Showing posts with label monday motivational. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monday motivational. Show all posts
Monday Motivation 4 Things to Remember
Motivation
[moh-tuh-vey-shuh n]
noun
1.the act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a certain way:
I don't understand what her motivation was for quitting her job.Synonyms: motive, inspiration, inducement, cause, impetus.
2.the state or condition of being motivated or having a strong reason to act or accomplish something:
We know that these students have strong motivation to learn.
3.something that motivates; inducement; incentive:
Clearly, the company's long-term motivation is profit.
We writers talk a lot about motivation, and what motivates us to create.
Like other creatives, that initial act of creation is one of the loneliest endeavors someone can undertake. Writers, like painters, sculptures, singers, and filmmakers, all start the process alone as we coax the initial spark into something we can be proud of sharing with the world. This is the most fragile time for any artist, especially new artists working on their first project, when the only feedback available is their own.
After all who wants to share a first draft of anything, with anyone?
It is in this initial stage that more artists than we realize fail and never take another step forward. This is the make it or break it point in their budding careers. But it's also a necessary step. Everyone starts somewhere, some fail and push on, while others chuck it all and turn their energies to something easier.
Once you've gotten past the initial stage it doesn't get any easier, especially if you're looking to hone your craft and take your work to the next level. Even as you climb toward lofty peaks you will reach plateaus that you feel you will never escape from. But you persist, and you do escape, to take your work to the next level.
Even at this stage some will stop and accept what they have so far achieved. Believing they can go no further.That's where they're wrong. Only by accepting what you have now will you fail to reach your full potential.
The following are four very important lessons I've learned over the years.
4 Things every artist should remember.
Look back only to motivate yourself, don't dwell in the past.
Don't compare yourself to others in your field.
Don't accept anything less than your best, if you've done the best you can.
Don't be afraid to dream big.
What would you add to this list?
Monday Motivation
It's the start of another week, yay. Here's a little thought for all the procrastinators out there, you know who you are.
Monday Motivation
I'm late as usual. Always working, and always behind. I don't think I'll ever catch up.
I'm sure by now you've noticed that I've updated the blog. I'm also raising the stakes on my mailing list. Instead of only one book when you sign up, I'm now giving away three full length novels to get you started. An introductory library if you will.
It's right over there, on the right, you know you want to click on the link, go ahead, I'll still be here when you get back.
You know it's really tough at times staying motivated. Being a writer is one of those jobs that's better performed alone. Sure, once the writing part is done there's a whole slew of other people who get involved in getting the story out. But in the beginning it's just the writer and the blank page, and one word after the next as we string together sentences we hope will enlighten, inspire, and maybe send a chill down the reader's spine.
Everyone draws inspiration from something, for me it's the readers response to my work, their reviews, good or bad, are what drive me to continue to create. To push the bar just a little higher with each completed project.
What inspires you in your work? What is it beside fame and fortune that compels you to climb out of bed each morning and do your thing?
I'm sure by now you've noticed that I've updated the blog. I'm also raising the stakes on my mailing list. Instead of only one book when you sign up, I'm now giving away three full length novels to get you started. An introductory library if you will.
It's right over there, on the right, you know you want to click on the link, go ahead, I'll still be here when you get back.
You know it's really tough at times staying motivated. Being a writer is one of those jobs that's better performed alone. Sure, once the writing part is done there's a whole slew of other people who get involved in getting the story out. But in the beginning it's just the writer and the blank page, and one word after the next as we string together sentences we hope will enlighten, inspire, and maybe send a chill down the reader's spine.
Everyone draws inspiration from something, for me it's the readers response to my work, their reviews, good or bad, are what drive me to continue to create. To push the bar just a little higher with each completed project.
What inspires you in your work? What is it beside fame and fortune that compels you to climb out of bed each morning and do your thing?
Monday Motivational
I've been rather busy the last few weeks working to complete book three of the Dreadland Chronicles, Legion of the Damned. I've let other things fall by the wayside, my apologies. I work a full time job on top of writing and many times I find myself too drained to do much more than work on my current project.
I know it's not the best way to attract fans, but I've little choice right now. I've drastically reduced my time on Facebook and Twitter, preferring to focus on the work at hand, as well as several other projects that are slowly finding their way down the pike. I've considered just letting this blog go, but I like coming here to share my progress with those of you who are interested.
