Do you find that you are unable to finish writing projects? Most writing coaches would say that you lack self-discipline. These same coaches tell you not to look for motivation but to simply white-knuckle your work.
I agree partially with this advice because writing will always be difficult. However, I believe that motivation is not only achievable but also necessary for writing. Creating motivation is easy if you use rewards and incentives. These two concepts of reward and incentive are widely recognized in the commercial world, where marketing campaigns dedicate thousands of dollars to studying customers’ habits, anticipating needs or desires, and incentivizing customers to spend money on those needs or desires. This reward system works because it relies on humans’ time-tested desire to sacrifice something in exchange for a reward. You and your fellow writers are not above this reward system and can use it to trick your brain into feeling motivated.
Of course, we will inevitably come to hate a project if we spend too long on it. But I believe the easiest way to beat boredom—besides sheer self-discipline—is to choose a scene or character you are most excited about and to write everything else around that goal or reward, thus incentivizing our efforts. The following process will show you how to rely on plot points or on a character for motivation.
The scene approach works best for you if you prefer to discover your plot as you go. If you don’t usually sketch lengthy outlines, you may rely on a general idea or a few mental images to carry you through your project. The scene that is most pivotal or most exciting is the one you should save for last. Do not write that scene until you have written everything else around it.
If the scene is the story’s climax or end, use it as a tool for foreshadowing in the story’s first half. If the scene occurs at the beginning of the story, use the scene to guide the story’s climax before you double back to write the scene. Try to mentally create two of these pivotal scenes. The more the scenes move you, the more they will resonate with the reader. Again, resist writing anything down about the scene. Keep it purely in your head, just as you put your favorite candy away to avoid eating it all at once.
Treat these scenes as rewards to incentivize you to write the rest of the plot. Imagine these scenes happened to you on a normal day, and you must wait to tell your family about them until you get home. Readers save a book’s ending because they know that looking ahead would spoil their incentive to read. Similarly, save your favorite scene to avoid spoiling your incentive to write. Not only will you maintain your self-discipline and commitment over a longer period, but you will also create a logically structured plot centered on your character’s most important moments.
The character approach may work better for you. In addition to creating and saving scenes as rewards, you should think of a character you are excited to introduce to the reader. Perhaps this character is charismatic and has witty lines that rhythmically carry the plot. Save that character’s dialogue or description until the end of the story, forcing yourself to build the rest of the story’s structure around that character.
This character approach might mean rearranging your existing plot to introduce the character later. You could also skip certain chapters or insert brackets with one or two sentences describing what you would like to insert later. Just as with the scenes, try not to write anything about that character or think about the character outside dedicated writing times, because the idea may grow stale before you have the chance to write. You might create a playlist for each character beforehand so you have a rewarding, immersive experience when it comes time to write about them.
As always, saving characters and scenes may not work for you. But these approaches are just one more drop in the overall bucket of motivation. Writing will always require a healthy dose of self-discipline and long-term commitment, but no rule exists against helping discipline with a few simple methods.
About the Author
Alaina Suttles is a senior at Pensacola Christian College where she is studying for a bachelor's degree in professional writing. When she was still in high school, Alaina discovered Write the World and fell in love with its welcoming community. She won runner-up for a Write the World fantasy competition and later won first place for her college's creative fiction competition. As a young writer, Alaina was grateful to discover Write the World's community of fellow writers, where she could share her work and experience constructive and kind criticism that helped her grow her writing skills. Now, as a summer intern, she hopes to build that same confidence in other young writers and to encourage them to put their talents to the best use.