You are here:Home Discussion How Do You Get Your Game Face On? [Discussion]

Hi there! Duolit is on hiatus, but please feel free to explore our extensive archive of posts and our free Weekend Book Marketing Makeover. Thanks for visiting!

June 4, 2012

How Do You Get Your Game Face On? [Discussion]

Over the weekend, I took shelter from the muggy Florida heat inside my local movie theater for a matinee showing of Snow White and the Huntsman. In the interest of full disclosure, I was mostly drawn to the film by Chris Hemsworth (you can never get too much of the Hemsworth brothers…never) but it turned out to be an all-around decent flick.

photo by mseckington

At a critical point in the movie (slight spoiler alert here) Snow White, who had previously confessed to her fears of not being able to lead men as a monarch, gave an inspired speech to rally the villagers against the Evil Queen.

It got me thinking about our post from last week about overcoming writing doubts and how we all have to motivate ourselves sometimes to rally past our enemies (both the internal and external varieties).

So I want to know — how do you motivate yourself? Whether you’re faced with your own insecurities or disappointments form the outside world, when you get down how do you get yourself back up?

Join the discussion by sharing with us your thoughts on any of the following:

  • How do you stay motivated to finish your writing projects?
  • If you’ve received rejection letters from agents, how have you overcome the disappointment?
  • What keeps you going when your marketing plans don’t pan out the way you wanted?
  • Is there someone specific you can turn to for motivation?
  • What advice you would you have for someone who’s just decided to become an author, in terms of how to stay motivated?

We always love to hear from you guys and we could all benefit from advice and suggestions for how to stay positive and rally our spirits in the face of our writing villains.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, Chris Hemsworth has motivated me to go drool over watch more of his movies…

Filed Under: Discussion

  • I gain motivation to write when I have a bad day at my day job. :-)  I also have a wonderful support system that helps pick me up when I am feeling down.  

    • Great point Rebecca! It would be easy to sulk after those rough days at the ole 9 to 5, but it’s so much better to use that as fuel to motivate us. And a great support system is essential, too. Thanks for sharing!

  • ” you can never get too much of the Hemsworth brothers…never” 
    So true…

    Anyway, I think I stay motivated by imagining how I’m going to feel when the first draft is done, or when the revision is done, or better yet, when I’m published. Slow and steady wins the race. As far as marketing, it is disappointing to get zero response on something you worked hard on, but you gotta get up again and try a different strategy. Find out what works. Don’t give up.

    Advice for newbies: If you think you can live without writing and be okay with that, then don’t write. But if it’s something that’s gonna nag at you, go ahead and jump in 100%. You won’t regret it!

    Love these discussions!

    • Visualization is an excellent exercise for motivation! From small to large dreams it can make a big difference (I’m now picturing some time in the future when I happen to meet a Hemsworth brother and he tells me how awesome Duolit is…)

      Yesenia, your advice to the rubes is spot on. If you have that fire inside you to write, do whatever it takes to make it happen.

      Thank you for sharing!

  • waltwhitmanl54ves

    I’ve been writing long enough to notice there are writing periods when the “Muse” sets the pace.  I’ve also met some periods when I couldn’t write anything without the “Critic” disrupting and corrupting the moment.  When I’m not writing, I’m reading, looking at the craft done by the likes of Anton Chekhov.  I enjoy short stories and poetry.  Changing my setting and keeping a pen and notebook with me is important and less cumbersome than a laptop, of course that is all changing.  I write about the strangers around me and notice my projections versus there movements and behaviors.  I think my motivation is to not be scared of my imagination and know writing comes in all forms.  

    • Exactly, and any writing, even if not for publication, helps keep your creativity strong (and feeds the muse). Love the tip about changing your setting — sometimes that’s all it takes for fresh perspective and renewed motivation! 

  • I always tell myself: Others have done it before, so I can do it too! And if I don’t get any response on my social media marketing actions, I try to focus on the fact that maybe it had just been the wrong time.

    Keep on writing and keep on talking about it! (You’re doing it right when your postman knows you have published a book.) 😉

    • It’s all a building process, Corinna. Something I’ve read a lot about lately is how you want a ramp, not a spike with your promotion efforts. Keep a slow, but steady pace and you’ll get there! Whatever you do, don’t give up!