Maintaining Steam Part 2: Motivation and Writer's Block I

MOTIVATION AS A DRIVING FACTOR

Right off the bat, I want to acknowledge that many things can affect our motivation - that is, our desire to work on things. Motivation may be an internal feeling, but feelings are impacted by outside influences all the time. And not all these influences can be powered through with discipline, determination, and good habits. 

Let's imagine motivation like liquid in a container for a moment. The top of the container is like a critical point where, once the liquid overflows we can't help but be productive. We have so much creative energy that we may well explode if we don't work on our project.

The problem is that maintaining this state for long periods is usually impossible. It tends to come in short bursts that wax and wane. It's possible to continue to be productive when the "container" isn't full. But it's more difficult, and you have to rely much more heavily on time management techniques and sheer force of will. 

I'll be talking about that stuff a lot more later on.

In the meantime, it's important to understand that a lot of the issues we encounter at this stage of the creative process are things that essentially function as a lid on the container. Your motivation may be right at the brim, but there's a block of some kind that is keeping it from overflowing into that critical stage of sublime productivity - that Nirvana where we're just in a haze of blissful creation.

But let's be real. None of us experiences that all the time. Usually, we are in that space at the beginning of a project, but as the project wears on - that feeling begins to diminish. 

I've noticed two scenarios that impact our motivation and our ability to turn that motivation into being productive.

The first is when our motivation is at its peak, but something is stopping us from actually working. This is often something physical like illness, lack of time, depression, exhaustion, anxiety, or other things outside our control. Things that cannot be defeated with good writing habits.

Our motivation may be completely full when we're dealing with these sorts of issues, but it doesn't matter how motivated you are if you're too ill or fatigued to actually sit and write. There are only so many hours in a day. And bodies can only handle so much before they're too exhausted to do more.

I think it's really important to acknowledge these kinds of blocks, because it is so easy to guilt ourselves and punish ourselves for not being productive enough when the reality is that...

We can only do what we can do. And sometimes the solution to these kinds of barriers is to just get rest. Get treatment. Take a break.

And that's okay.

Sometimes the "lid" on the container is writer's block, frustration with the project, distraction, boredom. And those things become chronic issues that drain away our motivation as if someone punched holes in the container to release some of the pressure.

So we start out with a lot of motivation, but these things pop up and stick around until our motivation just slowly diminishes to the point we stop working or working is such an ordeal we can't do it any more. This is that feeling of "losing steam" that we sometimes experience.

These are the sorts of problems I want to discuss more fully. Because I think they can be fixed with better habits, various writing techniques, and perseverance.

When it comes to more tangible issues like illness or genuine busyness, there isn't much I can do to advise. Because those require outside help or intervention. They require a very individual approach that is geared to your situation. And I'm not equipped to help with that. I will say that I believe trying to power through a legitimate struggle or a physical illness can worsen the problem or lead to burn out. And I don't recommend it.

I can talk about habits, time management, and ways to deal with writer's block, though.

WRITERS BLOCK (Part I)

So let's start with writer's block. Writer's block can stem from some of the same physical issues as above. I'm not going to discuss that.

I'm going to talk about other forms of writer's block I've encountered while writing. I think we tend to view "writer's block" as a THING - an actual barrier to progress. But writer's block is, in my opinion, a response - usually to a problem we encounter while writing.

Not knowing how to solve the problem tends to lead to self-doubt, frustration...and, eventually, a drain on motivation.

I've found that using the strategies below usually helps me tackle the problems I encounter and progress past my writer's block. It can be really difficult to regain motivation that has been lost - IE to "refill" that container I used as a previous example. 

Sometimes the solution isn't about regaining motivation, it's about pushing through the lack of motivation and continuing to work anyway. This is really a distinction between being motivated to work and being disciplined enough to keep working even when you're struggling.

The techniques I use can do both. They can help me regain a little bit of motivation but sometimes they just help me persevere through the lack of it.

So let's start with talking about types of writer's block.

Imperfect Rough Drafts and Self Doubt

In my experience, self-doubt is a big block for a lot of people. It is a very common form of writer's block.

What happens is that you start feeling dissatisfied with what you're writing. Dissatisfaction becomes frustration. Frustration becomes discouragement, which becomes self-doubt. And I've noticed a lot people hit that self-doubt place and go into avoidance mode where they just don't work on the project because it helps them avoid that really unpleasant, sickly feeling of self-doubt.

This essentially forms the core of this type of writer's block. That's why I consider it to still be a motivational issue. Usually what happens is that the motivation to avoid the project starts to outweigh the motivation to work on it.

And most of the time - not always - but most of the time, I've noticed that, for myself, this occurs during the rough draft stage of writing. I compare my roughs to someone else, or I get frustrated that the rough draft isn't as good as I want it to be. And that's it, I am on the path to crushing self-doubt.

I think most of us understand, inherently that rough drafts are imperfect and require editing. But this can be really difficult to remember in practice. I feel that we tend to compare our rough drafts to the final drafts other people are creating, and then become frustrated, discouraged, and ultimately demotivated.

Any time you compare a rough draft to a final copy, the rough draft is going to come out looking bad. It's a rough draft! They're rough by default. It's in the name! 

But it's still incredibly easy to get discouraged from the high expectations we set for ourselves.

I've managed to learn to work through demotivation and even regain some of the lost motivation by embracing the idea of imperfect drafts. And accepting that revision is a important part of every writer's process. 

Embrace the Potato

I've started jokingly calling my initial drafts "potato drafts" though I think some people use the term "zero draft." For me, this draft is like a pre-rough draft. It's so rough I can't even call it a rough draft. If the rough draft is the frame of the house without any of the finishing work done, the potato draft is the stack of lumber and tools before you've even started building the frame.

Why potato? Well, potatoes are ugly. They're wibbly, wobbly, lumpy, dirty things with weird holes and squiggly growths. But if prepared properly, they can be amazing.

Potato drafts are the same.

My potato drafts have holes, they have copious typos I don't even try to fix. They are incredibly bare bones And have gaps in the narrative. They are the most basic of basic drafts.

And every chapter that I write starts as a potato. 

When I reach the end of the potato draft of each chapter, I allow myself one edit/revision. This helps me bring the chapter up to a proper rough draft state. It may not be amazing and polished yet, but it is passable. And it's better than what it started out as. 

Working with potato/zero drafts really helped me get past the obsession with perfection and focus more on just getting the content written. Because, in the end, having content written is much more valuable than having content perfect. Content can be improved by editing...but only if it's written first.

By forcing myself to write really rough initial drafts (and to only edit it one time before moving on!), I think I've conditioned myself to accept that, since a revision is going to happen anyway, it's okay if it's not perfect when I first write it.

This mindset has really helped keep my from getting stuck due to the feeling of "it's not good enough."

Rough drafts are never good enough. That's why good books go through multiple editing phases to get them to the quality we see when we pluck them off a shelf.

Zero, Rough, Revised, and Final drafts are all a part of the process. Learning to let go of the idea you can skip straight to that polished final draft will help reduce the frustration you may feel with your imperfect rough drafts.

There are definitely more types of writer's block and I'll be talking about how I tackle those next time.

I hope some people found this helpful! Until next time...

To be continued...