How To Come Back. How To Stay Motivated.

Before we start: I looked dozens of articles in research for this one, hoping to find at least one tip that wasn’t drivel. Across the board, every article was utter shit. Apologies for the bluntness of those words, but to the best of my knowledge, this is the only good list on author motivation available on the internet.

Okay, ranting aside, we all try to keep writing - we really do - but the fact is, life happens. “In-between projects” is a state that, if the author isn’t careful, can become permanent; worst of all, it can happen to anybody, completely irrespective of the author’s innate ability (see Harper Lee, Emily Brontë, Ralph Ellison).

Whatever your personal reasons are for not keeping up with your writing: time, stress, et cetera... the following step-by-step guide won't just help you get started again; it'll keep you writing!

1) Write What You Want To Read

I love challenging myself. I really do. It’s fun to write something that is outside of your normal comfort zone… but there is a reason why Stephen King wrote primarily Horror, and Philip K. Dick primarily Science Fiction: these are the genres that felt most natural for them to write.

Especially when you’re coming back from a long hiatus, you should be writing in genres that you know inside and out.

2) Don’t Just Plan… Write Yourself A Prompt!

Write out a brief sequence of events for every chapter before you begin. Keep it short, but precise. Don’t write things like, “I’m going to introduce my main character.” That's too vague to be helpful.

If I’m writing the first chapter of a greek tragedy, I should write something like--

“Open on a conversation between King Theitis (our main character), and King Linus of Zebanee. King Linus boasts that his top warrior can beat any two of Theitis’s. Theitis, in anger, responds by saying that Tralis, his general, could beat his warrior with one arm behind his back. The battle is set up, and Tralis dies - solely because his arm is tied behind his back.  

Point of Scene: This does many things; most notably, the scene shows Theitis’s pride and introduces the conflict between General Tralis’s troops and the Royal Crown (which will eventually lead to Theitis’s downfall)."

With this self-written prompt, we know where the chapter is going, and we know WHY it is being written… that takes a lot of pressure off the writing, which makes us far less likely to procrastinate.

3) Always End On A Cliffhanger

Conversely, never EVER stop at the resolution of a plot point. Mini resolutions are the death of motivation. When you reach a plot resolution, force yourself to keep writing to the next cliffhanger.

When Tina has a gun to her head, it is obvious that something important will happen. The urgency is omnipresent. In seminars, when I talk about this idea, people always complain that one shouldn’t stop when their writing is flowing. I totally disagree. If you know what happens when you stop, you’ll know what happens when you come back.

For myself, I almost always stop in the middle of a sentence. I’ll leave urgent half-sentences hanging for days, waiting desperately to be finished. Eg. “In a sudden burst of speed, she smacked the gun away and leapt behind...”

Go ahead. You know you want to.

 4) Utilize The Technology-Free Hour

Everyone in my life has great respect for my writing hours, and this is solely because I, myself respect my writing time. Here’s how I do it--

A) I tell everyone who is likely to contact me that I will be writing for the next hour.

B) I turn off my phone.

C) I turn over an actual hourglass (See Tip #7), and don’t leave the chair until every grain of sand has fallen.

D) I limit my internet access to searching for synonyms or doing specific, relevant research on my writing. You might think, if you have writer’s block, that you will stare at a blank word document for the full hour… you’d be wrong. I have never, not one single time, stood up from one of these writing hours without having written something. Fact is, you can only stare at a blinking cursor so long.

Stop worrying about finishing your novel. Just plan that next hour, and slowly, it WILL get done.

5) If You Can’t Force Yourself To Write…

So you’ve read the above tip twenty times, but it hurts you to even think about writing. It’s never as good as you want it to be. You schedule the hour, but can’t make yourself respect it, and find yourself doodling or watching TV…

Well, if you can’t force yourself to write, use your writing time better. Watch something related to your project. Read something that will make you think about the ideas you want to include. The more stories that you burn through, whether in film or the written word, the more excited you will get about the many things you can incorporate into your own fiction.

 6) Join A Writer’s Group

Okay, okay. Not everyone has the time or the inclination. I, myself, haven’t been in a LONG time. That said, when I was writing Tiny Instruments, knowing that the writer’s group was eagerly awaiting the next chapter gave me some kind of motivation when thoughts like, “But the odds of me becoming successful are so slim!” and “But nobody reads books anymore anyway!”, came creeping in.

If your primary motivation comes from others, there’s especially something to be said about surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who are all working toward the same goal. There’s a certain energy that gets your thoughts flowing.

As far as joining a group goes, my advice is this--

If it speaks to you, do it. If it doesn’t, don’t.

 7) Buy Yourself A New Pen, A New Hourglass, Or A “New” Typewriter

Weird advice, huh?

If you can’t afford it, I wouldn’t recommend doing this one often. Still, this tidbit is far more effective than you might first believe.

The logic is simple. If you have a REALLY nice pen, you’re going to want to use it. If you’re anything like me, you’re going to be just dying to put that Mont Blanc on the paper… go ahead. Feel how smooth it glides across the sheet as you crank out the world’s next great novel!

