Motivation

So what do you do when your motivation has lost its oomph? When writing that next chapter - or word - is the last thing you want to do? When your rejection file is thicker than your mattress?

You go do something else for fifteen minutes and come back. But make sure what you do is something fun. Go run around the house screaming like a banshee. Laugh out loud. Swing on a swing. Eat an ice cream cone and don't think about the calories, fat or sugar. Have a tryst with your significant other.

The thing is, find something to energize yourself, whatever that may be. Don't do something relaxing like a bubble bath - that will just make you mellow and you'll find even more excuses not to work. (Though I will admit, there are some forms of yoga and other exercises that are relaxing as well as enervating.) Do something that gets your blood moving, that gets you excited and happy and full of energy.

Once you're feeling really good, then come back to your manuscript. I'll bet you'll feel a lot more like writing - and your writing will flow better too.

I've been having a couple of bad writing days. Rejections, problems with computer files (back up and print out! Thank goodness I do both!), situations that didn't go the way I thought they would. I was at the point last night where I wanted to chuck it all in the trash and never look at another book again.

So I put it all away for the night and watched a couple of movies, talked with friends, went Christmas shopping (though that tends to depress me more than excite me), and generally did other things. And now I'm ready to get back to it with a fresh perspective. Yes, things may not go my way for a while, but those are situations I can't control. What I can control is how I handle them. I chose to mourn for a little, but just a little. Now, it's time to get back to work.
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"It's essential to distinguish between events that are really beyond your control and events you caused yourself." - Barbara Sher