Reading · Jodi Spins Stories

What, I’m back in your inbox so soon???

Yeah, this is what happens when there’s a gap in my deadlines. I mope around for a little while, and then I find ways to create more work for myself.

Plus, I got this great question from Addi:

Hello jodi meadows! I dont wanna bother you again so soon but I was wondering how do you keep motivation when writing? I have so much trouble on keeping writing. How do you keep motivation?
Love addi

This is such a good question, and something I think about all the time. Writing can be wonderful, but it can also feel like a job a lot of the time, especially when you’re in the middle of a draft and it seems like you’ve been working on it forever, but you still have so far to go.

You can ask a dozen authors this question and you’ll get a dozen different answers. Everyone has their own methods for staying motivated, and even those methods can change from book to book. But here are a few things that almost always work for me whenever writing starts feeling like something I have to do.

I give myself a tiny, achievable goal. If I do that — and if I honestly give it my best — then I can stop for the day.

I first ran across this years and years ago, called the 100-word challenge. (A quick search tells me that there are a lot of things called the 100 word challenge now, so I don’t know the origin of this — sorry!) Basically, the concept was that if you sit down and write 100 words, a. you’ll have accomplished something, and b. you’ll probably keep writing after that.

It’s a lot like the trick I use to get myself running the full thirty minutes. Well, I’m already in my running clothes, and Okay, I’m downstairs, so I might as well, followed by Just five minutes and then I can quit.

And then I’m tricked into going the full time because I want to finish listening to that song, or I’m almost to the twenty-minute mark or whatever.

Basically, on those days it seems like work, I give myself a bunch of little milestones to write toward, and when I get there, I decide if I want to keep going.

I usually do.

If you can write 100 words, you can write 200. If you can write 200, you can probably make it up to 300. But even if you don’t get to 300, or 3,000, you hit your goal of 100. Good job.

The other thing to keep in mind: those 100 words don’t even have to be good. They can just exist!

And hey, if you write your 100 words and think you can do better, go for it. Fix them. Sometimes, just having something to fix can help.

Sometimes, in the middle of a project, I lose track of my emotional connection to it. That’s just something that can happen when you’re working on something for months and months (or even years and years!), and it doesn’t make the project any less meaningful or important. But it does mean you need to find a good way to reconnect with it in order to feel emotionally invested in writing the next part.

So there are a few things you can do to get there:

1. Write a back-cover copy for it.

This is like a query letter description or something. It’s just a few paragraphs about the book, no more than 250 words, and it tells the reader (or, in this case, you!) why the story is worth reading — or worth writing. Here’s a letter about how to write a query letter. There’s a template in there, but don’t be afraid to try your own thing.

Bonus: if you’re planning to query agents with this manuscript eventually, you’ll already have something to start with.

2. Reread what you have.

Sometimes we need to go back and give ourselves a little runway into writing the next part of the story. Maybe that’s a few chapters. Maybe that’s everything there is so far.

One thing you can do, especially if you think you’re not motivated because you’re stuck, is to make note of all the interesting parts of your story as you read through. Highlight lines you like. Circle story threads you want to make sure you come back to. Look for places your characters surprised you and figure out how to bring that back.

Sometimes, you can find the answer to what happens next by looking back and seeing what’s unresolved or even what you wanted to include earlier, but forgot or didn’t have space for.

3. Journal about why you started this project.

This doesn’t have to be in an actual journal, though it can be. But if you want to just open up a new document on your computer and write about all the things that drew you to telling this story, you’ll probably find yourself writing about the characters’ relationships, cool things about the world they live in, and something about the initial seed for the story — the thing that made you want to write it in the first place.

This journaling doesn’t have to be good. It’s not for anyone else. It’s just for you. So you can be as raw and honest as you want. You can leave sentences unfinished. It doesn’t matter. Just spend ten minutes thinking about why you wanted to write the story to begin with.

4. Daydream.

Give yourself five minutes to just think about your book. Or ten minutes. Whatever. Choose a part to think about, and allow yourself to just vividly imagine it. Maybe it’s a part you’re excited to write, or something you’ve already written. Maybe it’s backstory that won’t actually make it into the book.

Let yourself daydream about the characters, their motivations, the goals that drive them, the painful parts of their backstories that hold them back.

