Monday Motivation: Writing Through the Holidays

Good morning everyone!

I know I usually do these posts bi-weekly, but next Monday is Christmas and the one after that is New Year’s Day. Since I’ll be spending time with my family and busy running around, I decided to do next week’s post a week early, and I’ll be back in 2018!

Anyway, for today’s post, I wanted to talk about something a little different. (Just a heads up).

I don’t know about you guys, but I didn’t get a single word written over Thanksgiving week. Not a one. Between running around to family events, to spending time with my little family while my husband had time off, I just couldn’t find the motivation to write. All the food I ate didn’t really help, either. To be frank, I was too busy being lazy to write over Thanksgiving week.

Oh the shame. A whole week without writing. The last time that happened was when I was so sick I thought I was going to die (not really, but it was bad.) Not writing over Thanksgiving put me behind my target goal for NaNo WriMo and my goal to finish my first draft by the end of the year. I still have time, of course. But I’m around 15-20k words away. With the holidays coming up and the parent life to juggle, I can’t imagine hitting that goal. I’m still going to try, but I’m also trying to be reasonable about it so I don’t set myself up for disappointment.

ANYWAY, this month, to avoid the shame of not writing for several days in a row, I’m handling the holidays differently. I’ll still spend time with my family, but I’m not going to let laziness and food comas get the better of me. And if you struggle to write through the holidays for similar reasons and want to be more productive, here are a few different ways to do it:

1. Start your morning a little earlier than usual, especially if you have time off. Get up, get coffee, and write for an hour or more. You’ll get your writing done, start your day off with a writing high, and still have the rest of the day to spend with your family.
2. If you prefer to write in the afternoon or evening (because, like me, you’re not a morning person) avoid carb heavy foods right before you write (pasta, bread, cake, etc) and if you can’t for whatever reason, keep your portions SMALL. If you eat a lot of carbs at any point, you’ll get “The Itis.” The Itis makes you sleepy and lazy. Avoid it! Avoid carbs before you write! Personally, I have a Greek yogurt and berry smoothie plus a multivitamin before my writing session. ALL THE ENERGY.
3. Avoid last minute holiday stress. When you’re stressed, you don’t want to write. You just want to relax, or watch TV, or drink—probably. Get all of your shopping and gift wrapping and anything else you CAN get out of the way while you have plenty of time! Do a little wrapping, cleaning, or whatever every day. That way you can do a little writing every day, too. 🙂
4. DELEGATE. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! If you’re hosting or cooking, get your family to do their share! I know it’s not easy to ask, but it’s definitely worth it! Instead of doing dishes for the next 32 hours, have someone help you so you have a little time left over to write. Don’t be afraid to be bossy, especially if you’re hosting. It’s your house. You’re the boss!
5. Get your moment of peace, even if you have to sneak down to Starbucks. Writing when there are fifty people around you being loud and obnoxious is impossible. Writing when one person is being loud and obnoxious is impossible. Just because it’s the holidays doesn’t mean you can’t have some time to yourself. If you can’t get it at your house or wherever you’re staying, sneak out! Find a place to write and relax. Lie about it if you have to. Get your “me time” in. Trust me, your sanity will thank you.
6. Don’t feel obligated to see any family member or attend any function you don’t want to. The holidays are supposed to be fun, even if a little stressful. But if your family stresses you out too much, or you and your third cousin hate each other, or whatever, don’t go. You’re not obligated to spend time with your family over Christmas, especially if you don’t get along with them. Do what’s best for you, your stress levels, and your sanity. I know that doesn’t seem writing related, but mental well-being is important for every writer. Low stress and happy brains make it easier to write!
7.  Lastly, don’t feel guilty if you don’t write over the holidays. It happens. I’ve been there. Life doesn’t always coincide with your writing plans, and that’s okay. Just try and hop back on that writing horse as soon as possible! The sooner you get back at it, the sooner you’ll finish. 😉 But wasting time wallowing in guilt and self-hate won’t get you anywhere. So skip that part (if you can) and write, write, write!

The holiday season is different for everyone. Some of you might have no trouble writing, some of you (like me) are so busy running around like a chicken with their head cut off that you can’t even form a coherent sentence, let alone write one. That’s okay! The holidays are supposed to be an enjoyable time. Do what it takes to enjoy it, even if that means not writing. Some of you might even need a break from writing all year, and that’s okay, too.

