Needing to Want – Finding Motivation

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It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to do, but if you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to acquire it. A drug addict will always find a way to get that next fix. An alcoholic will find a way to get that next drink. Same goes for the smoker. I know, I quit smoking ten years ago cold turkey. I did this by eliminating one cigarette a day each week until I was down to one a day. That was when I wondered why I was even bothering to light one up.
I think there has to be a need to have a want. You can want something, but that doesn’t always guarantee that you’re going to get it. But if the need is stronger than the want, it acts like magic. – Maybe it is Magic!
Same goes for writing. There’s writer’s block, I do know that, but then there’s the other writer’s block from lack of motivation. I think the lack of motivation is a form of lack of confidence. When we write every day and put our words out for others to read, that’s how our confidence begins to build. It’s one of the main reasons why I believe all writers should blog at least once a week.

English: Unconscious Motivation
English: Unconscious Motivation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You say you’re on Social Media. That’s fine, but are you afraid of your writing being read by millions of people? The thought of this does make me a bit squeamish at times. You’re center stage and the spotlight is on you when someone not only buys your book but reads it. This is when your left wondering, did they like it?
Blogging can help overcome this feeling and build your confidence. You won’t get a lot of readers right off the bat. I think this can be a bonus. A blog can be your playground. You can use it to try new ways of writing. Play with writing prompts and see where they take you. Use it for a writing journal and make friends in the process.
It’s not always about trying to attract new readers. They will appear as your skill with writing grows stronger. You’ll lose your awkwardness with words and become less – let’s say – shy – would be the word.
I’m one of those quiet types. I try to listen to those around me and learn. As I get to know a person better, I become more comfortable with them and begin to interact more.
Writing is the same too. The more you are comfortable doing what you’re doing, the more likely you will do it every day.
I’ve been blogging much more since I moved my site. I feel the need since I am paying for this service; I’d better be using it. At work, I’ve found myself interacting with my co-workers more too. So the confidence level is growing not only in my writing but also in my ability to communicate with other individuals.

The point is, I wanted to write more and found a way to motivate myself to do so. I may not be working on my work in progress at this time, but I am writing, none the less. My goal by the end of the month is to be writing a post every day. Maybe my next post will lead me to a brainstorming session or an ah-ha moment, and I’ll come up with the next event of my story. I do have a lot of plot holes to get rid of, it’s going to need a lot of work. For now, I’ll use my post to keep me motivated and fuel my need to write because I want to finish this manuscript.

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Finding Writing Motivation – #ROW80

Linda Attends her First Ever RWA Meeting

Yesterday I attended my very first Romance Writers Meeting in Bow, NH. I had a great time.

My friend Linda Kepner whom is also a member of the Monadnock Writers’ Group invited me to this meeting as a guest. She has been a member since last year and wanted to share the experience with me.

I think I got a lot more out of this meeting than was apparent to me yesterday. It has helped spark some enthusiasm in me just by being around these fun loving girls.

Can you imagine being at a meeting in a library where you have been taught over the ages to be quiet and to find that this meeting is so loud with laughter that it can be heard in the main part of the library behind closed doors.

I had such a good time that I began to check out the National site to see how much the membership costs. What I say made me say ouch. If it wasn’t for having to have a root canal taken care of over the next few weeks I think I would have had the money to join. It is kind of steep when you are living pay check to pay check.

Oh well, it will just have to wait a few months.

In the mean time I began to poke around and discovered that the RWA also has a subchapter that is right up my alley. The Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Special Interest Chapter of RWA.

If this doesn’t motivate me to join, I don’t know what will. When I saw this I said, “Wait a minute. I guess I really do need to find a way to join.”

But still it is going to have to wait. I can’t pull money out of a hat unless it is in a story line. Unfortunately reality does not work that way.

So coming back to reality…

My ROW80 Check – In:

At the beginning of the week I had only added 1k words to Road Salt. Working on this story has been like pulling teeth. Sometimes I have found it to be almost as painful. It is not meant to be an entertaining read and I have to destroy the lives of my characters. I’m not really having fun doing this. Even the humor is lacking making this to be a dark sort of fiction, or so it seems to me.

But I do have to write this story. I promised to write it and by golly I will write it and finish it. Then I will be able to reward myself by writing the next installment of the Orgarlan Saga.

Today I am happy to report on my current additional word count of Road Salt. In the past 2 hours I was able to add another 2k words.

That makes 3k words for the week. Yes!

Now I will go back and fight off the temptation to put Road Salt away for the rest of the day. World of Warcraft is calling me. Hopefully I will be able to resist the temptation and keep on writing.

Have you written any stories where you felt like you were pulling teeth?

Stop by and check out and meet some of the other ROW’ers with our Linkey List.