14 Ways to Stay Motivated to Finish your First Book
Staying motivated whilst writing your book is a game you can win
Writing a book is no walk in the park, otherwise everyone would be doing it. It might be even harder when there is no promise of a reward, as is often the case for first-time authors.
The reward I am referring to is the extrinsic type of reward — the kind most of us build our lives around, at least to begin with. Money, acceptance, approval, validation…the first-time author rides on none of them.
As writers, we need to be fuelled by the second kind of reward: intrinsic rewards, such as deep conscious satisfaction in our efforts. We write our books because it becomes — as Tim Ferriss put it perfectly — “too painful not to”.
Researchers have identified the elements of intrinsic motivation as (1) a sense of meaningfulness, (2) a sense of choice, (3) a sense of competence and (4) a sense of progress. It’s fair to say that we do not just emerge from childhood or education with a sense of meaning and choice. However, we can develop these qualities. When it comes to our psychology, we aren’t stuck with our inheritance.
Having a sense of ‘meaning’ takes deep self-understanding. For many people, personal meaning — far from being pre-defined — is emergent of their life experience, and may shift over time. If you are working on a book, my guess is that you have this element in the bag. Your book means something to you, right?
A sense of choice is probably also already in the toolkit for you, but I’ll say a bit about it anyway. Feeling like we have a choice on how we want to accomplish whatever it is we want is partly a byproduct of confidence and the presence of opportunities. However, the most important element is one that isn’t circumstance-dependent. It is an unusually enlightened worldview of responsibility. A person with that worldview makes the most of the opportunities available, and recognizes that the meaning they attribute to life ongoingly is a product of choice.
Moving on, ‘competence’ and ‘progress’ are undeniably tricky territory. To develop competence and a sense of progress, you have to be consistently honing your personal strengths, and have a growth-oriented mindset that makes you open to all kinds of feedback. The problem is that these two factors are subjective internal value judgments, making them vulnerable to negative self-perception and insecurity, and — at the opposite end of the spectrum — narcissism and overinflation of one’s own abilities. Actually, being a narcissist would be useful trait in completing a book! In some ways at least.
Anyway, to my point. I started working on my first book in 2015 and it was published in March 2018. It was kind of a big deal, as I am generally not a great one to follow through on projects.
I want to share with you a few of the things which I believe resourced me through the process. The advice applies to non-fiction books.
1. Keep testing the ideas that form the backbone of your book
If you are writing a non-fiction book, you need some way of gathering feedback from the world on your ideas. For me, writing on my own blog and for other platforms has been useful for getting feedback.
If you don’t have a blog (or podcast, or social media following), then find a different way to get feedback. Perhaps you are a teacher or an academic and can test your ideas on students and colleagues.
Getting feedback is also extrinsically rewarding. I do think keeping the extrinsic reward-seeking part of the brain happy is useful to balm the crazy feeling that can happen when you work mostly in isolation.
2. Tell people what you’re up to, just not your whole social media network
Confide about your book in those who get you, and it (and they might not be those closest to you). Your personal cheerleaders will probably check-in and ask how it’s going. The accountability is useful.
Just don’t announce it on the social media intercom. Know that there is research showing that the more we talk about what we are going to do, the less likely we are to do it. (Check out this Ted Talk by Derek Sivers.)
3. Enjoy the process
It may seem obvious, but try to enjoy writing your book. This tip is especially suitable for the other extraverts out there, and anyone who doesn’t get off on slow, detail-oriented work.
Train yourself to value the sense of satisfaction you get from your own quiet toils. Read something like Ryan Holiday’s book Ego is the Enemy for inspiration with this.
4. Make sacrifices and trade-offs for your art
In the 12 or so months it took me to complete my book, I needed to turn away certain things I would have liked to do: holidays with my family and shared experiences with friends. The sense of sacrifice incentivized me to ensure I actually completed it.
5. Keep reminding yourself of your values
Staying closely connected with your values when the world is constantly making its own judgment about what should be important to you is a challenge of itself. Don’t let the opinions of others deter you.
Keep reminding yourself what you’re about and why your book is important to you and the world.
6. Don’t wait until you feel like writing to write
This tip is not at all new, but totally bears repeating! Don’t have your work be contingent on that sometimes elusive state of inspiration. Your book won’t get written.
Although I believe that I produce better quality writing when I am in an inspired state, I’d rather complete something of slightly lesser quality than not produce it at all.
Train yourself to show up with your book and keep plugging.
7. Give yourself a final deadline (eventually)
I only did this after I’d been working on my book for several months and was concerned that the project would wind up dragging on for long, miserable years.
8. Be around people who have already written books
This will help you stay encouraged. Just don’t have this be the only thing you do.
And don’t wait to do it before you write.
9. Stick to a routine
This one should go without saying.
Keep to a writing schedule. Know in advance when you are going to work on your book. Don’t feel like you need to be working on it all day! Spend the rest of your time wisely, in ways that support you as a writer.
I suggest you make use of mini-targets as you work. I didn’t have word targets when working on my book, but I did try to complete a rewrite of a chapter or subject per day (for instance). If having a routine and being productive is an enduring struggle, I recommend reading something good on productivity, such as Brian Tracy’s Eat that Frog.
Do you know what is a must in your routine? A solid mindfulness practice. Writing a book requires an ability to ignore your inner critic for whole chunks of time, which is where mindfulness becomes rather useful!
10. Know that it gets easier
It took ages before early drafts actually started to resemble a book. When that happened, the momentum increased.
11. Don’t get overly distracted with marketing your book or finding a publisher
It’s fine to have a mind’s eye on what’ll happen after you’ve finished your book. It can even build excitement if you are confident in marketing your book.
However, for me, I found that the perceived challenge of it sometimes had a demoralizing effect. This might not be the same for you but if it is, then do as I did and keep the focus on writing the best book you can.
12. Sneak off on a book writing retreat
It’s a tall order, but if you can, devote yourself completely to your book at least for a period.
I assume that like me, you have other commitments, including a job and perhaps also a family. However, I did manage to organize myself so that I was able to devote most of a month to completing the book. The book changed a lot during that month for the better. Prior to then, I had only been working on it my book for an hour or two each day, and not even every day.
You produce a different quality of work when you can give it your sustained attention (and for inspiration on that idea, I recommend Cal Newport’s book Deep Work).
You also get to feel a little like JK Rowling.
13. Stay inspired
If you’re producing a lot, you need to feed on information to the same degree. Creative output needs creative input.
Read books (of course) and also listen to podcasts when you’re out and about. I love the Good Life Project, 10% Happier and Making Sense podcasts.
14. Connect with your future, satisfied self
I’ll never forget the day my book was published. It was the best feeling knowing that I overcame my own procrastination, torpor, and despair. If your book truly is a product of intrinsic motivation, that’ll be the same for you too.
I hope these tips are useful. I look forward to seeing your book out there in the world!
