The more I write, the more I realize that writing is
mostly a mind game. I have a word count that I strive to hit every day. Some
days, the words seem almost to rack up themselves. I accomplish everything in
one sitting without breaking a proverbial sweat. (I don’t actually sweat when
writing…much.)
Other days, I find myself checking my word count after
every sentence, mired down and bemoaning the fact that it has only gone up a
few dozen words since last time I checked it. If I cross the finish line on
days like this, It is just barely.
Then there are some days, like the 30th of
June of this year. On that day, I wrote about 9,000 words, many times the
normal amount. This also happened on a day in December last year…almost 10,000
words in a single sitting.
What’s the difference?
I feel like it all comes down to motivation. On the last
day of the month when I’m way behind on my writing goal for the month, it is a
lot easier to sprint. In the middle of the month when I’ve had plenty of time,
I have to work a little harder.
On that day in December, I was writing for a contest to
see who could write the most in four hours and won the contest and some money
for Christmas presents.
There are many things that motivate you to write. I don’t
think it matter so much what you use to motivate yourself, only that you have
something. Set and do everything you can to stick to your goals. Keep track of
your progress and race against yourself. Reward yourself after your own fashion
when you hit certain milestones.
In a perfect world, the motivation of creating wonderful
prose should be its own reward. Human nature keeps this from being a perfect
world. The trick is to know how to trick your own brand of human nature so that
you can get some work done.
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