5 Ways To Keep Your Writing Momentum(For NaNoWriMo And Beyond)

Let’s say you started NaNoWriMo this year or some other big writing project. You have great ideas swimming around in your head that you’re dying to get on paper. Like a personal manifesto, you declare to the world that you will commit to writing thousands of words to get this story out. Armed with your notes, computer, inspirational quotes, and a dictionary you set off to create your masterpiece.

The first few days go well. You’ve got a working outline, pages of text, and the excitement of what you’ll write next. That feeling is wonderful . . . until your momentum starts to slow.

Then one morning you get to your desk, and you find yourself staring at a blank page for way too long. You start to get distracted by, well, anything in the vicinity. Hours go by and you have written absolutely nothing.

We’ve all been here before. Inspiration strikes, it dies down, and resurfaces again later. But in between our visits from the muse, we must keep writing.

Writing is supposed to be hard. It’s hard for the pros and amateurs alike. It’s hard because it’s a process, not a one-time thing. We all know that first drafts are like fragmented floating expressions that need to be anchored by structure, tangibility, and unity. They need to be wrangled into something clear and coherent which can only be done by writing more drafts. And through all of this, your voice must come through it all and connect to your audience. That’s a lot of abstract and concrete requirements just for one task. And that’s what makes it so difficult.

But as most things you have to really work for, the rewards are ten-fold. Sharing your ideas and connecting with others is what makes writing so enjoyable. Standing back and looking at your writing and saying like a proud carpenter “I made that” is incredibly gratifying. Maybe the process isn’t exactly exciting, but what evolves from it can be.

So the task is to keep writing and evolving through our drafts. But what keeps us moving from draft to draft? What happens if we lose steam? How do we overcome bumping into writer’s block? I’ve compiled a few techniques that many of my students have found helpful over the years. Try them out whenever you need to snap back into the writer’s zone.

1. Make A Clear Plan (And Stick To It)

I’ve talked about this before in other articles, but having a clear plan you don’t have to think about is key. I like to use a daily planner like Susanna’s Pacemaker to do this. You can also use a good old-fashioned paper planner for this.

One tip is to not put too much thought into the process of writing if your page is blank. Meaning, we tend to over think things. One of the reasons I recommend starting out with a clear writing plan is that it’s a no-brainer. Once a sensible plan is laid out, you just have one job: write.

Isn’t that what you really want anyways? You’re a writer, not an unlettered day dreamer. Write text. Be with the text. But don’t think about writing the text. When you stop to think about the writing process and what your motivation is, negative thoughts might keep you from producing anything. Writing and its lengthy process is what it is. You can’t change it. Go with the flow and words will start to flow.

2. Have A Clear Motivation (Before You Even Start)

Just like a story, every character must have a motivation. For writing, I’ve noticed that there are usually two main motivations: primary and secondary.

The primary motivation is usually deep and personal. Is it for fame, fortune, or love? Is it to share a story from within? It’s usually the long-term and end-result of your writing. Whatever your primary motivation is, revisit it. Why are you writing?

The secondary motivation for writing keeps you on the path to accomplishing your writing goals. It’s not as deep as the primary motivation, and it’s in the here-and-now. It’s the daily confrontation of going from zero to one, from creating no words to pages of words. You must answer the question, “What will get me to complete today’s writing goal?”

There are secrets and techniques to getting your writing done. But on a psychological level, it follows the framework of rewards and consequences. That might sound intense, but it dovetails then next tip.

3. Make It Fun

The Seinfeld Method

Rewards and consequences don’t have to be painful (unless you want them to be). They can actually be quite fun. When you win, it reinforces that behavior. When you lose, you want to correct the behavior. If you made that whole process seem harmless and enjoyable, then results begin to stack in your favor.

The simplest technique for gaining writing momentum is often called the Seinfeld Method, after the comedian Jerry Seinfeld. To become a better comedian, Seinfeld figured that he had to write better jokes. One way to do that was to commit to writing a joke a day, no matter what. Over time, as the number of consecutive days passed, it got more exciting and more motivating to not break his chain. If he missed a day, he would have to start his streak all over again, so that was motivating enough to keep going. The task was small, but consistent. And that’s the key thing to remember when forming habits. Subsequently, Seinfeld still writes at least one joke a day, to which he credits all his success.