I also like sharing the little things I find on the internet that help inspire me to keep going in the face of seemingly impossible odds. Today I bring you one of my favorite writers, Stephen King. I've followed his career since the beginning. Yes, I'm, old.
I hope you enjoy what he has to say.
I know it's not the best way to attract fans, but I've little choice right now. I've drastically reduced my time on Facebook and Twitter, preferring to focus on the work at hand, as well as several other projects that are slowly finding their way down the pike. I've considered just letting this blog go, but I like coming here to share my progress with those of you who are interested.
I also like sharing the little things I find on the internet that help inspire me to keep going in the face of seemingly impossible odds. Today I bring you one of my favorite writers, Stephen King. I've followed his career since the beginning. Yes, I'm, old.
I hope you enjoy what he has to say.
Mondays Motivational: 5 Things Writers Can Do to Stay Focused.
We've all experienced it at least once in our writing life, sometimes more, that brilliant idea that just seemed to flow onto the page suddenly dries up. The story dies and we're left beating our heads against the keyboard as we struggle to recapture that earlier joy. Of course we do the worse thing we can in such a situation, we begin forcing the story in an effort to recapture the excitement we once felt, which of course makes it even harder to continue at our earlier pace. It then becomes a viscous cycle as we battle the invisible demon that has stolen our joy.
I've found the following five activities have helped me tremendously when faced with an idea that has suddenly lost its spark, but everyone is different, so what has worked for me in the past, may not work for you.
First and foremost carefully step away from the keyboard.
Listen to Music: There are those among us who can only write when the music is blaring around them. That's not me, I have to have near silence so I can hear myself think. So naturally when an idea stops speaking to me I'll slip on the head phones and crank it all the way up as I listen to one of my favorite bands. I'm a heavy metal fan, and I'm married, so I've found headphones a good way to keep the peace. Besides the music envelopes me when I'm wearing headphones, it flows through me and helps me get my mind off the problem at hand. Which of course is what you want to do.
Write in Longhand: I'll break out a notebook and just start doodling with words. To take a break from the direction the story is going maybe I'll work on a character's background, digging around in the skeletons they're hiding in their closet, you never know what might pop up to jump start the story and get your creative juices flowing again.
Take a Walk: If the music fails me I'll grab the dog and go for a walk, and while we're walking I'll talk to my dog about the problem I'm having with my writing. It's amazing what a change of scenery can do for the psyche.
Meditate: I'll get away from the keyboard and sit on the couch with my eyes closed as I clear my mind, something that's not really all that hard for me to do. Many times my subconscious with give me the clue I've been looking for.
Laugh: Go to Youtube and search for the funniest videos you can find and take a moment to just laugh. it's amazing what a good laugh can do for your productivity.
Now it's your turn. What do you do when inspiration dries up?
Monday Motivational: The myth of the insant bestsellers!
Is there really such a thing as an instant bestseller?
I doubt it. When you peel back the top layer of the past of anyone who has experienced bestsellerdom what you usually find is a life of persistent hard work, dedication, and of course any number of failures that they sprang back from.
It's not just restricted to the writing world.
In every endeavor from the business world, arts, and even sports, when we see someone who has achieved the pinnacle of success, what we are seeing is the end result of a life focused on greatness.
Understanding this, and believing that your success is out there, is the single driving force that keeps us focused on our goals.
The ones you don't hear about are those who gave up before they achieved success.
So just remember, as you plow ahead into an uncertain future. This could be your day. Or tomorrow, or the day after, but you'll never know unless you keep going.
The one trait every successful writer must have.
If you're a working writer, by which I mean a writer who creates and submits their finished work on a regular basis, then you're familiar with rejections from publishers and or editors. Even if we self publish, no sales is the same as a rejection, only now it's readers rejecting our work.
Rejection from readers or publishers could be viewed as the wind that separates the wheat from the chaff. For the working writer rejection is just another part of living the writer's life.
We've read about the rejections famous writers endured when they were first starting out.
Frank Herbert's Dune was rejected 22 times.
James Patterson's first book was rejected 31 times.
After years of rejection The Chronicles of Narnia are finally published.
What we don't read about are the writers who gave up after being rejected. Those nameless people who finally surrendered and focused their energies on pursuits other than writing.
What is the one trait Frank Herbert, James Patterson, C.S. Lewis and a host of other best selling authors all possess?
Persistence!
It was persistence that drove Frank Herbert to submit Dune the 23rd time. Had he given up after 22 rejections, or even 10 for that matter, the world would never have known about sand worms, spice, and the house Atreides.
