Day 143: Dealing with lack of motivation
It's really frustrating because my IBS has been bad lately and it's impacted my writing. The discomfort is very distracting and makes it hard for me to be motivated to work when I want to sit and read a book or watch Netflix to get my mind off my body.
Today I'm back to writing the rough draft of The Gentleman Thief, but I'll also continue my cycling experiment and do some editing first before I dive into the writing. It took a while for me to get started today because I woke up extra early, so it's too dark and cold to go walking. I strongly suspect that the exercise usually helps my brain wake up so I can start work sooner. Instead, I did some house chores and cooking.
I really want to finish this book soon. It's been taking much longer than I wanted. I want to start work editing volume 1 so I can get it to my proofreader stat.
***
I got some editing done on The Gentleman Thief and it was rather easy to dive into, compared to other times when I've had to do my self-editing. I'm not sure if it's because of the cycling and the fact that I'm editing it right after writing it, or if it's because it's in 4thewords.com and I simply want to defeat the monster. Maybe it's both.
I also got some writing done for about an hour and then took a break to rest my back, but getting back into work again after a break is so hard for me! Why am I like this? Ugh! I wish I didn't have to take breaks so often!
I will try to do more cycling and maybe that will help me ease back into work.
***
So I did more cycling, but getting back into the writing for some reason is still really hard. But then I realized that I'm yawning a lot and I'm really tired, probably because I woke up extra early. I've been awake for ten hours, so if I'd woken up at 7 am, it would be close to 5 pm, which is kind of like quitting time at work.
I was reading in an article on writing motivation that often when you're unmotivated to write, it's because you're mentally and/or emotionally tired. You don't want to fall into the trap of "I'm tired so I won't write" when you're actually just feeling lazy, but exhaustion can be a legitimate reason why you're unmotivated.
I don't know for certain if I'm just tired, but I think I'll try shorter sprints. I'll also go outside and do some work on my Alphasmart rather than at my computer, to shake things up.
***
I don't know if it was the Alphasmart or the change of scenery, but it worked to help me focus better, despite my tiredness. I got another hour of work done, although I did get distracted near the end and wasted a little time searching for something (unrelated to writing) on the web.
I think that it was mostly effective because the Alphasmart has no distractions. I do write more slowly if I stop to check words and do research, but the internet has never really been something to tempt me with social media and stuff. However, writing with the Alphasmart, and also using a Kindle for my blocking notes rather than my phone, seemed to help keep me more focused when I was in that unmotivated mood.
The only problem is that my blocking notes were a little out of order and I didn't realize it until I'd started writing. But since I can't edit on my Kindle, and because I'd already written a bunch of stuff, what I wrote is out of order, too, and I'll have to do some significant editing later. It made it a bit difficult to write the scene, because it was written piecemeal, like a patchwork quilt.
Although the Alphasmart helped me to focus, I'm still kind of tired. I think I'll write a little more, and then go to bed early. I might be tired because of my IBS, or maybe because I'd been sick a couple days ago.
Editing: Time spent: 1 hour, 17 minutes
Writing: Time spent: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 2641 words
Writing: Average speed: 1169 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 19 minutes
My takeaway for today: Complete nondistraction (Alphasmart, Kindle for notes) might help me focus when I feel unmotivated.
Today I'm back to writing the rough draft of The Gentleman Thief, but I'll also continue my cycling experiment and do some editing first before I dive into the writing. It took a while for me to get started today because I woke up extra early, so it's too dark and cold to go walking. I strongly suspect that the exercise usually helps my brain wake up so I can start work sooner. Instead, I did some house chores and cooking.
I really want to finish this book soon. It's been taking much longer than I wanted. I want to start work editing volume 1 so I can get it to my proofreader stat.
***
I got some editing done on The Gentleman Thief and it was rather easy to dive into, compared to other times when I've had to do my self-editing. I'm not sure if it's because of the cycling and the fact that I'm editing it right after writing it, or if it's because it's in 4thewords.com and I simply want to defeat the monster. Maybe it's both.
I also got some writing done for about an hour and then took a break to rest my back, but getting back into work again after a break is so hard for me! Why am I like this? Ugh! I wish I didn't have to take breaks so often!
I will try to do more cycling and maybe that will help me ease back into work.
***
So I did more cycling, but getting back into the writing for some reason is still really hard. But then I realized that I'm yawning a lot and I'm really tired, probably because I woke up extra early. I've been awake for ten hours, so if I'd woken up at 7 am, it would be close to 5 pm, which is kind of like quitting time at work.
I was reading in an article on writing motivation that often when you're unmotivated to write, it's because you're mentally and/or emotionally tired. You don't want to fall into the trap of "I'm tired so I won't write" when you're actually just feeling lazy, but exhaustion can be a legitimate reason why you're unmotivated.
I don't know for certain if I'm just tired, but I think I'll try shorter sprints. I'll also go outside and do some work on my Alphasmart rather than at my computer, to shake things up.
***
I don't know if it was the Alphasmart or the change of scenery, but it worked to help me focus better, despite my tiredness. I got another hour of work done, although I did get distracted near the end and wasted a little time searching for something (unrelated to writing) on the web.
I think that it was mostly effective because the Alphasmart has no distractions. I do write more slowly if I stop to check words and do research, but the internet has never really been something to tempt me with social media and stuff. However, writing with the Alphasmart, and also using a Kindle for my blocking notes rather than my phone, seemed to help keep me more focused when I was in that unmotivated mood.
The only problem is that my blocking notes were a little out of order and I didn't realize it until I'd started writing. But since I can't edit on my Kindle, and because I'd already written a bunch of stuff, what I wrote is out of order, too, and I'll have to do some significant editing later. It made it a bit difficult to write the scene, because it was written piecemeal, like a patchwork quilt.
Although the Alphasmart helped me to focus, I'm still kind of tired. I think I'll write a little more, and then go to bed early. I might be tired because of my IBS, or maybe because I'd been sick a couple days ago.
Editing: Time spent: 1 hour, 17 minutes
Writing: Time spent: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 2641 words
Writing: Average speed: 1169 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 19 minutes
My takeaway for today: Complete nondistraction (Alphasmart, Kindle for notes) might help me focus when I feel unmotivated.
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