My Tools are Felt Instead of Held
As a writer, plying my craft depends on three tools: Motivation, Inspiration, and Dedication. You might think this means I sit around and wait for them to smack me between the eyes, whereupon I embark upon a frenzy of writing, oblivious to the world for hours or even days at a time, emerging only to refill my coffee cup or visit the bathroom. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, if I waited for any or all to hit, I’d never write a single word.
Granted, there are days; even weeks when the only words I write are in my morning pages. Then I wake up, so to speak, realize how much I haven’t done, kick myself in the butt, and get to work. How, you might ask, do I find things to write about with no inspiration? In the next few paragraphs, I’ll do my best to explain.
Each of the components I mentioned carries with it its own set of challenges and benefits, and a weak spot in one can, and often does bring my whole house of cards tumbling down. Let me show you how the system works, piece by piece.
Creating My Own Motivation
It took me awhile to figure out I was going nowhere fast without someone else’s set of 
deadlines and expectations. I’d gotten so used to following a schedule regarding my work load during my 30 years in corporate accounting, I didn’t realize I still needed something to give me a reason to not only start, but finish projects at some specific point in time.
I’d been using Trello for awhile to keep track of my projects and tasks, but except for client work and bill paying, hadn’t bothered to set any deadlines, or even create a timeline for all my writing projects, be they books, editing, blog posts, or articles. It dawned on me in one of those rare moments of clarity that I could put due dates next to each blog post date, chapter re-write or edit, and any other task I’d so cavalierly added to one of my boards with no plan for completion in the foreseeable future.
It’s amazing how a date on a board; even one you set for yourself can motivate you to get something done. That isn’t to say it worked perfectly in the beginning, or that I don’t have weeks, and even months when I fall back into old habits for a bit. Still, I come back to my Trello boards and see how far back I’ve slipped, and get the motivation I need to get back on track.
It’s not just due dates on a schedule that motivate me though. I realized I had been a whiz at honoring commitments to other people. but when it came to honoring commitments to myself, I consistently failed. I discovered in order to honor commitments to myself, I had to believe I was as important (or even more so) than any client, boss, family member, or friend to whom I’d made a commitment. Though my head didn’t quite explode on making this discovery, it was truly one of my biggest AHA moments ever.
Waiting for Inspiration is Like Waiting for Godot
In the beginning, if I didn’t feel like sitting down to write, I attributed it to lack of inspiration. I knew there were times I could spend 5 or 6 hours pounding away at the keyboard and come away with 6 or 8 thousand words. Sure, they might not all be good words, but they were words on a page I could later edit, or trash as I saw fit. When I didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted to write about, or a deadline like NaNoWriMo nipping at my heels, I could avoid writing forever.
With deadlines to motivate me, I discovered inspiration was everywhere I looked, and available quite literally at my fingertips. I might sit down to write with no idea of a topic, much less the words to follow, but if I let my fingers trip across the keys for a little while, spewing nonsense, or whatever was running through my overactive brain, I’d eventually hit on something to write about.
When I think of all the times I wasted those words on a never-to-be-seen brain dump, I realize it was what eventually prepared me to let my thoughts fly onto the page without analyzing or editing. Now, once inspiration hits, it’s the rule rather than the exception for me to pound out 1,000 to 1,500 words in 30 minutes or so. (thank goodness for the BBS’s of the pre-internet days which taught me how to type extremely fast, or a lot of those words would be lost before I could capture them.
I’ve also learned when an idea hits, I must get it down somewhere before it’s gone. Most often, I use the Notes function on my phone. On a few occasions, I’ve even written an entire 1,500 word blog post there when the words kept coming. It’s certainly not as fast as typing on a keyboard, but as long as the words are captured, who am I to complain?
Without Dedication to Your Craft, What Do You Have?
The final component, though certainly not the last (I’ve put them in a vague sort of order, but 
that order shifts continually) is Dedication. For years I practiced Accounting because it earned me a living. I didn’t love it, nor did I hate it. It was simply a reasonable means to a paycheck. I left my 30-year career behind me without a backwards glance because it had no connection with my heart, and certainly elicited no passion.
Writing on the other hand feeds my soul, helps me heal, and allows me to express in words on a page what I’m not always able to do face-to-face. I’ve dabbled in it most of my life, just as I’ve always read voraciously. The two go hand in hand seamlessly.
Passion doesn’t always translate to dedication though. In order to make the transition, I needed to do something I don’t always associate with my writing; make a plan. It isn’t a highly structured plan, but more of a long-term dream I want to fulfill. I know without dedicating myself to writing regularly and consistently. that plan will never reach fruition; the dream will die unfulfilled. To me, that would be a tragedy on many levels because, to be honest, I don’t have a single dream, but several which intertwine to make up a life I visualize frequently.
Dreams Tie Everything Together
Another aspect to maintaining my dedication is to change my visualizations from “frequently” to “daily”. The lack of dedication evident in my life too often emphasizes the need to bring those dreams back to the forefront of my consciousness. If those dreams aren’t vivid enough to remain in the forefront of my mind, I need to take a good, hard look at them to make sure they’re still my passion projects.
I’ve reassessed and re-evaluated my dreams, goals and plans a few times. When I’m having trouble sticking to deadlines, it’s a good indication I need to revisit them again. For example, my main dream was to have a large-ish estate on a peninsula overlooking the Pacific Ocean (preferably in Southern California) where I could raise fruits and vegetables, and cats without being hindered by neighborhoods full of people. I even envisioned a guard gate.
That isn’t to say I didn’t want anyone around me. My plan called for several cabins far removed from the main house where fellow artists could come when they needed a retreat. I’d even pictured a large building onsite that could be used for dancing, writers’ workshops, or whatever else came to mind once it was in place. Most of the time, though, I’d live there alone except for the gardeners, a housekeeper who came in every week or two, and someone to help me care for the cats I’d rescue.
Reassessing and Restructuring the Original Dream
Granted, I didn’t think the whole thing through, but at the time I imagined the dream, I thought 
I liked being detached from people. COVID-19 has debunked that theory, and as such, made me reassess my original plans. In retrospect, it also put the brakes on my dedication to commitments I’d made to myself. Realizing I need to take a good, hard look at what I really want has already started my wheels turning again.
I may not have as clear a plan right now, but one thing is still certain. I intend to be a published author with books in multiple genres. I also intend to do at least one TED talk about healing after losing someone to suicide. From there, who knows? I haven’t taken the time to think that far ahead. At the moment, I’m focused on getting back on schedule with my writing. Without the writing, nothing else is going to happen.
Summing it Up
I suspect I’ve oversimplified some of the concepts I’ve described here. As I see it, they’re really only as complicated as you want to make them For me, I’m of the KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) school of thought. Just because I don’t go anywhere in a straight line doesn’t mean I need a whole lot of extraneous twists and turns. Believe it or not, the twists and turns in my path always fill a purpose.
All in all, I’ve learned I need a few basic tools in order to keep my writing both fresh, and frequent:
- A Dream
- Goals to meet that dream (or dreams)
- A Plan to reach the goals
- Commitment to myself and the awareness to continually renew that commitment
- Tools like Trello, Google Calendar, Notes, and paper and pen to both keep me on track and capture the ideas as they come
Your tools may differ based on personal preference and your unique needs. The trick is to find what works and use it consistently. Above all, remember, you deserve to fulfill your dreams!
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri 
believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author. And check out her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
