Why ‘How to Stay Motivated to Write’ is a Dumb Headline
Just write, damn it
A narrated version available at the end of the story.
Asking someone how they stay motivated to write is like asking what motivates them to eat. There’s only one clear answer to either question: hunger.
But the honest answer is that I am not always motivated to write. Here’s how I do it anyway.
Money
If your only motivation for writing is money, stop writing. There are better ways to make money. But notice I said, only. It’s okay for money to be one of your motivators, but for it to work, you must acknowledge that you may never earn more at it than you would decorating cakes at Walmart. Plus, people love a good cake decorator.
As a writer, people who don’t write will look at you with suspicion for the rest of your life, like they can’t quite comprehend this weird lifestyle you chose. And there will be days when you think the same damn thing about yourself.
If you plan to stay motivated by money, you must commit. I committed to writing for money in April 1990. That’s how big a deal it should be to you, that you will remember the moment you made the choice thirty years later. Must you commit to it as your sole means of earning money?
