Today’s the day you’re gonna start writing the best book, blog, whatever of your life. However, you told yourself this the day before and the day before that. You may have been telling yourself this every day for the last year, or perhaps life keeps getting in the way.

Don’t be this person forever, please! While there’s times we all need a break, you should try to work on your writing more often than not. If you find that your writing hiatus has been longer than a week, you might need some extra motivation to get back into writing. Here’s eight ways you can motivate yourself to write today.

Turn off All Social Media

Yes, you should chuck your phone into a drawer and keep it in there while you’re writing. Your grandma’s Facebook posts, friend’s cute Instagram dog pictures, and those stranger’s Twitter rants keep distracting you from actually writing.

Social media outlets design their platforms to hook you for long periods of time; fight the temptation by putting your phone away. You’d be surprised how much writing you can accomplish in an hour if you put your mind to it!

Ideas to further motivate yourself to write without distractions:

• Rewarding yourself with a video after you reach a goal
• Bragging on social media after you finished your writing goal
• Scheduling a hang out with your friends after you reach a milestone

Set Daily Goals

If you want to start writing again, setting daily goals is one of the best ways to keep yourself on track with productivity. Think about how much time you have; then work to set goals around that. Make sure you give yourself enough time to complete your projects and take care of your personal needs, too.

One way you can set a writing goal is by deciding what you want your daily word count to be. A daily word count is the amount of words you write in a writing session, and this is a good way to keep track of how much you accomplish. Word counts are great because they are a consistent measure of how much you write in a session.

Get back into writing by setting goals and:

• Reminding yourself why you’re writing in the first place
• Imagining yourself writing, which helps makes reaching your goals easier
• Deciding that you’ll strive every day to meet your goals and putting aside excuses when you don’t reach them

Prepare a Delicious Beverage

Coffee, tea, soda, Starbucks fruity drinks, etc; no matter what you like, one way to reward yourself for sitting down to write is enjoying one of these drinks while you work. Not only will you get the satisfaction of sipping a delicious brew, it’s extra motivation to help you enjoy your time writing.

Further motivate yourself to write with beverages by:

• Drinking your favorite flavors only when you’re writing
• Spoiling yourself with that extra special Starbucks drink if you reach a goal
• Allowing yourself to take mini breaks between milestones to enjoy your brew

Play soothing music

If you want to focus on writing, sometimes it can be hard to stare at a blank screen with no noise whatsoever. If you have a hard time concentrating in a silent room, consider turning on some music. The music can be used simply as white noise, or maybe you just want something so it isn’t so quiet.

Make sure you choose music that doesn’t distract you (yes. this means no Hairspray or Disney); remember, you’re writing, not singing at the talent show!

Motivate yourself to write with music by:

• Playing songs that suit your genre or motivate you to write
• Putting music in the background so you aren’t distracted by anything else
• Turn on music that fits the theme of the character/scene/topic you’re writing about

Find a Designated Workspace

Go find a place where you set aside everything and work. This could be a private space in your office, or maybe it’s the library. Either way, you’ll want to ensure you choose a place that’s 100% dedicated to sitting down and motivating yourself to write.

Try finding a space where you know you won’t get easily distracted. Your goal is to pick a room where you’re dedicated to honing your craft and paying attention to the finer details.

Motivate yourself to write in a designed space by:

• Working in a clean environment without many distractions such as papers, clutter, and other housework
• If possible, decorating your workspace with inspirational messages and quotes dedicated to writing
• Finding a place where you won’t be distracted by other people or bothered by any pets you may own

Brainstorm Ideas

If you want to motive yourself to write, one of the best ways is to always keep the gears turning in your head. Dream about your characters and envision what they might want to do next. It’s much easier to get writing when you have a great idea!

Brainstorm ideas to help you write by:

• Talking to your characters. Find out what their likes, dislikes, etc. are by asking them.
• Keeping a journal with you throughout the day in case you come up with an idea you want to write about later
• Thinking about what kind of story you’d like to write

Log your Progress Daily

Keep track of your goals. Did you write X number of chapters in one day, or did you miss your word count by 300 words? Keep a journal that records your great successes and failures to find where you’re strong and need help.

Motivate yourself to keep a writing log because:

• You’ll see where you fall short and get a sense of what you can accomplish in one day
• Helps you to push yourself and what types of goals you’ll want to work towards in the future
• Lets you know what you might get distracted by and helps you fix those problems

Fall in Love With Your Story

Falling in love with your story is the best motivation one can have to work on it! If you love what you’re writing, you’ll always work on it and strive to polish your writing to be as good as it can. It’s great to fill your work with your passion and keep going with the desire to get better.

You can fall in love with your story by:

• Writing about characters, events, and fantasies you enjoy
• Making a book filled with ideas and things you’ve always wanted to further explore
• Enjoying your perfecting your writing craft and looking for ways to make it better

Enough Reading; Time to Write!

Now that you’re equipped with how you can motivate yourself to write, it’s time get working. Get off the internet, open a journal or word document, and get writing.

Happy Writing!

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