It was persistence that drove Stephen King to write another book after Random House rejected The Long Walk. And look where that got him.
It was persistence that pushed Louis L'Amour (one of my favorite writers) to keep trying even after he was rejected 200 times. Finally Bantam decided to take a chance on him.
It is this same persistence that daily pushes thousands of other writers we've never heard of to send it out one more time, to write that other book, or to keep putting them out there. It is this same persistence that will be looked upon as a necessary trait when they do find their success and look back at their careers. They will see those defining moments when it could have gone differently had they not been persistent.
Are you persistent?
Rejection from readers or publishers could be viewed as the wind that separates the wheat from the chaff. For the working writer rejection is just another part of living the writer's life.
We've read about the rejections famous writers endured when they were first starting out.
Frank Herbert's Dune was rejected 22 times.
James Patterson's first book was rejected 31 times.
After years of rejection The Chronicles of Narnia are finally published.
What we don't read about are the writers who gave up after being rejected. Those nameless people who finally surrendered and focused their energies on pursuits other than writing.
What is the one trait Frank Herbert, James Patterson, C.S. Lewis and a host of other best selling authors all possess?
Persistence!
It was persistence that drove Frank Herbert to submit Dune the 23rd time. Had he given up after 22 rejections, or even 10 for that matter, the world would never have known about sand worms, spice, and the house Atreides.
It was persistence that drove Stephen King to write another book after Random House rejected The Long Walk. And look where that got him.
It was persistence that pushed Louis L'Amour (one of my favorite writers) to keep trying even after he was rejected 200 times. Finally Bantam decided to take a chance on him.
It is this same persistence that daily pushes thousands of other writers we've never heard of to send it out one more time, to write that other book, or to keep putting them out there. It is this same persistence that will be looked upon as a necessary trait when they do find their success and look back at their careers. They will see those defining moments when it could have gone differently had they not been persistent.
Are you persistent?
Monday Motivational: Cheerleader?
Do you have cheerleaders?
Is there someone in your life, a significant other, a friend, a lover who understands what it is you do?
Who encourages you just by their presence to sit down at the keyboard every day and open that vein?
Someone whose shoulder you can lean on when the rejections pile up, or the sales go flat. When it seems nothing is going right, and the words refuse to flow, that special someone is at your side supporting you through it all.
Sure writing is a solitary endeavor, we writers live most of our lives alone in a mind populated by all sorts of characters, good, bad, and indifferent. Even when we're with the one we love we can at times wander off into a story idea that suddenly pops into our mind. Yet we still need that human contact, someone who helps to keep our feet planted firmly upon the ground, while our minds soar to the clouds.
My cheerleader is my wife. We've been together for over twenty five years. She is my anchor in a often times volatile world. She keeps my feet planted firmly on the ground while my mind wanders among the clouds.
We should surround ourselves with those who believe in us. You can go it alone, but it always helps to have that one special person who supports us no matter what.
Who is your cheerleader?
Is there someone in your life, a significant other, a friend, a lover who understands what it is you do?
Who encourages you just by their presence to sit down at the keyboard every day and open that vein?
Someone whose shoulder you can lean on when the rejections pile up, or the sales go flat. When it seems nothing is going right, and the words refuse to flow, that special someone is at your side supporting you through it all.
Sure writing is a solitary endeavor, we writers live most of our lives alone in a mind populated by all sorts of characters, good, bad, and indifferent. Even when we're with the one we love we can at times wander off into a story idea that suddenly pops into our mind. Yet we still need that human contact, someone who helps to keep our feet planted firmly upon the ground, while our minds soar to the clouds.
My cheerleader is my wife. We've been together for over twenty five years. She is my anchor in a often times volatile world. She keeps my feet planted firmly on the ground while my mind wanders among the clouds.
We should surround ourselves with those who believe in us. You can go it alone, but it always helps to have that one special person who supports us no matter what.
Who is your cheerleader?
Monday Motivational: Busy, busy, busy
I've been swamped with getting the files ready for my upcoming release of THE REAPING, due out on June 24, 2016. My plan is to have both kindle and print available at the same time. As such I've been so busy that Monday has snuck up on me, don't you just hate sneaky Mondays, you're hanging out over the weekend enjoying yourself when, BAM! it's Monday.
Today I give you these three quotes from the masters.
