Finding daily motivation

This is a picture heavy post. You’ve been warned.

So I’m an odd sort of lady. I tend to waffle between being, super calm/carefree and being an emotionally over charged wreck. If my shoe lace breaks then the world is ending. If I find a chocolate on my desk, it’s Christmas. I probably need medication now that I think about it, but regardless…

At the beginning of November, I decided to try a new method of journaling. To try and keep my mood swings in check, I’d start each day with a page of wisdom. The date would go in the top corner, and my only rule was that I had to spend at least five minutes thinking about it before I filled the page. As an added bonus, I colored them with a pack of highlighters. So when you get to this pictures near the bottom of this post don’t be surprised if they burn your eyes.

Some days I found quotes from other writers, but most days I just made it up as I went along. Stickers? Sure. Drawings? Why not. Whatever I thought would get me through the day and keep my focused on the task at hand, I wrote down.

I’ll be the first to admit that some day went better than others, but for the most part, this idea turned out to have some pretty cool consequences. Like I’ve got about 30 pages of things the motivate me personally to look back at any time I’m feeling like a Doctor Who marathon should take precedence over my novel.

If you struggle to keep your goals in check on a daily basis, or you find that you’re easily swayed by the thought of tumblr/youtube/facebook/netflix/etc. binge, then you might want to try adding this to your routine.

I should also add, that this was a two part process. The first page of the day was always colorful and creative. But the second page was just important. Opposite my cheerleading pages, was a list of goals for the day and a list of obstacles. If I knew I’d be seeing friends, it’s an obstacle. Didn’t get enough sleep last night? Well your naps, might get in the way of what you planned to do for the day. A lot of the time, I was just over ambitious.

But I will say that these pages helped me to increase my output of everything for the month.

Since December 4th, I have read 6 books (The Heroes of Olympus anyone?),  written 8 blog posts, worked out 15 of 30 days(currently the 30th), and managed to completely edit one of my novels from beginning to end. I’ve also still managed to watch an obscene amount of tv…Though I don’t think that’s an accomplishment. A great deal of other time went into planning a number of other projects too, and I dare say I wouldn’t have been as productive without my journals egging me on each day, reminding me of good days.

If you don’t think this is for you, keep doing whatever you’re doing. If your interested, feel free to take a look at my motivation pages for the month.  ^__^

 

The wonderful thing about writing

The wonderful thing about writing is, well, everything. The other day I began a journal entry on this topic and later realized that it would make a decent post. So without further ado…

1. No fancy supplies.

A writer can write on a thousand dollar computer or in a dollar store notebook, or on a cell phone, or with finger paint if you so choose. There is no limitation on what you can use to produce your work. Pens, pencils, laptops whatever. Which means writing is accessible to everyone.

2. Anytime, anywhere.

At home, at the office, on a bus or train, while walking, on the treadmill, in a coffee shop, etc. You can write anywhere. I written in classes, or trams and buses, in my bed, at the library, at McDonald’s, at cafes, restaurants, bars, under tables, on top of tables, the gym, even at my treadmill desk. There are no limits on places to practice your craft.

3. No qualifications.

I attended university for French and international affairs, not creative writing. You don’t need a degree, license, or anyone’s approval to start writing. You get to decide when and where and how you write all on your own and there no wrong way to do start.

4. No limit to what you can do.

Romance, fantasy, sci-fi, literary, fiction and non-fiction, western, crime, mystery, horror, whatever. Children’s, young adult, adult, teen, middle grade, take your pick. If one doesn’t work for you pick another. Hell you can even change your pov or your choice of persons. All the options are at your disposal.

All of these reasons as well as more basically mean that absolutely anyone can be a writer. You don’t need anything special, you can be any kind of writer, anytime, anywhere.

I think sometimes it’s easy to forget about the stories that need to be told and get caught up and overwhelmed by all the things we don’t have. Degrees, expensive writing programs, someone’s approval. But really, the only thing that sets writers apart from one another is passion. Passion for the story, for the characters, for the reader, for the escape.

So go ahead, forget all the reasons why you can’t or you shouldn’t be a writer. And write.

Because writing is a wonderful thing.