The Write Way | ✔︎

01 | MOTIVATION

Let me begin this book by debunking a popular myth amongst new and/or young writers like myself. It took me a while to realize this despite warnings from Those That Came Before Me, and right now, I'd say I'm still learning how to accept the cold hard truth that you don't need to be motivated to write. What you need, more than anything, is discipline.

Discipline is washing the dishes after you eat even though you're lazy. It's doing your homework ahead of time so you're not stressing or cramming the night before it's due. Discipline is the secret to adulthood; it's doing things you might not necessarily want to because you are putting future you (the you that's written a full novel, or the you that goes for runs and eats healthier and is overall happier with the state of their body, for example) over present you's desire to feel pleasure (put down that chocolate chip cookie and stop scrolling Twitter for memes; I can see you).

Don't get me wrong; it's good to be motivated. Nothing feels better than having the motivation to do things you want to (and I'm saying this as someone who's gone through multiple bouts of depression). But if you want to write—and I mean write seriously—you don't need a lot of things. I'd say a few good things to have in your writer's arsenal aside from a word processor or a good old pen and paper, are these: a writing schedule so you have a specific time in the day in which you sit down on your chair (or in my case: lay in bed) to write, maybe a minimal daily word count goal to meet just so you're working towards something achievable each day, and the discipline to do all that and not give up on day three.

I know what you're thinking. Ugh, that sucks! I'd rather make Pinterest boards for my characters and make Spotify playlists and daydream about the story! Are you kidding me? I didn't know writing could be so boring!

I feel you, man. It does suck, and chances are, your first draft is gonna suck, too. Mine always does, because that's how it is. The first draft is you trying to figure out what the story is; you've gotta dump trash onto the page before you can pick out the jewels from the pile. One of the stories I'm working on took on so many identities, its current version is hardly the same as when it first started. Even the characters are different. That's just how it is.

If you quit now, you're never going to get anywhere, so don't forget how you felt when you first read a good book and thought to yourself: I want to do this. I want to write something that makes people feel the way I felt reading this. Prioritize your desire to connect and tell a story over your desire for perfection. None of us ever start out writing things that are as impeccable as our tastes.

Art is a cycle, as proven by this little infographic made by Shattered-Earth on DeviantArt.

Still don't want to believe me? Take it from Ira Glass, who, according to Wikipedia and Google, is "an American public radio personality and the host and producer of the radio and television show 'This American Life'."

So there's that: if the name of the craft itself doesn't key you into what it is, then let me break it to ya: if you want to write a story, you're gonna have to actually write. A lot. And you're gonna suck at it at first, especially if you've never tried it, but you have to let yourself suck because it's the first step to becoming good at anything.

Mind you, typical novel is somewhere between 50,000–70,000 words and that might seem daunting, but if you're patient enough to break it into small chunks of, what, 300 to 500 words a day? You'll be done before you know it.

Hell, there's a whole community catered to helping you finish your work. Ever heard of NaNoWriMo aka National November Writing Month? It's a challenge that aims to have you write a full-blown first draft of a novel in 30 days.

It sounds crazy. It is. But with help—and the rest of the Internet's resources—believe me when I say this: it can be done. Just don't forget what I said, and you'll be fine. Discipline trumps motivation (and, for that matter: talent and inspiration) every time. Because you can have the best idea in the world, but if you don't get it down in writing, it's not much of use to anyone else but you.