You can also imagine different ways scenes would go. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll come up with something you like even better.

I know this one might stink to hear, but . . . practice. If you want to write as a job (even a part-time one!), you need to practice treating it like one. That means sitting down to do it every day/weekend/whatever your schedule is.

The unfortunate truth is that you have to be the one to prioritize your writing. No one else can do it for you.

So if you have limited writing time (like a lot of writers do!), you need to guard it and make the most of it every session. Don’t let that time get taken up with other things. Doomscrolling? No way. Phone games? Nuh-uh. That writing time is for writing. Even if you write a bunch of stuff you’ll probably cut later. You sit there and you write 100 words. It’s not a punishment; it’s something you get to do.1

Eventually, you’ll make a habit of it.

If you need help getting distractions out of the way, look for focus settings on your phone or computer. Turn off notifications during your writing session. You can get an app like Forest, Focus Friend, or Freedom to keep you off your phone for a set period of time. (My Focus Friend bean is living pretty darn well at this point!) And you can also make your writing program full screen to block out other apps.

There are lots of little tools out there to help you out if you just need help getting started.

I don’t usually use this one, but I do know writers who reward themselves with little treats along the way. That might be for reaching wordcount milestones — 50,000 words is a big one! — or just finishing the book, period.

Only you can decide what these prizes should be. You know what motivates you! But, of course, there are a few things you might want to consider along the way:

1. Budget. If you’re going to buy something, make sure it’s within your budget. Remember, it doesn’t have to be expensive. It just needs to be special.

2. Be healthy. Sometimes people can be like, “I can eat lunch when I’m finished with this chapter!” Uhh, no. You can eat lunch at lunchtime. Food is actually necessary for life — and writing. Withholding food is not a good strategy!

3. Your reward should reflect the milestone. So if you want a prize for 50k words (hooray, you rock star!), it wouldn’t be the same prize you’d get for actually finishing the book.

4. It probably should be something you wouldn’t get/do otherwise. Make it special for the progress. (So again, food and sleep are not rewards. You should have those things regardless.) For me, I . . . probably wouldn’t use starting a new knitting project as a reward for writing the end of my book, because let’s be for real: I’m starting a new knitting project anyway. But I might buy a unique skein of yarn to mark the milestone.

5. Remember, this is about what you can control. If you do the work, you get the prize. You can also give yourself rewards for cool things happening, like finding an agent or getting published,2 but right now, we’re focusing on what you can achieve on your own.

There are probably lots of other things to consider here. Someone who uses the treat method might have more to add!

Sometimes, it helps to be accountable to someone. Consider finding a writing buddy to check in with.

A lot of writers like to do writing sprints in group chats. Those are when everyone sets a timer and writes for, say, twenty minutes, then comes back to report their progress. It can be really motivating!

When I was writing with the Lady Janies, our goal was to write a chapter a day,3 and no one wanted to be the loser who didn’t finish her chapter.

Having someone to report to can really help, though. You don’t want them thinking you’re slacking off. . . .

I know I’ve really stressed the importance of just sitting down to do it, even when you don’t feel like it, but let’s be honest: some days, you just can’t. Maybe you don’t feel good, something happened, or you have an opportunity to visit someone/do something you just don’t want to miss.

That’s okay.

You can take days off.

Heck, you can take weeks off.

But you asked about staying motivated, so that’s what I tried to answer today — how to write even when you don’t feel like it.

Writing a book is a long project. It’s not easy! You don’t have to start on hard mode. Let yourself work up to your goals.

And while you will definitely have days you’re not feeling motivated and you just don’t wanna, you’ll also have days where the words flow and you feel like you’re in the story. You’re in the zone. Enjoy those days. Remember what they feel like!

When you think about it, it’s really cool that we get to do this. We get to have neat ideas and imagine all these different lives. We get to think about fictional people going on big adventures, having quiet moments together, or epic romances. Being able to write a story is really special.

You’ve got this, Addi.

Does anyone else have suggestions to add? How do you stay motivated to write?

Okay, I need to run. Literally, unfortunately. Just five minutes. Or maybe ten. Probably thirty. UGH.4 At least I have a great playlist.

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How to stay motivated

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