Deltalover4 Well done on the book progress!!! I hope this inspires you.. Years ago I started to write my first novel, a few chapters in I met a man, married him and it turned out to be a loveless, soul destroying experience. I managed to get rid of him, and soon after I met another jerk who also took advantage. Then this year, after advice from a very dear friend of mine, I finally took time out from my job, took a holiday, locked myself away and finished my book... I'm now a published author on amazon! So, I KNOW you can do it, I have every faith in you, keep up the good work  p.s just in case you need proof that the published part is true, if you go to Amazon and type in Soho Rob Adam , you will see my book. Much love and motivation from me x
![[-]](https://gayspeak.com/images/duende_v3_local/collapse.png)
•
guesswhat Wrote:Deltalover4 Well done on the book progress!!! I hope this inspires you.. Years ago I started to write my first novel, a few chapters in I met a man, married him and it turned out to be a loveless, soul destroying experience. I managed to get rid of him, and soon after I met another jerk who also took advantage. Then this year, after advice from a very dear friend of mine, I finally took time out from my job, took a holiday, locked myself away and finished my book... I'm now a published author on amazon! So, I KNOW you can do it, I have every faith in you, keep up the good work p.s just in case you need proof that the published part is true, if you go to Amazon and type in Soho Rob Adam , you will see my book. Much love and motivation from me x
Well done on becoming a published author.
•
deltalover4 Wrote:So anyways, for you writers out there, what keeps you motivated? I have written all of this in like two weeks, which is a record for me. But I'm afraid of losing my motivation. What do you do to keep the juices flowing?
Hiya! I'm an m/m writer as well, woot!
I wanted to say that sometimes - at least for me and a lot of other writers I know - it's not about 'keeping the juices flowing,' but acknowleding that you *will* lose your motivation in phases, and the trick is learning how to work during *those* times. There's a saying that goes: 'hobbyists will write when inspired, writers will write.' Now obviously your mileage may vary with that, but I think it's important to be pretty zen about the fact that you're going to hit points where you're completely empty of all inspiration from the muse, and then *write anyway.*
Often, plonking yourself down in front of a computer (or laptop, or paper - however you do it) and just writing itself, will get the juices flowing again when they disappear. You might want to create inspiration folders or files, some writers use Pinterests or Tumblrs, which have pictures and articles pertaining specifically to your story. My trick is a wordcount' trick which simply involves writing 10/20/50/75/100/150/200/300 and so on, in increments, until finally I have 1000/2000/3000 etc on my page. Writing 10 words seems far less intimidating than writing 100,000 - and the satisfaction I get in crossing it off (even if my first sentence is terrible) is pretty great.
That trick works really well for me. I just 'reset' the counter every 10,000 words and start from 10 again, which is also a way of valuing smaller achievements and realising that even 10 words alone is a step towards your goals.
You might also want to consider online and offline writing groups for cheerleading / support. They're also handy sources for betaing (editing) - though of course you have to be willing to beta in exchange, and whether you can do that will depend a lot on time / if you like their writing etc. There are some forums which help to place you with a good beta, or critique partner, which is something to look into down the track - can also be very helpful when you're plot-stuck, and have someone to go to hash things out (if you don't have that already).
But yeah, I mean for most writers I know, it's not about 'keeping the juices flowing' constantly, it's about being calm when they stop, and reminding yourself it's temporary. Writing sprints are so much fun! (That's when you knock out giant wordcounts in a short period of time). But they're also not sustainable. So when you hit the slumps, just be gentle with yourself, remind yourself it won't last, and keep writing - even if it's only 30 words a day during those 'urgh writing' periods. Good luck. You're gonna hit the close of that book in no time.
•
Posts: 835
Threads: 24
Joined: Apr 2013
Reputation:
0
Mood: None
I cannot WAIT until you finish writing it! I like to write stories myself and I'm also probably a m/m fiction addict, so I'm really glad you told us about this!
Keep up the good word! I'm really excited about your work.
•
Hello,
I hope you are all doing well. I haven't been on here much, because if I have free time, I'm working on my book, which isn't much.
I have now written up to 161 pages and over 35,000 words. In these pages, I have written a prologue and a full first part. I would have to say that the second part will be the easiest, because I spent so much time trying to recollect the details that I intended on using from my real life experiences. Now, everything will be from my imagination, which is a rather busy world.
I will keep you all updated. Thank you all for your supportive words and advice. You are right, writing something, no matter how large the contribution is per day, helps get me closer to my goal. As of right now, I have written close to 1300 words today. Not the most I have written in a day, but it is still something, and I'm proud of it.
Looking forward to getting this book done!
•
Awesome and congrats on what you've achieved so far.
•
Thought I would post an update for you guys. Since I have last updated you, I have written another 111 pages and an additional 27,000 words. That puts me at a total of 279 pages and 62,000 words. I only have 2.5 chapters and an epilogue left to write. And after that, I hope to share what I have written with you!
•
Well done delta, I look forward to reading what you have written.
•
Posts: 15,397
Threads: 27
Joined: Jun 2014
Reputation:
0
I'm a : Single Gay Man
Starsign:  Aries
Mood:
Great job man... I've never had the chance to read from an author representing me... our community. I believe you'll lead a revolution in literature 
•
M/M fiction
I read that three times before I realized that it wasn't M/M fRiction.... I gots such a dirty mind....
Anyway how about a wee bit of a sampler, like old timey books used to have on the back cover?
•
|
