How To Motivate Yourself To Write Everyday

To be a writer you don't need to write every day, but it makes a good habit to try to write as much as you can so that you never stop moving forward in your story.

If you write one day a week it's easy to forget it when it comes around and suddenly you haven't written anything in a month.

Your novel isn't going to write itself so you should be trying to write any day that you can. 

Telling yourself you need to write and actually having the motivation to sit down (or stand up) and do it are two different things.

If you need to find a way to motivate yourself to get those words on the page, try a few of the methods below. 

Set Word Goals

This method is author tested and author approved. 

Setting a goal to reach on a daily or weekly basis can almost guarantee that you'll find the time to write especially if you include a reward/punishment system to your word goals.

If you make your weekly goal you can use rewards such as ordering weekend takeout, watching your favorite tv show, or simple enough as not having to write on the weekend. If you don't make the goal well… you'll just have to save the Pad Thai order for the next week when you make your goal. 

Make sure to tell someone about your goal and your reward system so that there will be someone to hold you accountable instead of letting yourself off the hook for it every week.

Deadlines 

If it wasn't for set deadlines almost all of my old school assignments and essays would have remained unwritten and the same goes for some of my novels. If I have forever to do it then I will take forever to do it. If I have a deadline and a goal in sight it is much easy to tell myself that I have to write to have the work finished by the set day. 

Try setting a deadline for your novel a reasonable amount of time out, but not so far out that you believe you don't have to work on it because you have plenty of time. Think of setting the deadline between 4–6 months out to give yourself plenty of time to complete it without stressing that it's just around the corner.

Routine 

Every day you wake up, stretch and head to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Most people keep to the same routine every day, teeth, face, hair, and then go about their day. You come home and get ready for bed, teeth, face, hair. 

It's something you don't even have to think about because it's a routine that's been ingrained in you from years and years of repetition. 

Do this with writing too.

Make a routine that is easy enough to stick to and repeat it often enough and it will become second nature to you.

Wake up, face, teeth, hair, coffee, write. Or come home, shoes, dinner, write. Repeat a routine every day and when you take one part out it will throw your whole day off track so you'll make sure not to miss it again.

Talk it Up 

"What are your plans after work today.?"

"I'm going home to write."

Anytime someone asks you or you get the chance to mention that you are going to write. Do it. Will you feel as if you're annoying someone with how often you bring it up? Maybe, but this serves two purposes. It lets everyone know that you have plans to write and it lets everyone you know, know that you have plans to write.

This stops you from being able to accept other plans or be asked to do something that might hinder you from writing and it automatically builds you a network of people who know you're writing so they can ask you how far you've gotten in your book.

You don't want to tell them you haven't written anything since the last time you talked to them, do you?

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Whether you incorporate one of these routines or all three the important thing is that you take the time to write and you show up to write.

Your book isn't going to jump out from your computer while you're scrolling through social media debating if you want to get up and write and yell, "Write Me! Write Me! Write Me!" While this may be motivational it would also be downright terrifying.

The motivation to write is not going to find you, you'll have to reach out and look for it.

Best of luck and get to writing. 

With love, 

B.K. xo

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