Today I give you these three quotes from the masters.
Monday Motivational: Frustration
Frustration has to be the single biggest reason many people turn away from writing. The root cause for our frustration can be as varied as the writers who experience it. Maybe we're frustrated because of a lack of sales, or an inability to garner reviews that would help propel our work into a more favorable position. It could be something as simple as a case of writers block, or an overflowing idea file with little time to write. They are situations every writer has faced at one time or another, and will continue to come up against throughout their career.
How we handle the frustration says a lot about who we are. For me personally my frustration stems from a lack of time to write. I have a To Be Written (TBW) list that's 11 novels long, that's eleven fully fleshed out ideas waiting for me to find the time to work on them. I also work a full time job to pay my bills and with no savings (I got wiped out in 08) to fall back on, it can be scary at times. Many times I find myself angry while I'm at work because I don't have the time to pursue my writing to the fullest.
The first step in correcting a problem is identifying what is wrong.
With this new insight I'm trying very hard to put a smile on my face and accept the way things are in my life. Giving up writing has never once crossed my mind. I have reached that point where being a writer is so ingrained in who I am, I'm willing to work my way through these distractions. And that's really all they are.
Distractions from the focus I need to bring to my writing.
What frustrates you the most in your writing life?
How we handle the frustration says a lot about who we are. For me personally my frustration stems from a lack of time to write. I have a To Be Written (TBW) list that's 11 novels long, that's eleven fully fleshed out ideas waiting for me to find the time to work on them. I also work a full time job to pay my bills and with no savings (I got wiped out in 08) to fall back on, it can be scary at times. Many times I find myself angry while I'm at work because I don't have the time to pursue my writing to the fullest.
The first step in correcting a problem is identifying what is wrong.
With this new insight I'm trying very hard to put a smile on my face and accept the way things are in my life. Giving up writing has never once crossed my mind. I have reached that point where being a writer is so ingrained in who I am, I'm willing to work my way through these distractions. And that's really all they are.
Distractions from the focus I need to bring to my writing.
What frustrates you the most in your writing life?
Monday Motivational
Monday Motivational: 25 Ways to be a Happy Writer
Nearly every writer reaches a point in their career where they wonder if anybody out there is even listening to them. Especially now that self publishing is easier than ever before, and the market has become flooded with material. Sales become nonexistent and they begin to believe that maybe they should have listened to their Uncle Morty and gotten involved in Real Estate instead.
It is at this point that the wheat is separated from the chaff. The real writer finds motivation from within and can answer the following question only one way.
If I wasn't a writer I'd __________!
If your desire to write is an integral part of who you are, not writing would be akin to removing a limb. It can be tough but in every career there are ups and downs, sometimes the downs can seem like they will never end, but they will. Many times that change comes not from a sudden increase in sales, but from a change in the writer's attitude.
We've all seen the meme floating around out there, 25 ways to be a happy writer.
Is there anything you'd add?
It is at this point that the wheat is separated from the chaff. The real writer finds motivation from within and can answer the following question only one way.
If I wasn't a writer I'd __________!
If your desire to write is an integral part of who you are, not writing would be akin to removing a limb. It can be tough but in every career there are ups and downs, sometimes the downs can seem like they will never end, but they will. Many times that change comes not from a sudden increase in sales, but from a change in the writer's attitude.
We've all seen the meme floating around out there, 25 ways to be a happy writer.
- Write!
- Care less!
- Write what you want to write!
- Bring yourself to the page!
- Stop comparing yourself to others!
- Open yourself!
- Set realistic goals!
- Recognize the lengths of your control!
- Gaze not into publishing's demon eye!
- Don't give haters real estate in your brain
- Stop looking at your Amazon ranking!
- Give yourself permission to suck!
- Deal with your problems!
- When something isn't working, change it!
- Take care of your body!
- Don't worry about money! (Hard to do at times)
- Recognize the limits of shame!
- Treat your audience well!
- Nurture other writers!
- See failure as a learning experience!
- Make no excuses!
- Look for long-term satisfaction over short-term happiness!
- Let your voice find you!
- Love some part of what you do!
- Finish your work!
Is there anything you'd add?
Monday Motivational
It's been said the true definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result each time. In a sense we writers could be considered an insane lot. We market our wares the same way over and over again, in the hope that one day someone will say, "Hey, I'm gonna buy that!" after seeing the same ad a hundred times.
Is what you're doing today getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow?
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