#AtoZChallenge Living Writing Motivation

A Month of Writing Motivation is the Operation Awesome theme for the 2020 A to Z Challenge. I'm giving examples of how five reference books offer writing motivation.




Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

This is a stretch for the letter L, but the book is super motivating, so just go with it, okay?

It motivates the reader to look inside themselves to find creativity. The book talks about common fears, which are the enemy of motivation. There's a section about saying yes to an idea, versus saying no to one. Then it motivates the reader to write a story because, if you don't, someone else will get to write it. In "Hard Labor versus Fairy Dust," you'll find some of what I mentioned in the C post on April 3. The book talks about being grateful for creativity. What's motivating, the book suggests, is knowing that writing is how you want to spend your life.

It suggests that you'll feel more motivated to pursue your creative passion once you give yourself permission to do so. And it says to not let the judgments of others stop you. Then the book suggests staying motivated to write in order to support writing -- not writing to support your financial needs. It talks about being willing to take the good with the bad to get to write, which is motivating on those days when you hate the hard parts.

There's a part that suggests you should seduce creativity and motivation so they'll long to come to you. It's a different way to think about things, isn't it? And then it talks about finishing being more important than being perfect. (My J post on April 11 featured a book focused on that idea.)

An entire section is devoted to discussing how loving to write doesn't mean you won't suffer, that it won't be hard, or that you'll always be motivated. The book suggests how to accept and deal with that. The author focuses a lot on curiosity, using it to find motivation and inspiration.

Have you ever given thanks for being creative?

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