You would think that through a pandemic in which you need to stay home that I would have written tons, or if not tons, a few items. But no, I did not. Instead, I think I wrote a few blogs in the year and a half and that was about it. Ok, maybe I did write a little more, but not much. I did participate in Nano in November, which I do every year and hit the achievement of writing a 50,000-word novel in a month. However, I found myself throughout the last year or so that I did not really have the motivation to write.
Even though the pandemic seemingly gave me time to write, I did not use it and I even had problems before the pandemic. What gets in the way of writing? How do I get out of this writing stagnation? And really move forward with whatever it is that I want to write next? I have heard numerous times from various speakers that you need to write every day to keep those creative juices flowing. Seems easy enough but is it really? How do I write each day?
As I am working through this situation, I am looking at a few items. I am looking at both what hinders me in my writing endeavors and what inspires me. I don’t exactly see the roadblocks to writing as actual writer’s block but rather obstacles in my way. Those obstacles seem to come more from me than from a lack of inspiration. For me, the main thing that gets in the way is, well, life.
I always have this to do and that to do, never really making the time to write. Writing needs to become a priority of mine if I want to continue to move forward and have stories to share with others. Also, I need to learn to not put so much pressure on myself and to let go of what may be and focus instead on the writing itself. Focusing on the positive aspects will move it forward rather than focusing on all the fear that pops up, like fear of failure, not being good enough, etc. I am slowly moving through all of that and focusing on writing vs all the negative thoughts in my head.
One of the ways that I am doing this is that I am making myself accountable to other people, not just myself. I used to write weekly with a group of writer friends, pre-pandemic, and I miss that. Therefore, I started to stream on Twitch to try and build a supportive and encouraging group. For me, building this community is helpful to make me accountable to myself and others while also helping other people out.
I am finding that as I stream and discuss writing with others, I am more motivated to not only stream, discuss writing with others, but also off stream I am more apt to write as well. I have no shortage of stories, I just need to write and more importantly, edit the stories and move them towards completion. As I continue to write and accomplish little wins along the way, I am feeling more and more confident in what I am doing. Letting go of all that pressure has allowed me to be open to consistent writing, even if it is in a different form than I originally had intended.
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