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Why Motivation Alone Will Never Get Your Novel Finished
Practical suggestions for what will, through the weeks and months and years
I know all too well that feeling of excitement when you start a novel. It’s full of possibility, it’s joyful, anything can happen in this world you’re building. With building a house or starting a business, you’ve probably done lots of research, homework, and have a good blueprint to work from. But novels are different. They’re strange beasts that can change and morph and fall apart right before your eyes.
Some of you might be plotters. You’ve planned out all the chapters, done a lot of work on your characters, you know roughly or well everything that will happen. Some of you might be pantsers. You’ve got a great character or plot idea, or maybe just a brilliant setting or era, and away you go. The first ten thousand words flow pretty well. You’re still caught in the excitement, the novelty, and you’re motivated to keep going. You’re meeting your 500 words a day goal, and feeling good.
But even at 500 words a day, five days a week, without once getting distracted or something coming up, it will still take you 36 weeks to finish a first draft. More than eight months. If you’re a writer who sticks to your goal every day and finishes in that time, well done! But for most of us…
