How to Stay Motivated as a Writer After the New Year Energy Fades

Last week I talked about the need to revisit our goals in March, a time when statistically we tend to give up on our goals and fall back on old habits. This week we are going to dive into things that can help to trip us up six to eight weeks out from our grand plans. We will look at how to stay motivated as a writer through those tough days we all have. This week will focus less on specific goals and more about sustaining creative energy, which drives us to a the end.

• Why motivation is unreliable

If we look back to last week’s blog post, I discuss the dopamine shot and how when first making plans dopamine is strong and therefore the motivation flows. However, once the newness of those goals wears off and dopamine drops so does motivation. The hard truth is that motivation is a fickle thing. In the perfect situation we wake up every morning, with no roadblocks, no other responsibilities, etc. and we want to write. In this same imaginary world, the words always flow

woman at a computer with notes around her

easily, and the plot never dries up.

Unfortunately for those of us living in the real world, that is not often the truth. As Anthony Miller wrote a blog post for digitalwriter.com (https://digitalwriter.site/why-motivation-fails-new-writers/). Motivation rises and wanes in reaction to things in your life. Tiredness, stress, world events, all can impact your motivation and therefore ability to write. We cannot depend on motivation to give us consistency in our writing.

• The myth of “waiting to feel inspired”

The only thing that will give us that consistency we are looking for is consistency itself. Motivation is wave that can’t be depended on. Another name for motivation is the muse. It is believed that the muses of Greek mythology will show up for a creative soul to complete their work. No offense, but I’ve found that muses are often fair-weather friends. As soon as there is a sagging middle, or a tired writer, they have better things to do than show up and help. It was Elizabeth Gilbert who suggested in Big Magic that we fire our muses and depend instead on ourselves to get those words on the page.

Waiting to feel inspired works fine if the story is flowing nicely. If you are well rested, don’t have to worry about filing your taxes, or the sick kid home from school again. But what do we do when we are not inspired to dive into the manuscript? I’ve been there, so I can pull back the curtain on this, but be warned it isn’t pretty. You avoid it, making excuses at first, that taxes have a deadline. A sick child’s needs are more important (not wrong here, 100% agree), or whatever rationalization you make up to justify not putting words on paper. But more often than not, once the taxes are filed, or the kid is back at school, it becomes harder to get back at it. And the longer we avoid the harder it gets, until you realize it has been a month or more and you haven’t even opened your writing project. No? Just me?

The hard truth about motivation or inspiration is that neither will pay the rent. When we lean into the romantic ideal of letting inspiration take you away and motivation pushing you to do hard things, we take the responsibility for our success out of our hands.

• The difference between discipline and rigidity

So, what can be done if the muses and motivation are all a lie? This is where it becomes scary because we need to take the reins and take responsibility. There are a million suggested writing routines out there. Everything from you sit until you have written 2000 words. No exceptions, to write before your household is awake, or write after your household goes to bed. I have even known writers sit in their cars to write before they leave work or on their lunch breaks. You do you, my guy. But, if none of those feel right, then that is ok. The biggest thing to know about this process is the difference between discipline and rigidity.

Discipline is based on purpose and your intentions, while rigidity stems from control and fear. The first one of these gives you space and encourages growth, while the last causes shame, feelings of guilt, and heaps on stress when it isn’t necessary.

For example if you are a person who may get migraines, by having discipline you may miss a writing session because of a migraine, but you determine to make the next writing session a priority when you are able to, and move your schedule around to accommodate a writing session that may not have been there. Rigidity requires you to either sit in front of the screen and force the words, even if doing so may extend the pain of the migraine and deciding you can’t sit for a writing session will have you spiraling with guilt and shame. Your inner voice may well start a chorus, I will never finish this project, I guess I’m not a writer after all.

woman with notepad and coffee

Perfectionists often live in the world of rigidity, which is why you often hear about burnout in people who strive for this type of unyielding focus. Burnout is real and it can be debilitating for

the writer that is struggling alone.

The key to achieving a disciplined writing practice is consistency. Would it be nice if you wrote 7 days a week? Yes. Is it reasonable? For most probably not. So, instead start with a commitment to write 3 days a week. If it makes you feel like you are more in control, name the days. But being flexible to understand if you couldn’t write on your planned writing day, Monday, pick a different, off day, to write and make it up. Consistency is the key to a productive writing habit that leads to success in a writing career.

• Energy management vs time management for authors. This builds mindset authority.

What we are doing by shifting our writing from rigid to disciplined we are creating a Mindset authority.  A mindset authority maintains a high standard for yourself, in this case. It requires one to not come at problems with an emotional reaction. It requires clear communication and expectations. You will work on shifting away from being reactive to situations, instead being calm, realistic, and non-accusing of yourself if things aren’t going as planned. When you start focusing on a mindset authority, you will become more intentional when making decisions, you will have more confidence in your ability to do hard things, and you will be more disciplined. And we know that being more disciplined leads us away from motivation and muses and into consistency.

To further move the needle toward your ideal writing routine, you need to know the difference between energy management and time management. This knowledge will again lead you toward your mindset shift as well.

As we all know, there are 24 hours in a day. That is set in stone. So, time management is managing a construct that is not changeable. This can lead to burnout when one relies too heavily on time management without taking into consideration all factors.

Energy management is very fluid, because energy is renewable. I know the mother of a newborn might not think so, but it is. So, this means looking at your goals in the guise of when is your best energy output. For example, a 20-minute writing sprint when your energy is at its peak may be more productive than an hour-long sprint when you can barely keep your eyes open.

This will no doubt help to cultivate the authority mindset we are striving for, because it is flexible and takes all things into consideration. At the end of the day, time management and energy management have the same goal, to use the time you to the best of your ability. It allows you to be disciplined, while taking into account what will work best in the long run for consistent, non-burned-out author you.

How can you use these things to tweak what you are doing to move the needle forward for you in March and hopefully through the rest of the year?

Next week come back and learn how to reframe your goals so they work for you not against you.