So you want to be a Great Writer™
“What’s your level of motivation like today on a scale from 1-10?”
Photo by Jeremy Perkins from Unsplash
“Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis.”
That picture up there has been me for the past couple of weeks: a zero, but somehow still on fire. And it’s even more disheartening for me when all the advice I ever hear is, “You must work through the slumps. That is what distinguishes the good writers from the great.”
Fuuuuuuuuck.
So here I am, a Good Writer™, wondering what I must do to be hashtag great, and finding the motivation to do none of those things. So what do you do when you find yourself in the lack of motivation blues? I may have a few pieces of advice, as that is a song I am often singing.
Help! I don’t know how to be a Great Writer™
So, you want to be a Great Writer™? Let’s go through a few steps you can take!*
1. Figure out what you want to do.
Hey! It’s okay if you don’t want to write right now. It’s okay if you’re finding yourself worn down during a global pandemic in tandem with a long awaited social movement that is ripping apart the base upon which our nation was built. That’s okay!! Don’t stress about that!! So if you’d rather play video games or scroll or donate or protest or furiously Google just when the COVID-19 crisis will end, that’s cool. Do that.
2. Set boundaries and limits for yourself.
How many of you have been trying to learn a new language or an instrument or how to bake banana bread or workout or ponder the meaning of existence in a pandemic-fueled internal crisis? Yeah, same.
Well, in the same vein of figuring out what you want to do, you should also probably rank those things in order of importance. You can’t do it all. And I’m learning that the hard way with you. Right now, writing has taken a backseat to cooking dinner for myself every night and exercising so I get SOME endorphins going. In short, go easy on yourself. Right now is rough, and you need to give yourself some grace and kindness, which means setting those boundaries.
3. Find things that excite you.
The past two weeks have been HARD. Like cryingontheground prayingfordeath HARD. But just yesterday, when I was originally supposed to be writing this blog post (wherein I found myself completely unmotivated to do so), I was doing some work, and I felt a familiar yet faraway feeling of excitement light up inside me. I suddenly wanted to do more than just scroll through my phone or play the underrated masterpiece that is Spyro™ the Dragon.
What was it that excited me? It was the prospect of things. It wasn’t the mindless meandering that is most weekdays in the life of a government contractor in an IT office. No. It was the possibility of creativity unencumbered by bureaucracy with the potential to go somewhere. Often I find myself unmotivated to write because it feels like I’m writing into the void (see last week’s post). But it was the prospect of actual change, the idea that this could actually go somewhere that got me going. Admittedly, I didn’t write anything after that, but the feeling hasn’t faded.
So what excites you? Find it. Fuel it. Use it.
4. Sit down. Write.
Or stand up. I don’t care. Just write. Write on your phone. Write on the computer. Write with pen and paper, on a typewriter, use your voice recording app, anything, be creative, let it flow out of you, whatever it is, all of it, until you don’t have anything left to say, until it feels like you’ve created something beyond the constructs or limits of you because you are a f u c k i n g gift, and I can’t wait to read what you have to say.
5. Cry for a bit.
Probably because it’s shit. But it may not be! It could be mother-fucking-gold. Also tear worthy.
6. Rest. Rest, rest, rest.
I’m serious. Deadass. Don’t push yourself because then you’re just going to burn out, and now is really not the time. Burn out when you have support systems. When you have friends who can physically hug you. Ideally, really, don’t burn out. Know your boundaries when things aren’t fucking crazy, too. Life’s too short to be unkind to yourself. I would know. I am unkind…all the time.
7. Be a Great Writer™
That’s it, that’s the list! You’ve done it!
*Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list and is in no way guaranteed to make someone a Great Writer™. Use at your own risk.
But in all seriousness, if you don’t want to write, please please please don’t be hard on yourself for not writing. We all have our own processes for enabling creativity, and there’s not a one-size-fits-all trick for forcing the words out. Often I think, the words have to feel absolutely necessary. They must be an inevitability. Otherwise, what are you saying?
What else would you like to read from me? Let me know in the comments below!
