Maintaining the Mojo

 by Maureen Bonatch

I have way too many story drafts that I’ve started, but not finished.

These characters remain suspended in time, waiting for their story to end, or the saggy middle to be crunched away, so the story can be released into the world. There’s not much better feeling for a writer than seeing their story out in the world.

So why hasn’t my mojo kept me in that story until it’s finished before I move onto something new?

New seems better. It seems more fun and exciting. It’s an adventure rather than…well…work. Because the fun was jumping into that story (Panster here) meeting those new characters, envisioning that new world—it’s so exciting. Rather than looking at the old story that needs extensive edits and rewrites. That’s not always as fun. I already know those characters, I know how that story ends. I know there’s a lot of work involved in that process.

Finish What You Started

The same thing seems to happen to many this time of year when it’s already half-way through January. Many New Year’s resolutions and goals are already long forgotten, or perhaps left in the dust before the confetti cleared. It’s fun to see the results, but sometimes it’s no fun to do all the work to reach that finish line, not when It’s much easier to start something new.

A week into that diet and you might think that new shiny diet would work better if you just try that  other diet instead, or a different exercise regime than the one you’d committed to. That clutter you’ve accumulated isn’t going anywhere, so you put it off. 

If you could just find that magic easy button, it would all come together perfectly.

Maintaining Motivation

For many years, I got up before the sun even thought about getting up and made time to write. It was an ingrained habit. Then, life happens, habits change, other demands take over your time. So how do we maintain the mojo that so many of us get at the start of a new year? To change bad habits, and master new ones for this year? 

Something motivates us to make that new goal, start that new adventure, but then what happens to that motivation? How can we keep that fire burning?

A few ways to include:

• Know your high energy times and take advantage of them
• Ride that mojo when you hit a wave- you might be flying high one day and unwilling to get off the couch the next day
• Remember past victories- have you done it before, if so, how did you succeed?
• Take baby steps and reward your efforts
• Revaluate to ensure your goals are realistic
• Remember your ‘why’ for the reason you made these goals in the first place

Your Goals are Your Own

Most importantly, know what works for you. What works for one person, may not work for someone else. You may be struggling with those goals and resolutions that seemed possible at the start of the year but now seem impossible. Don’t shove them aside to plod through the rest of the year and then wonder where the time went, and make the same resolutions for next year.

Why not work to ignite your motivation now and finish what you started?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter

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What Motivates You?

I’ve been thinking a lot about motivation lately. In part because I’ve been trying to find some! Bet you saw that coming, huh? And, in part, because (against all odds) in the last two months I’ve become fairly serious about yoga. Five or six classes a week serious. Which, frankly, kind of surprised me.

My last serious fitness regime (many years ago) consisted of running. ALONE. And slowly. It worked well. I had no trouble motivating myself to get out there and run six miles a day; I even occasionally pushed myself to run eight. If I hadn’t gotten pregnant...I told you it was a long time ago, right? I might even have kept up with it. Because it fit with what I thought I knew about myself.

See, I tend to think of myself as a loner, a self-starter, an introvert and something of a control freak.   I’m NOT the kind of person who always plays nicely with the other children. Not someone I’d expect to enjoy a class environment—not to mention the potential awkwardness in being (sadly, most of the time) the least fit or flexible person in any given class. Or the fact that class is located a good twenty minutes away—and that’s without traffic. On a road that’s hardly ever “without” traffic.

So why don’t I stay home? Why don’t I save time and gas and find online routines, or workout using some of the many exercise books and DVDs I’ve invested in over the years? Because, as it turns out, I can’t. I’m just not motivated.

The thing is, even though one of the nicest things about yoga is the emphasis on honoring your body and only pushing yourself as far or as hard as you’re able to go,  I still need the accountability to get what I need out of the practice. Otherwise, I’ll find excuses not to show up.  I won’t push myself to do the poses I don’t like, or that (currently) are too hard. And, even if I did try one or two of them, I certainly wouldn’t repeat them as many times! 

 I’d also miss out on the feedback, learning where I’m tensing up, where I can push harder, stretch further, surrender more.

So what does this have to do with writing? Well, a lot as it happens. Because, contrary to what I’ve always believed, writing is a lot more like yoga than it is like long distance running.

Yes, you have to do most of it alone (and, in my case, slowly). Yes, you have to get yourself out there and do it—no one else is going to do that for you. And if you can’t keep to a schedule and occasionally push yourself to do more...well, you’ll never get anywhere.

BUT...

I need accountability. Otherwise I’ll watch those deadlines fly by. I won’t push myself to write the books I don’t feel like writing, or the scenes that are too emotionally painful. I won’t stretch myself.  And, yes, I need feedback—from readers, from editors, from critique partners, even from reviewers. 

I'm still honoring my own process, my own voice, but I've gained a new appreciation for the ways in which writing is not as solitary a pursuit as I first thought. 

So that’s me. Those are the lessons I've taken away from the mat. What kind of motivation works for you? What does your writing practice look like?

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?

~~~

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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.