But I STRONGLY recommend you write a little every day, even if it’s just one hundred words. For the sake of your sanity, your WIP, and your dreams. Because every word you type gets you that much closer to the finish line.

Enjoy the holidays, everyone! I’ll be back in 2018! 🙂

Need more motivation? Comment below! I’ve got plenty more to go around!

Monday Motivation: Stephen King’s Story

Good morning, everyone!

Despite the fact that I only got a few hours of sleep last night (parent life), I still want to spread motivation with everyone and hopefully encourage some of you to tackle that blank page, writer’s block, self-doubt, etc. My brain feels like pudding, so bare with me! I apologize in advance if none of this makes any sense.

Today I wanted to share Stephen King’s story with you. I think it’s safe to say most of us know who he is. He’s been writing for a few decades now, and a lot of his work has been made into movies and TV shows (most recently, The Dark Tower and IT.)

But despite his fame, King started at the bottom just like everybody else. And actually, he started a little lower than most.

When King was two-years-old, his father went out to buy a pack of cigarettes and never came back. This left his mother a single parent of two (King and his older brother, David.) Growing up, King’s mother struggled to provide for her family. They were very poor, but that didn’t stop King from writing. He wrote a variety of things through his teen years, even selling some of his stories to his friends.

1966 through 1970, King studied at the University of Maine where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. In order to pay for his tuition, he worked a variety of odd jobs, including being a janitor, a gas pump attendant, and a worker at an industrial laundry facility.

After graduating, King married and had a daughter, and it was around that time that his struggle with substance abuse began, which lasted for more than a decade. By the time his family held an intervention in the late 80s, King was an alcoholic and drug addict, and he had been abusing cocaine, marijuana, Xanax, Valium, and other substances. After the intervention, King got help and has been sober ever since.

King had a difficult time believing in himself and his work, especially in the beginning of his career. King’s first novel CARRIE was originally thrown in the trash after just a few pages had been written. But after his wife’s encouragement, he finished it, and it was published shortly after in 1973. He received a $2,500 advance, and the paperback rights would eventually earn over $400,000.

King even wrote a few stories under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Reportedly, he did so to “test” his writing—to see if Richard Bachman could become just as successful as Stephen King. He did this to ease his fears that his popularity was just an accident, but it was later found out that King was behind the pseudonym.

In 1999, King was hit by a car while he was walking on the side of the road. His injuries were severe and included a collapsed lung, a broken hip, and so many fractures in his right leg that doctors considered amputating it (but they didn’t.) King struggled to write after his accident, and temporarily quit in 2002 due to pain from his injuries and loss of stamina. However, since then he’s stated he does write, just at a much slower pace.

In his lifetime, King has written around 200 short stories, and he’s written and published 54 books which have sold over 350 MILLION copies, many of which were adapted into movies, TV shows, and comic books. He’s won dozens of awards, including the National Book Award and the Hugo Award. He’s been praised for his work and he’s been criticized for it, but without a doubt, King is one of the most famous and most successful writers in the world.

And he did it all despite his limitations in his early life, despite his self-doubt, and despite his struggle with substance abuse.

If your dad abandoned you as a child.
If you grew up with practically nothing as the child of a single mom.
If you had to work your ass off to pay for your college education.
If you doubt your ability to write and every other word you put on that page.
If you’re consumed by alcoholism or substance abuse every waking moment.
If you’ve been in a horrible accident that limits your ability to write.
You can still be a writer.

Despite these limitations, these challenges, these hurdles, you can overcome them.

Just like Stephen King did.

I believe you can do it. I know you can do it. There is greatness in you. It might be hard to see it sometimes, if you ever see it at all, but it’s there. And you may not be in the best place in your life. You might be stuck in the bottom of a bottle, or too poor to feed yourself, or so full of self-doubt you can’t even touch your keyboard. But you can get through it and come out on top, just like Stephen King.

The most important thing? You’ve got to try. You’ve got to work for it.

And the second most important thing? You can’t give up.

Tackle that blank page despite the things holding you back. Write. Write. Write. Edit. Edit. Edit. Show the world what you can do.

And you CAN do it. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently, especially not that voice of doubt in the back of your mind.

I believe in you, even if you don’t believe in yourself.

GO WRITE! 🙂

Source for post and to read more about King’s story, go here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King

Need more motivations? Come at me! I’m tired, but I’ve got more to spare! Hopefully it makes sense!