8) Realize That Crappy Writing Is Better Than No Writing

Perfectionist tendencies in writing are wonderful. They allow you to bring your writing to a whole new level as you constantly search for that perfect turn of phrase… but if you don’t knock it off, you’ll never publish a damn thing! Repeat after me: The more you write, the better you get.

There’s nothing wrong with taking pride in your work, but over-perfectionism can strangle a writer’s career; believe me, I’ve suffered with this throughout all of mine.

It's that simple. Follow the above, and soon, you’ll be holding your finished novel in your hands.

Two Types Of Stories

There are many types of stories, and many different genres for stories to fit into… yet, as long-time readers of my blog know, I’m not a huge fan of writing for a genre. Genre writing can feel like a cage, and I want to write what I feel without worrying if the science fiction, fantasy or romance communities will accept my book when I’m done. That said, there are two distinctions among story types that I DO find immensely helpful. For those looking to begin a new work, simply knowing which of the two you want it to be can help guide your writing forward.

--The Idea Story--

An idea story, simply, is a story that is centered around a premise. It is the classic “what if” story.

What if a man who was raised in the jungle is brought into civilized society?

Tarzan/George of the Jungle

What if a travel journalist winds up on an island where every inhabitant is just an inch tall?

Gulliver’s Travels

What if a man creates a living being from the parts of dead people?

Frankenstein

What if a completely normal boy finds out that he is an important figure in another world, and is brought to a school of witchcraft and wizardry?

Harry Potter

One can often begin these kinds of stories without a clear character in mind. The circumstances of the plot will drive the person forward - and that allows us to figure out their personalities based on how they respond to the various stimuli around them. As the story progresses, their individuality begins to shine through.

If we can identify something as an idea story, that doesn’t mean it can’t contain good characters. It only means that the scenario of the story is the thing that initially brings readers into the story. Wouldn’t you want to see how a military assassin might get on, completely out of place, in a small town in Mississippi? Why not?

--The Character Story--

Character stories are important because of their insight into human psychology. They thrive when we, the readers, see mirrors of our own inner joys and sorrows. They are also extremely hard to explain as “what if” stories.

If you were forced to describe Catcher in the Rye as a “what if” story, how might you go about it?

Perhaps: "What if, after being expelled, a boy decides that, instead of coming home, he would like to meander around a town, smoking and drinking as he ponders the complexities of human existence?"

It becomes painfully obvious when phrased like this, that this kind of story has no innate goal.

Tarzan must conquer his inner animal so he can conquer Jane’s heart. Harry Potter must survive in a completely different world, despite the fact that evil beings constantly seek his destruction. What must Holden Caulfield do? Really, he has two choices - both of them deceptively simple. The first is to remain away from his family. The second is to face his parents and his sister Phoebe.

The storyline of Catcher in the Rye doesn’t depend on any kind of action. It lies in Holden’s ability to come to terms with himself - to either fully convince himself that his way of living is just, or accept his failures as his own and move on.

Here are a few character stories for your consideration:

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Ulysses by James Joyce

There are, of course, events that happen in character stories that move the plot forward - but they are oftentimes more abstract. The Great Gatsby for example, really only has three direct plot points: when Gatsby and Daisy meet again for the first time, when Daisy hits someone with Gatsby’s car and when Gatsby is murdered.

Everything else is emotional drama - such as when we, the readers, find out that Daisy Buchanan lied about her relationship with Tom Buchanan, and that, despite everything she’s said, she still loves him. In this moment, the plot has not directly moved forward. Gatsby’s actions have not changed. He still stands by Daisy - and yet, our emotions HAVE changed. We feel for Gatsby when he hears this news. We weep for the beautiful man that, despite everything, still only wants to make Daisy’s life better.

--A Brief Note on Hybrids--

There are no hybrids. Yes, there are idea stories that have complex characters, but there is a fundamental difference between these two types of stories. They are opposites in a way. My novel, Tiny Instruments, takes place in a complex Sci-Fi world, but human weakness and strength is what moves the plot forward. There are occasionally driving forces in the plot (as there are in any plot), but the focus always returns to the mind of Timothy Cottard and his own inability to understand humanity (and whether or not he is a part of it). Lord of the Rings is an idea story. Despite complex characters, it is the need to stop Sauron and destroy the ring of power that gives value to everything the characters do.

--Why it Matters--

Knowing what kind of story you have allows you to figure out WHAT TO FOCUS ON in your writing.

If I were going to write the opening chapters of a book about Jamangi, the board game that forces people to play and risk their lives until it’s over, I would give only the most rudimentary character information. Just enough to get a sense of who this person is - and then I would go bring in the board game. Even if I only give 4 pages of setup before I introduce the game, that’s probably just fine. I would set up the events to bring out the different sides of the characters.

If I were going to write a book that focuses on the tendency of people to undervalue their family, I would create a character and put her in a situation that allows her to figure those tendencies out for herself, and hopefully, to overcome them.

So... which type is your story?