The Accountability Partners Method

Another fun way to keep your writing momentum is to make the stakes higher and social. For example, if you miss a day of writing you owe someone or yourself something you dislike. Let’s say you and I commit to being writing partners. For every day that I skip writing, I owe you twenty dollars — and vice versa. That’s a lot of money to me, so I’m highly motivated to do my daily writing. In fact, even if I just missed five out of thirty days of writing, I would owe you fifty bucks! Ouch. Accountability partners do work.

The High-Stakes Method

If you need a no-holds barred hardcore motivator, this one’s for you. With this you will enjoy the sweet taste of victory or perhaps suffer a very painful loss. People choose this if the task is really important (like say, meeting an absolute publishing deadline) and if they thrive on pressure. Just like stock investing, the greater the risk, the greater the gains or loss. With this choice, there is no middle ground but it’s all exciting none-the-less.

There are websites like Stickk.com that champion this idea. Something valuable must be at stake. For Stickk participants, it’s all about your money and reputation: that’s huge. Let me explain. Say you have to write 50,000 words in 30 days. This is officially declared when you create your challenge online. Then you put up an amount of money that is significant: let’s say $500 held in escrow. (It’s an amount that most people would really miss if you flat-out lost it.) The next step is to tell all your friends, family, workmates that want to support you (or see you fail). They are encouraged to add to the pot.

Let’s say your challenge is worth $1000 now. If you don’t complete your goal, you lose your initial $500, plus everyone else loses what they individually put in. Can you feel the social pressure mounting? You’re not done yet. The second consequence for failing is that all the proceeds (yours and your supporters you let down) will be donated to a charity you like the least (pre-selected when you started this challenge, of course). This is your anti-charity. In my case, it might be giving to the Klu Klux Klan or financing a Terrorist Group. And the last consequence is that this donation would be on public record for all to see, with your name assigned to it. How’s that for a motivator? Think you’ll finish your book? Most likely. Let the games begin!

4. Make Writing A Ritual, Not A Mere Habit Or Routine

Okay, perhaps you’re not into high-stakes motivators. Understood. Maybe you should try reframing your writing environment, mentally and physically. There is a famous story about Maya Angelou’s writing process. If you don’t know it, it’s unusual but effective.

Basically, Angelou goes to her long-term local hotel room every morning to write. She requests blank walls, no fresh linens, no flowers, and no room service. In this room, she writes for about six hours. Around noon Angelou leaves, does a few things at home, has dinner with her husband, goes to sleep, and repeats the same routine the next morning. It’s like she’s scheduled in having an affair with her craft every day.

I love this idea, but most people can’t afford the hotel fees just for writing. However if you look closely, all the markings of a professional are there. She literally goes to work every day. She treats writing like a job, because it is for her. Angelou goes through an old routine like clockwork. But once she’s there, she puts herself straight into the right setting. Her room isn’t just any room, it’s a room set up with her strict requirements. It’s a space sacred to herself. This is what Joseph Campbell likely meant when he said “Your sacred space is where you find yourself over and over again.” Angelou’s routine has become a sacred ritual in a sacred space for her where productivity and creativity flourish. All serious writers do this in their own way.

It’s your task to find your place and make writing a habit if it isn’t already. The science says that after 66 days in a row, the habit will actually be formed. At 6–12 months it’s likely to become a reliable routine. And beyond that, it will be like a sacred ritual that will forever be a part of your life.

5. Share Your Writing

For years I wrote alone. And I didn’t really write anything of substance. I wrote down ideas and thoughts as they came to me. It was fun and useful. But as I age and rethink writing for therapeutic reasons, I feel it’s something people should share. Having taught teenagers and adults how to write in my composition courses, I know that there is an invisible circle of shame that keeps people from sharing their writing. The trick is to create an environment where you’re all in the same boat and want to share.

There’s a lot of positive reinforcement in receiving feedback and compliments with your writing. In all the years of teaching writing, I’ve never read a terrible sentence, paragraph, or story. I’ve only read drafts. And every draft can get better. And when you realize that sharing your writing helps you get closer to a complete draft, it encourages you to share.

I hope you these tips helped you when you start to lose momentum. Keep writing!