Motivation

New year! New goals! New ideas!

And old manuscripts to edit and send out. Errr….

I wanted to start the year in a flurry of fresh ideas, new stories and excitement.

Instead I have spent January editing. Editing is vital (no one needs to see my first drafts) it can sometimes be fun and rewarding to get a story pulled into shape. But when my heart is bursting with all the shiny awesomeness of a dozen new stories editing is well, like being forced to eat tinned beetroot or marshmallows (I hate tinned beetroot and marshmallows—yes I know I am weird).

I am on to the third novella to be edited this month. When it’s done I can play with the shiny. But not even that is motivational enough. After all the story I’m working on has no deadline. It isn’t contracted. There is no pressure. 

So I play mind games. One scene. One chapter. Ten pages. Write that new scene and slot it in.

Last year I tried a new method, where I would write 1k/day on the shiny and then edit for the rest of the day. Sometimes that works, sometimes it becomes an excuse because I’m so into the new story it would be a shame to break the flow…

I know I will get there in the end. It’s just that at chapter one the end seems so far away.

What are your motivational tricks?

~~~

Lover in a Bottle is on sale for 99c at the moment. If you like genies and holiday romances, check it out!

Amazon

Rebecca is determined to have the perfect holiday on her own. She never planned on having a holiday fling. Ashur is a genie, and there’s a time limit when he’s of his bottle. To convince Rebecca to set him free, she first has to believe in magic.