Writing?! Habits and Motivations?

RD,

I suspect too many of us are in the same boat. Perhaps if you had someone nearby to whom you were accountable, set up some reasonable goals, and then had to sit your behunkas (PhD terminology ) down and write, that would help. It took the realization that if I didn't finish my dissertation by a certain date it would cost another $2500 for the next semester that motivated me to get done.

Blessings,
Bill

 

I've not been published, but:

passion.

I know that we have considerable difficulty separating what think we do for Him and what we do for ourselves. Maybe I will be surprised on that Day to learn that even my passion which drives me is heavily stained with selfish components.

But a perceived passion to bring honor to Him in academic venues has motivated me to finish the dissertation a few months ago and to write a paper for an ETS meeting last month , and I think it will for you.

passion: without it, why do anything? with it, what is beyond doing?

 

Sounds to me that maybe you are just tired My husband and I are both "published", but that has been fairly recently for us, so the excitement still is a motivator. My husband is writing his dissertation and 3 ETS papers (actually presenting one today), so he does way more writing than I do. We both have started books, too. He is more driven than I am - probably because he is still in an academic environment.

Maybe you should take a few days, go somewhere quiet and alone, and refuel. That has worked for us.

 

Rhet

Sometimes the motivation is not there when the Spirit is not moving behind it. Sometimes the motivation is not there because the enemy is attacking.

It might help you to figure out the why the motivation is not there.

 

Two questions:Why are you writing? What are you driven to write?

 

RD, for me all it takes is a deadline enforced by an outside source, and it seems you already have that.

In college, I wrote some of my best papers a few days before they were due. I knew I could do it, I just didn't feel like it, so I put it off until the last minute.

Another thing to keep in mind, however, is if that you force a quota or time constraint on yourself you will be opening yourself up for contstant failure. If you want to enforce a word quota per day or even per week, I would suggest making it leniant. Then if you get it all in easily, you might feel like getting some extra done too.

Right now I am doing the write a novel in 30 days thing. I have to get in about 1,600 words per day. I'm on day 4 and each day I've exceeded my quota by at least 100 words.

One of the best ways to stay on your toes is to tell everyone you know (family, friends, church people) what you are working on and ask them all to pray for you and keep you accountable. Ask them, whenever they see you, to say, "Hey, RD, how's the book coming?" That's what I've done with some friends. They say, "Hey, MargoWriter, how's the novel coming?"

You're going to be motivated to work on it just to keep these people from clobbering you.

 

I asked my church to pray for me and then wrote two chapters of my dissertation in two weeks. I now need to write two more chapters in the next three weeks.

You are right about having a deadline. I am writing my dissertation with the idea that it will be published. That is the goal of my D.Min. program at Gordon-Conwell.

I'm paying over $10,000 to write a book that I could probably write if I had just sat down and began. But mentors help you flesh out your ideas, etc. So, yes, the motivation of finishing a dissertation is a big plus.

I have other ideas for books. Will I write them? Only if I make an outline, do the research, and begin writing. Boy is that tough when you don't have to and you're not driven by fame or money!

 

I'm driven by money . . . LOL. Not the way you might think, though. Starvation is a great motivator . . . don't worry, though, it's not quite that bad.

But the motivation that always keeps me going (in the long run) is my burning need/desire to write! There's no explaining it . . . It's just there.