"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Nothing was every achieved without enthusiasm." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I'm not sure where all of you are located, but I'm in Kentucky and the weather is turning a chill in the air. Fall is coming and I LOVE IT!
. . .my writing not so much. . .
My walks have gotten longer, my outside time has gotten longer, my snuggle in my bed has gotten longer, and my writing time has gotten. . .shorter!
What happened to my mojo where I couldn't wait to get up in the morning? What happened to my characters fighting over who was going to talk to me first in the morning? WHAT HAS HAPPENED???
I might be a bestselling author and have an amazing STREET TEAM and helpful blog. . .but I too get the life sucked out of me at times, not very often, but it does happen.
Why now? Usually this time of the year is when I curl up with my laptop, journal and pound out the words.
This made me sit back and think about my career goals and how bad I want success? Asking myself how can I maintain the passion that I've always had.
Here are a few tips I came up with:
1) Hide and Seek!
Simply stated, FIND the passion!!
I went back through my journals, I keep a journal for each novel I write, and see all the quotes, photos, ideas, and inspiration that kept me going with them.
I realized that I hadn't done that with my current WIP. I have simply just wrote, wrote, and wrote, feeding my creative mind very little. We all must eat or we waste away to nothing. AND that is NOT what I want.
2) Keep it!
WOW! Once I found the passion by going back through my journals, it was easy to slip back into the basics of why I started writing, the joy that it brought me, escaping into the world that I have created. A world that so many others have enjoyed.
This feeling made me even more passionate about writing and fall in love with it all over again. But how do you maintain it?
You have to figure out what keeps your passion for writing. For me, it's getting those inspirational quotes or amazing reviews from my book that I cut out, the readers, the creation of making up a new world and mapping it out. All of these things helps write each one of my stories.
It's all about maintaining the passion you have for writing.
There is NO way that I'm alone in how I've been feeling lately! You have to have some tips that help maintain your passion, WHAT ARE THEY?
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Thanks, Tonya. Another great post. All I need is my glasses after having cataract surgery to get my enthusiasm back.
ReplyDeleteGrab those glasses:))
DeleteReading fan mail does it for me!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Kate! I hope you are doing well!!
DeleteKeeping a diary does it for me, too. Or writing emails to friends and family. I find I become so animated, as if I'm really with the person and talking to them. Great for getting the word juices flowing and making you realise why you write in the first place. I know when I'm back on a roll, when I feel immense irritation at being interrupted!
ReplyDelete"I know when I'm back on a roll, when I feel immense irritation at being interrupted!" I love this!! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI have a few ways to keep me motivated or to juice me back up if I'm feeling not so passionate. First, like you, I keep a journal (sort of). It's really just a notebook, but not just any notebook. I bought a bunch of the really fancy-shmancy ones with the hard covers, cool designs, and high quality paper the local Barnes & Noble sells. I write down notes about my WIPS and can read back through my notes for ideas and inspiration.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I do is read. Reading always sparks my creative mind. Just this past weekend, I read a great book that inspired me and gave me several ideas of how to work through issues in my current WIP. It's as if my subconscious drifts off while I'm reading and then POW! Out of nowhere, a plot idea jumps out at me when I least expect it.
Other times, if my characters aren't talking, it's because I've somehow jacked up their stories with my own voice instead of theirs. In that case, I need to figure out where I went wrong and correct it. Once I do and remove my voice from their story, they start talking again.
And finally, sometimes I just need a day or a week off. We all need vacations. I go to a movie, go shopping, taking a drive somewhere, go to lunch at a new restaurant. Inevitably, the voices start jabbering away again and I'm back to writing. :)
I love what you said about characters not talking to you. I do believe that we try so hard to write their story for them...but they are so stubborn.
DeleteI love the idea of keeping a journal. I'm not sure I have enough to fill it with, but it's a great idea. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd you are very smart to go back and look at them to get the mojo going again. I've been thinking about starting a Pinterest board for inspiration on my books. I think that might do something similar, store my enthusiasm and creativity for a rainy day.
Jessica, as soon as you open a journal up, it will be filled up. I fill it up with anything that sparks my creative juices. It might be a phrase someone said to me and it struck a cord or feeling...I write down that feeling and in big bold letter write "don't forget this feeling!"
DeleteThanks for writing this post, Tonya. I think it's important for writers to know what they need to jump start their writing when it stalls. Otherwise, they end up mired in 'writer's block', which can turn into a vicious cycle. If we know how to get back on track, we can keep moving forward.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I start slowing down, all I have to do is talk with Azure Boone, my best friend and critique partner. She's an amazing writer, wonderful friend, and special person. She always knows exactly the right question or comment to get my creativity rolling again.
Wow, your posts are so inspirational! I read on your Facebook earlier that you write four books a year--it took me almost a year to get my first novel where I want it to be (before editing, *sigh*). Any tips you can share for producing more content while juggling your writing on top of a full-time job?
ReplyDeleteRight after I posted this, I found your "How bad do you want success?" article. Simply amazing!
ReplyDelete