Very useful. Thank you.
Agreed!
How I motivate myself to write
31–40 of 62 posts
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#32I liked this article as a collection of tips for effective writing, but did not find much about the topic of motivation within it. The author appears to be internally driven to write from the outset, and the advice given assumes that you also have the volition to write yourself and want to improve. Is lack of interest a solvable problem? This is a question I continually revisit. In one of the comment threads for the…
Answering somewhat weirdly, because I kinda haven't started writing (or, more precisely, publishing) yet either: I had a similar problem, but very recently I feel I got to a place where I might have cracked the motivation issue for me. This was a result of some talks on a parting party with colleagues from the previous job. So, for one thing, one colleague was really encouraging me to start writing for some time already. But secondly, and crucially: the "write for myself" angle didn't seem to be clear enough for me to have a reader persona I could identify with - in retrospect, why would I write to myself about things I already know? And here, the discussion I had on the party eventually led me to a more detailed persona: "write to myself at the time when I didn't know about [some particular stuff] yet." When I imagine this 'me' existing somewhere in timespace, oh I do feel an urge to sit and write to them; and as an extra bonus, I know I don't need no fancy style, that direct and no-fluff words will be enough - knowing he's smart enough to understand and be engaged by interesting stuff - and I feel the urge to do it basically as soon as possible: the longer I don't write, the longer he doesn't know, which is such a waste and lost opportunity given that he is me!
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#33I liked this article as a collection of tips for effective writing, but did not find much about the topic of motivation within it. The author appears to be internally driven to write from the outset, and the advice given assumes that you also have the volition to write yourself and want to improve. Is lack of interest a solvable problem? This is a question I continually revisit. In one of the comment threads for the…
Why would you want to write when you don't want to write? Is it just to brag at the procrastination self help group next week?
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#34I liked this article as a collection of tips for effective writing, but did not find much about the topic of motivation within it. The author appears to be internally driven to write from the outset, and the advice given assumes that you also have the volition to write yourself and want to improve. Is lack of interest a solvable problem? This is a question I continually revisit. In one of the comment threads for the…
Why would you want to write when you don't want to write? Is it just to brag at the procrastination self help group next week?
You might want to have written something. I have things I would like to say, or rather to have said. But I have little interest in the business of writing. At intervals I make a desultory attempt to set up a blog but then I fail to actually fill it with anything interesting, not because I have nothing to say but because I can't summon up the effort required to say it.
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would you want to write when you don't want to write? Is it just to brag at the procrastination self help group next week?
You might want to have written something. I have things I would like to say, or rather to have said. But I have little interest in the business of writing. At intervals I make a desultory attempt to set up a blog but then I fail to actually fill it with anything interesting, not because I have nothing to say but because I can't summon up the effort required to say it.
Writing can also a tool for thinking and for finding flaws in your ideas. It sounds strange to me that you would like something to have said but don't really want to spend the time to make your argument.
That said, podcasts could also be a way to explore ideas without having to write them down.
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#36Re the point regarding writing regularly, I built an app to develop my daily writing habit. I’ve been writing every day for almost 2 years, averaging around 800 words per day. I’m pretty happy with it:)
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#37I liked this article as a collection of tips for effective writing, but did not find much about the topic of motivation within it. The author appears to be internally driven to write from the outset, and the advice given assumes that you also have the volition to write yourself and want to improve. Is lack of interest a solvable problem? This is a question I continually revisit. In one of the comment threads for the…
> Writing (with good style on interesting topics) would be nice.
Sure. Playing piano improvising over jazz chords would be nice too. But as with writing you need to put in the hours to get there. The hard work is a reality check on a maybe romanticized idea of writing.
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
You might want to have written something. I have things I would like to say, or rather to have said. But I have little interest in the business of writing. At intervals I make a desultory attempt to set up a blog but then I fail to actually fill it with anything interesting, not because I have nothing to say but because I can't summon up the effort required to say it.
Writing can also a tool for thinking and for finding flaws in your ideas. It sounds strange to me that you would like something to have said but don't really want to spend the time to make your argument. That said, podcasts could also be a way to explore ideas without having to write them down.
> It sounds strange to me that you would like something to have said but don't really want to spend the time to make your argument.
Why is that strange? That is how we run our lives in most other fields. I want to holiday in Spain but I really don't want to learn how to fly to get there. I want a house to live in but i don't want to build it; that is; I want to have built a house but don't want to build a house.
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#39The post touts writing and publishing regularly as the most important factors in having a blog, as many posts of this style do.
I figured I'd give it a shot, so last summer I set myself the goal of writing one blog post each week, for at least a year. So far, I've never missed the deadline. The audience/reach of my blog, however, didn't change significantly, and it gets progressively harder to go on since it feels like I'm writing "to the void."
A lot of people talk about consistency, but I have come to realize that after a certain point, "marketing," (e.g. spreading your stuff) is even more important. I'd love to see a post talking about that.
Re: How I motivate myself to write
#40What motivates me to create is a vague memory of what the process gives me back - especially in tough times.