True Motivation: Writing What You Care About

Finding- and staying- motivated to write doesn’t have to be difficult.  There are a number of tips and tricks that work, but easily the most important is writing something so compelling, so important to you that you're motivated day after day.

Let’s go back to something I mentioned in my previous post regarding those wanna-be novelists who read exactly one blockbuster book then try to write a similar novel just to grab some of the cash and fame, only to discover that their pale imitations can’t even find a publisher.  Now writing with the expectation of hitting it big and selling a million copies of your book isn’t bad motivation in and of itself, but if all you’re looking for are huge royalty checks, your emphasis is on the wrong thing.  Those writers who jump on the hot and trendy genres before those trends fade away without caring much about what they’re writing have the hardest job of all- creating something that doesn’t speak to their hearts and souls, that has little meaning to them beyond the potential to pad their bank accounts.

That’s tough, dreary sledding, one that requires grit and determination to get through because greed can only get you so far. 

Worst of all, astute readers will know instantly that the authors of those hastily written books didn’t have a vested interest in the story, had only tried to satisfy the basic requirements of the trend, the barest minimum.  A mundane plot populated by caricatures rather than characters isn’t lasting literature, it’s fast-food filling at best, not a five-star meal you’ll always remember.  Now some writers can’t help but elevate their stories beyond mere imitation by creating well-rounded, fascinating characters with intriguing troubles, but that requires extra time and effort, and that could mean missing the trendy bandwagon and finding that nobody wants your manuscript because that ship had sailed; you missed the boat. Usually the trendy genres start with a novel that has something unique, a twist or unexpected element rarely (if ever) seen before, written with care by caring authors because there is no bandwagon yet, nor were those authors trying to start one rolling.  There was no ticking clock, no countdown to obsolescence, so they gave their novels all the time and effort needed to make them top-notch.  Someone wrote that first dystopian young adult novel, someone else wrote that first vampire love story, and did so because they felt compelled; they were genuinely interested in their stories, not just the potential paychecks down the road.  Imitation novels tend to trend downward in quality as they flood the market, with only a handful equal to the originals in depth of characters and plot.  The rest were written in haste just to ride the coattails, grab a handful of left-over dollars while the grabbing is good and it shows.

That’s not just tough sledding, it’s soul-sapping.

If, on the other hand, you ignore what’s trendy and focus on writing about characters you care about, who speak to you and demand their stories be told, something amazing will happen; it won’t be hard at all to stay motivated.  Now there’s always that “moment of ugh” when you sit down to pick up where you left off in your novel, but how long that “ugh” lasts depends on how compelling your story is to you.  While you don’t have to be obsessed to the point that you can’t eat or sleep until your novel's finished (that’s happened to writers and it’s not pleasant), having the story itself  be your motivation will go a long way to making your writing less arduous, and at the end you’re far more likely to have written something publishers need and want.

Next time: those tips and tricks to overcome that “ugh” moment when you sit down to write.