Thursday, June 3, 2010

Blog Chain: What's My Motivation?

Hey!  Welcome back to another round of the blog chain.  This is a great one and especially topical for me.  Amanda wants to know:

What do you do to keep yourself motivated when you feel like you're not making any progress in your writing career?


Heck, I almost don't know where to begin.  This past year has been all about my writing career.  My first book is hitting shelves in a matter of days.  But I always worry what if it tanks?  What if I only had one good book in me?  What if, what if, what if?  And the publishing industry is such a slow snail, that even making progress can feel like you're standing still.


But the one thing that keeps me going, that keeps my butt in the chair, is that I love doing it.  Writing is the best medicine for me.  It is its own best reward.  Yes, I want to work toward a point where I can sustain myself on my writing alone.  But I know that's going to take time an patience.  Until then, I simply content myself with the knowledge that I love doing this stuff.  I love the thrill of a new idea.  I love waking up in the middle of the night with a way to fix something in my manuscript.  I love seeing little notes from my agent about a particular line he liked.  


A lesson I'm learning the hard way is that every setback in this business is an opportunity.  Every stall out is a chance to take stock and check out the scenery.  We shouldn't look at it as not making progress, we should look at these times as a chance to catch our breath and soak in the world around us.


Hey!  So if you missed, go check out Michelle's brilliant post and then tomorrow head over to see what fantastic advice Abby has for keeping motivated.

10 comments:

  1. I love Love LOVE this! I'm going to make it my new mantra, "Every stall is a chance to check ou the scenery." :)

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  2. Remembering what you love about the business sure is a great motivator. The ideas and fixes that seem to appear from nowhere are thrilling.

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  3. Congrats again on your upcoming book release! And I agree writing is its own reward.

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  4. I love that - "Take stalk...look at it as a time to renew" - BRILLIANT!

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  5. every setback in this business is an opportunity

    There is no better way to express it. That is true motivation. Superbly written... and speaking of which, Congrats on the coming release! Whoop! Whoop!

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  6. OMG your book is coming out soon! That is so exciting! And it's always a good reminder to hear that being published does not equal the end of worrying and finding motivation.

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  7. Great post, and since you're book is coming out, you obviously know something about motivation :)

    Now where did I put them damn spectacles so I can check out this scenery...

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  8. You're right--just getting some words out and getting the story down can be its own reward and motivation. Great post, Shaun!

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  9. Great way to turn a concept on its head--"every stall is a chance to check out the scenery"--AWESOME!!!! :D

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  10. So awesome and congrats on your book! It's next on my reading list. And great advice. You have to love to write if you plan to go the distance.

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