: Re: Motivation - or how can I get myself to do the work I know I need to? There is worldbuilding and/or writing that I know I need to do, and even want to do on some level, but I keep not

Procrastination is as much as part of this job as creativity. We all do it. Writing isn't easy most of the time, and most of the time, I'd rather be washing my husband's underpants than writing a difficult scene.

But, when I don't write, I feel awful. It's a double-edged sword!

TOOLS

I use two tools to keep myself on track:

SCRIVENER

Not only is Scrivener a much more efficient program to plan and write a novel than Word, it has a fabulous Project Target tool. In here, you set a deadline for your book, enter the days on which you are free to write, and the estimated word count for your novel.

Scrivener then calculates exactly how many words you need to write that day to meet your deadline. It has a daily progress bar, and an overall progress bar, both of which change from red, to orange to green as you progress.

I've just started a novella, which I want to finish by the end of the month, and it looks like this:

What is so effective about this is, if you don't finish your word count for the day, it gets added onto the next. And the pressure to complete your word count compounds every day you don't write.

POMODORO

I have a Pomodoro app on my phone and work in 50 minute blasts with 10 minute breaks. The app I have plays forest sounds and tweeting birds during the 50 minute cycle and crashing waves during the break, when I shut my eyes for a bit or make a coffee.

My brain is now trained to write when it hears birds tweeting!

HTH!

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: Re: Motivation - or how can I get myself to do the work I know I need to? There is worldbuilding and/or writing that I know I need to do, and even want to do on some level, but I keep not

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: How do I subvert the tropes of a train heist? What are the recognizable tropes to a "train heist", or more broadly the action sequences where a protagonist boards a moving train in order to

: Many sexual situations, but no actual sex scenes? My guile heroine's character arc is almost entirely sex and manipulation. I tell (not show) she was a sex worker in the past, it's left ambiguous

: In a stage play, how should the script refer to minor characters whose names are irrelevant? Problem I'm writing a play that includes a number of minor characters who only exist for a scene

: When two first person POV characters meet NOTE: I've seen this question asked when the POV is third but not first. I write psychological thrillers that move quickly and focus heavily on what

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