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Trick Yourself Into Writing More

By on August 4, 2016
Trick Yourself Into Writing More - Writer's Life.org

One of the problems that many writers struggle with is having the motivation and momentum to keep on writing.

Sometimes, particularly if we are trying to fit our writing around other commitments, sitting down to write can end up being continuously pushed to the back of the ‘to do’ list. Before you know it, weeks, months, or dare we say, even years can pass without you having paid any attention to your creative work.

Writing consistently takes time and discipline, and if you are serious and passionate about your writing career, you need to make writing part of your routine.

As we have said time and time again, writing is a skill and if you don’t use it you lose it!

If you want to improve your craft, then you need to keep practising.

If you leave huge gaps between each writing session you’ll feel rusty to begin with - it takes time to get back into the swing of things so if this is the way you end up starting each session, you won’t make much progress (and eventually may feel so uninspired that you give up altogether).

So how do you stay motivated to write? Here are some clever ways to trick yourself into writing more.

Do it little and often

If you give yourself unrealistic goals, you are only setting yourself up for failure. Especially if it has been a long time since you have written, you need to start off slow. You need to get back into a writing groove, so at the beginning, give yourself a realistic, or even easy target each day or week, and then gradually build up from there.

Write a diary

If you want to write but don’t feel creatively inspired, then why not start by writing a diary? A diary is something just for you, you don’t have to share it with anyone else. It might not be the best way to be imaginative and creative, however, what it does do is get you writing every day.

Give yourself free reign in your diary to write down whatever you like. It could be highly personal and emotional, it could be focused purely on how you feel creatively, or it could be simply a list of things you have seen and done that day.

Get some feedback

While this may seem like a scary step if you feel ready, why not put some of your writing out there into the world? Getting useful feedback will only help you improve. Share your writing with friends and relatives at first who are likely to be positive and supportive, and when you have gained a bit more confidence, why find an online forum where you can post your work?

Writers tend to be very sympathetic towards other writers, so you will no doubt gain lots of compliments and encouragement, as well as a useful critique of your work.

Join a writers group or class

There is always safety in numbers, and by joining a writing group, you can not only bounce ideas off one another and share your work with like-minded creatives but also get motivated to write more as well.

When you are just writing for yourself, it can be easy to put it off. However, if you are attending a group or class where you are expected to have some writing to share, you’ll feel like you don’t want to let the other’s down - which will then (pleasantly) force you into creating new work.

These tips are useful for people who need a little helping hand to get motivated to write. Do you have any other tricks that you use? Why not share them here?

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