How to stay a motivated writer
Sometimes words just flow out of my head. And sometimes I get stuck. Do you recognize this? Find out how I deal with staying a motivated writer.
Summertime is at its end. Although the temperatures these days suggest otherwise. For the last two month’s I shared weekly a short story. Read here why I decided on writing short stories.
Writing a short story is fun but challenging! From the first sentence the reader has to be drawn in the story. It is getting to the essence and leaving out irrelevant information. Sometimes it feels like a technical exersize. Writing short stories is a good way to unlearn your formal writing style. And that is what my quest is all about! Some weeks a story was written in just a few hours time. The next week it took me days to chew on just one paragraph. Frustration!
How do you stay motivated?
In the last two month several people asked me this question. Every time I had a different answer because I could not make sense of it either. Looking back to this period here is what worked for me:
I plan each day writing moments in my calender. Yes each day! Sometimes it may be just five minutes or just 10. It does not matter! You know yourself which time of day your writing flow is at it best. For me it is in the morning. This works best when you actually unplug yourself and create a bubble where it is just you and the story.
As I am still struggling with sitting painfree I have limited time to actually sit and write. So a lot of thinking on the storyline happens in my head. While making breakfast, taking a walk or lying on the couch I let myself merge into the story. Sometimes I send myself an email on my phone with notes.
Do you recognize that you just want to write but don’t know what to write about?! While working as a policy advisor I had always other people telling me what to write. I needed to find another way to get into my own writing. But sometimes I was just staring the screen and nothing seemed to come out of my head. So I asked some friends to send me a few words. I wrote each word on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. For a period I started my day with picking out one word. I looked at the word and just started writing everything that came in my mind. Slowly it became a collection of notes, scribbles that later turned into short stories.
Find a good place to write! Sometimes all you need is your laptop (or a blocnote and pencil!), a place to sit and start writing. The surrounding does not matter. Other times you need an inspirational place to get going. As I have a sitting challenge I always have to plan where I write. Writing only at home is not always working. Luckily I found some places nearby where I can take my shoes of, put my feet up and write. Every time I have a different view. People come and go and writing goes in a flow.
The coming period I will be writing more about my experiences that I encountered during my quest to find back my writing style.
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Recap
Springtime 2023 I started my quest to find back my writing style. If you just joined to read my Substack page here is a little recap.
Stories matter, you are the main character of your life That is why it is good everybody starts writing. If you feel you lost your writing style your are in the right place! Maybe you can learn from my mistakes. I discovered five pillars to untangle the complexity of understanding how your writing style is shaped.
Here are some questions for you:
Do your remember the first book that was read to you? Here is how this has become pillar one.
Did you know that literaly learning how to write help shape your identity? starts with learning how to write. In this post I wrote about the second pillar