Writing My Novel: Motivation

Welcome back to Writing My Novel! Today I’m going to talk about what motivates me to write. Especially at a time like this, when I’m super unmotivated to write at all, I need to remind myself what helps me write. So, this post will be a lot more like a list than anything else.

            The most recent example of what motivates me to write is the immense love of reading that I see on TikTok and Instagram. There are a ton of people that want to share their love of reading with other readers and that brings so much inspiration to authors. I’ve watched in the last month or so as the bookish and author communities on TikTok have become intertwined and supportive of each other. There’s a movement to read books by these indie authors and support more than the publishing giants. It brings me so much joy to think that one day I could count myself among those authors. It drives me forward.

            The feedback that I’ve received has helped me so much. I’ve been told that I have a natural talent for storytelling and with practice, I have a lot of potential. The professors that I had during my degree encouraged me with both their written and verbal feedback and took care to make sure I and all the other students understood the value of constructive criticism. On a side note, their teachings helped me a ton with being able to take criticism in all corners of my life. Even when I was being corrected or told that I should do something different for a better effect, I felt that my writing was being valued. That went a long way towards seeing myself as a writer, rather than a wannabe.

            My characters became a huge part of my motivation since I wrote most of my novel back in November during NaNoWriMo. Mirna and Xaoryn especially are always in my head, begging me to share their story with everyone. There are other thoughts in my head that fight against my writing, but I’m learning to listen to these two amazing women and take the chance to write whenever I can.

            My love of reading is the ultimate piece of this puzzle. Books have been my best friends for as long as I can remember. To provide similar comfort and companionship and escape to someone else would be the greatest honour. I can’t imagine anything more fulfilling for me to dedicate my life to. However, this also acts against me. Every day that I don’t write and work towards that goal, I feel incredibly guilty. This stops me from writing for months at a time, even though writing is the solution to making the guilt go away. Lit&Leta is the answer to this. It keeps me writing little bits without a lot of pressure, but it still has deadlines I set myself. It doesn’t matter what I’m writing, only that I am putting down words on the page.

            What motivates you to write? Writing this post is reminding me that writing isn’t as much of a chore as it seems sometimes. When I come out the other side of this crazy novel adventure, it’s going to be worth every tough minute.

            I hope that you all find some motivation in this post as well. I was going to have another post about procrastination, but it doesn’t feel right to do for a few reasons. That means that next time on Writing My Novel, I’m going to give you an update on what I’ve been doing. I’m hesitant to share ideas because others can easily steal those, but I’ll talk as much as I can about my novel.

            Thank you for reading!