Writing tips
Seven Motivational Tools Every Writer Needs
9 November 2010
by Adam Marek
For years, the first thing I saw when
my alarm went off at 5.57am was a photo of Haruki Murakami stuck to
the side of my chest of drawers. He had a big speech bubble coming out
of his mouth saying, 'get up and write Adam'.
My Murakami alarm was motivational tool number one. I've developed lots more since then.
2 A carrot
I thrive on rewards. Who doesn't? Since I was a teenager, the carrot I was always chasing was a scene from the movie Back to the Future.
The scene where Marty McFly goes back to 1985 at the end of the movie
to find that his meddling in time has made his family gorgeous,
confident and successful. Marty's dad gets a box delivered, and in it
are copies of his book, which has just been published. I visualised
myself opening a similar box of copies of my first book every day for
more than a decade. And eventually it came true. My new carrot is
chatting to Mariella Frostrup on TV about my first novel.
What's your carrot? Specifically, what does success look like to you?
3 A stick
I'm
also motivated away from pain. Who isn't? I visualise what will happen
if I don't fully dedicate myself to writing. I'm back in the pillow
factory where I once worked for a month - the most depressing month of
my life. It's cold and it stinks of damp ducks. The radio is on, and my
worst enemy from school comes on. He's being interviewed by Mariella
Frostrup about his first novel.
What's the worst thing that
could happen to your future if you don't write today? Find your fear
and then run from it. Run for your life.
4 A routine
I
know some writers who are able to produce work writing in sporadic
bursts, a few times a week, late into the night, when they have the
opportunity, but I could never work like that. If I didn't have a
regular commitment to myself, I would make excuses and then feel guilty
about it. I write every day from 6am till 7.30am. I start at 6 at the
weekends too, and while I'm on holiday. Getting up at that time was
agony for the first three years or so (I really like sleep), but now
the habit is set so hard I do it automatically.
Writing at dawn
may not be your thing yet, but how good would it feel if by the time
the rest of the country was just getting up, you had already done a
great day's writing?
5 An idea
I'm always
most inclined to write if I've got an idea I'm really excited about.
The best bit of writing advice I ever heard was 'write the story you
would most like to read, but that hasn't been written yet'. This is the
carrot version of the advice. I came up with a stick alternative:
'write the book you would be most jealous of your best friend writing'.
So what would that story be for you? Is it better than the one you're working on at the moment?
6 A filing system
My
wife Naomi almost kicked me out of bed a few months ago when she saw
that the book I was enjoying so much had a big picture of a suspension
filing system in it. I can't help it, I'm hot for filing systems. This
time last year, I had two big plastic boxes and several bookshelves
overflowing with story drafts, events details, admin stuff, travel
plans, ideas and magazines. A great habitat for mice, but terrible for
my mental state.
I read a smart book called Getting Things Done
by David Allen because I was feeling overwhelmed with commitments.
Since implementing the systems he recommends, my head feels like it's
been filtered through 300 feet of volcanic rock.
If your writing space is a paper-work swamp, you'll be amazed at the liberation offered by a well-ordered filing cabinet.
7 A tick list
Goals
are maybe the most obvious motivational tool, but it's easy to make
terrible goals. When I started out, I had goals like 'get published',
which is useless because it has no specific action attached to it, and
is actually made up of many small goals.
If you're anything
like me, you'll love ticking off things on your to-do list. But a vague
to-do like 'get published' is going to have to wait a really long time
to get ticked because it's out of your control. Goals should always be
things that you can realistically achieve and that do not rely on
other people.
Break down all your big goals into smaller goals,
all of which are specific actions that you can take, the smaller and
more specific the better. Make sure that your first step is something
you can do today.
Seven Motivational Tools Every Writer Needs
9 November 2010
by Adam Marek
For years, the first thing I saw when
my alarm went off at 5.57am was a photo of Haruki Murakami stuck to
the side of my chest of drawers. He had a big speech bubble coming out
of his mouth saying, 'get up and write Adam'.
My Murakami alarm was motivational tool number one. I've developed lots more since then.
2 A carrot
I thrive on rewards. Who doesn't? Since I was a teenager, the carrot I was always chasing was a scene from the movie Back to the Future.
The scene where Marty McFly goes back to 1985 at the end of the movie
to find that his meddling in time has made his family gorgeous,
confident and successful. Marty's dad gets a box delivered, and in it
are copies of his book, which has just been published. I visualised
myself opening a similar box of copies of my first book every day for
more than a decade. And eventually it came true. My new carrot is
chatting to Mariella Frostrup on TV about my first novel.
What's your carrot? Specifically, what does success look like to you?
3 A stick
I'm
also motivated away from pain. Who isn't? I visualise what will happen
if I don't fully dedicate myself to writing. I'm back in the pillow
factory where I once worked for a month - the most depressing month of
my life. It's cold and it stinks of damp ducks. The radio is on, and my
worst enemy from school comes on. He's being interviewed by Mariella
Frostrup about his first novel.
What's the worst thing that
could happen to your future if you don't write today? Find your fear
and then run from it. Run for your life.
4 A routine
I
know some writers who are able to produce work writing in sporadic
bursts, a few times a week, late into the night, when they have the
opportunity, but I could never work like that. If I didn't have a
regular commitment to myself, I would make excuses and then feel guilty
about it. I write every day from 6am till 7.30am. I start at 6 at the
weekends too, and while I'm on holiday. Getting up at that time was
agony for the first three years or so (I really like sleep), but now
the habit is set so hard I do it automatically.
Writing at dawn
may not be your thing yet, but how good would it feel if by the time
the rest of the country was just getting up, you had already done a
great day's writing?
5 An idea
I'm always
most inclined to write if I've got an idea I'm really excited about.
The best bit of writing advice I ever heard was 'write the story you
would most like to read, but that hasn't been written yet'. This is the
carrot version of the advice. I came up with a stick alternative:
'write the book you would be most jealous of your best friend writing'.
So what would that story be for you? Is it better than the one you're working on at the moment?
6 A filing system
My
wife Naomi almost kicked me out of bed a few months ago when she saw
that the book I was enjoying so much had a big picture of a suspension
filing system in it. I can't help it, I'm hot for filing systems. This
time last year, I had two big plastic boxes and several bookshelves
overflowing with story drafts, events details, admin stuff, travel
plans, ideas and magazines. A great habitat for mice, but terrible for
my mental state.
I read a smart book called Getting Things Done
by David Allen because I was feeling overwhelmed with commitments.
Since implementing the systems he recommends, my head feels like it's
been filtered through 300 feet of volcanic rock.
If your writing space is a paper-work swamp, you'll be amazed at the liberation offered by a well-ordered filing cabinet.
7 A tick list
Goals
are maybe the most obvious motivational tool, but it's easy to make
terrible goals. When I started out, I had goals like 'get published',
which is useless because it has no specific action attached to it, and
is actually made up of many small goals.
If you're anything
like me, you'll love ticking off things on your to-do list. But a vague
to-do like 'get published' is going to have to wait a really long time
to get ticked because it's out of your control. Goals should always be
things that you can realistically achieve and that do not rely on
other people.
Break down all your big goals into smaller goals,
all of which are specific actions that you can take, the smaller and
more specific the better. Make sure that your first step is something
you can do today.
