When It’s Hard to Enjoy Writing
How do you write an engaging story?
The same way you eat an elephant.
One bite at a time.
One word at a time. One idea at a time.
We live in a society of immediate gratification (remember “appointment television” where we had to wait until a specific day and time of the week to watch our favourite show and if we missed it, we missed it? Yeah, my kids have never heard of such an archaic concept.)
But writing a book is the prime example of delayed gratification—at least for a completed job. So how to keep motivated during the long, challenging slog?
By not only eating that one bite at a time, but also by enjoying it.
Slap yourself on the back for that one word on the page—it’s one more than yesterday! Give yourself a high-five for jotting down that new idea (even if it’s terrible!). Celebrate your discussion with your spouse, partner or friend about your characters.
Renowned author Agatha Christie is quoted as saying, “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.”
In that case, be sure to reward yourself when you have a clean kitchen. 🙂
In other words, create your own victories. Writing is hard enough; you deserve ample rewards.