These are important things to remember.
Think about these things:
- How will you feel once you’ve finished writing?
- What would it be like to say you’ve written a novel?
- How nice will it be to finish editing and see how much your writing has improved?
- How exciting will it be to query your novel if you’re pursuing traditional publishing, or how thrilling will it be to self-publish your novel?
- What will it feel like when the first person purchases your book?
- What kind of things will people say about your story? How much will they love your characters and be amazed at the twists and turns?
- What would it be like to have someone say you’ve written their favourite novel?
- What will your first 5-star review say?
Thinking of these things should help you feel more motivated to write, because you can’t achieve them without writing. Don’t be like “well, that won’t happen to me” because you couldn’t possibly know that unless you actively chose not to write. By choosing not to write, you’re making it easy for yourself because you KNOW that you will fail.
My favourite thing to daydream about is me at a bookstore, signing my books for my readers who are waiting in line. How will my fans have anything to get signed if I never write my novels? I usually think about that whenever I have any kind of a setback in my writing journey, because I can’t afford to give up on my dreams.
What is the opposite?
I prefer to focus on the positives when I’m trying to motivate myself to do something, but it can be helpful to think of the flip side as well. What if you never wrote anything – what would that look like? How would you feel about never becoming an author or never finishing that particular novel you’re avoiding?
Doing this might just scare you into action, but it could also make you realise it’s not that big of a deal after all. That’s okay too, and at least you’ll be free to direct your energy somewhere else.
Try creating a vision board for your writing goals
I might just write an entire post about this if anyone would be interested, but creating a vision board for your writing goals could help you stay motivated. All you’d need to do is take a look at it whenever you should be writing and don’t feel like it, and it could snap you right back on track.
There are no rules for making vision boards so don’t worry about having to do things “the right way”. What do you see when you think of your ideal future as a writer? What kind of images or words could represent the things you will feel in that future? Include anything you can think of that makes your great success feel tangible. Make it the background of your phone so you remember your real goals when you feel tempted to get lost on TikTok once again.
What are you achieving by not writing?
Like I said earlier, one of the benefits of not writing is absolute knowledge of whether you’ll reach your goals or not. You will know for certain that you can’t achieve them because you never wrote. If you do chase your writing dreams, you’ll have to live with the insecurity of not knowing whether you’ll achieve what you want.
What else could there be? Are you choosing comfort over writing? Are you addicted to short-form videos and you keep losing your writing time to social media? What does THAT give you in return? Yes, sometimes the “not writing” thing can be good and valuable, like sometimes I have to choose to do extra work instead of taking out my first draft and sometimes I really am so fried that I might as well just play My Time at Sandrock instead of writing.
I’m not going to tell you which things are more important than writing, I’m telling YOU to think about it. Whenever you’re like “nah, I don’t feel like writing”, think of what you’ll be doing and getting instead, and whether that’s more valuable to you than writing. No one else can tell you what’s more important in any given moment.
Always remember that your writing matters, and no matter how much or how little progress you make, your writing bestie Katri is proud of you.
Protagonist Crafts is a blog about writing fiction, written by a published author and creative writing teacher. You can find more writing tips and inspiration in the blog and you can get the best author tools at Writer Lifestyle on Etsy.
