Tag: keep motivated

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The Intentional Writer

Need Inspiration? Try these Writing Mantras

The intentional writer

So many things can hinder our writing. Our lives are filled with distractions and competing commitments, while our inner critics whisper that our writing isn’t good enough. On top of that, we’re bombarded with advice on how to write, how to market, and how to succeed. It can be easy to get so overwhelmed or bogged down that we feel like giving up.

Please don’t!

 When you’re feeling frustrated, confused, or depressed about your writing, these three short mantras can help you get back on track. Science shows that replacing unhelpful, negative thoughts with more positive truths actually works. So, give these simple truths a try.

Good enough is usually good enough.

Does your inner critic insist that every sentence you write be worthy of a prize? If so, this saying will help you move past the bondage of perfectionism. I’ve wasted hours striving to perfect every sentence in a scene only to delete the whole thing later. I wish I would have known this concept back then.

Learn from my mistakes and aim for good instead of perfect.  

Most readers are more interested in a good story than stunning prose, so keep this in mind as you write. Give yourself permission to write “good enough” sentences. Focus your prose-polishing energy on the places where your words pack the most punch, like the first chapter, the first and last paragraphs of every chapter, and the final scene.   

Doing something is better than doing nothing.

What does this mean? Let me expand it. Doing something—even when it’s not the ideal thing, or the perfect thing, or the thing some expert told us we must do—is better than doing nothing.

I learned this simple truth from a marketing expert who was doing a webinar for self-employed people making six- and seven-figure incomes. Even people who already enjoy that much success need to be reminded of this concept.

Why? Because most of us are afraid of failure. We stress over every decision because we’re not sure if we’re making the best choice. Unfortunately, that kind of thinking leads to becoming stalled on a project because we’re second-guessing and overanalyzing instead of doing.

Successful people don’t waste time worrying about perfection. While the rest of us are dithering about how to make the ideal choice, successful people are moving ahead because they know doing something will get them farther than not doing something.

So, stop stressing over whether your idea is the “right” thing and try it. If it doesn’t work, learn from your effort and try something else.

Everything is figureoutable.

We can become demoralized by all we don’t know how to do. Just thinking about a large project like self-publishing a book, building a website, or starting a podcast can be so intimidating that we throw up our hands in despair. I have no idea how to do this, we think. So, we give up.

In those moments, remember this mantra. Everything, including whatever big, scary problem you are facing, is figureoutable. This catchy saying comes from the book of the same name by Marie Forleo. It means exactly what is sounds like.

This reminds us that everything, no matter how complex, is figureoutable. We just need to roll up our sleeves and start figuring it out. It will take time, research, and probably some trial and error. We may need help. We may make a few mistakes along the way, but we CAN learn new skills, solve problems, and figure it out.

For more inspiration on tackling problems with confidence, read Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo.

I hope these simple mantras will inspire you to stay on course with your writing and book marketing projects. You can do it!

Lisa E Betz

An engineer-turned-mystery-writer, Lisa E. Betz infuses her novels with authentic characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021). Lisa combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the early church to life. She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes.

Categories
Writer Encouragement

Earthlings Are Watching

You need to write, but you don’t feel like it. You have nothing to say, nowhere to start. You have a deadline, or a great idea, yet your brain is clogged. Some call it writer’s block. Best-selling author Jodi Picoult said,

“I don’t believe in writer’s block. Think about it—when you were blocked in college and had to write a paper, didn’t it always manage to fix itself the night before the paper was due? Writer’s block is having too much time on your hands.”

Jodi Picoult Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2020+.

That may be true, but for those of us with “too much time on our hands,” these suggestions might help.

Just Start

Get your coffee or tea, sit down at your desk, and pray! Then start writing. Compose a prayer if nothing else comes to mind. When your head is full of negative emotions, get all of your angst out onto the paper, such as, “I can’t think of a blessed thing to write about, and maybe I should quit writing anyway. Nobody wants to read what I write.”

Yes, we’ve all been there. Get it out and then move on. It may even be useful later for something like a column on “Writer Encouragement.” Just start somewhere, and as you do, chances are the Spirit will take over and lead you into something interesting God wanted you to say. Somewhere, in the midst of all of the mess you just spewed onto the paper, nuggets of gold may be hiding.

Give Thanks

Giving thanks may overcome writer’s block. List the myriad ways you are blessed. “I am thankful for the good health to sit in my chair and type.” When you have a deadline, “I am thankful someone wants my writing.” If you don’t have a deadline, “I am thankful for having all the time I need to do an excellent job.” Once you start the flow, it will become easier to keep going.

I have nine little blessings, ages one to fourteen, and they motivate me to write. After I wrote the first children’s book starring my granddaughter, my other grandchildren expected one as well. Everyone may not be blessed with grandchildren, but it may help to list the people you love. Consider how you want to write for their sakes—to encourage them, dedicate a book to them, leave a legacy of beautiful family stories, make them proud.

 Remember the Witnesses

A family trip to Red River Gorge, a famous rock-climbing spot in Kentucky, reminded me of an important truth. We were climbing a dangerous outcropping of rocks together. My adult children climbed ahead of me, offering a hand up when needed, and my husband stayed behind. I plastered my body against the slippery surface and slowly hoisted my weight from one tiny foot-hold indention in the rock to the next. My legs shaped angles they hadn’t formed in years. With plenty of help, I struggled through it.

With the final rise conquered under my feet, I realized a group of young climbers had been waiting above, watching and cheering me on! It reminded me of Hebrews 12:1.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

Throw off all distractions—cell phones, the voice of the enemy, dirty laundry, alphabetizing the spice rack—and get to it. Remember, heaven is watching, and not only heaven, but earthlings as well!

In 1996, Susan E. Brooks moved to Mozambique, Africa, with her family where she taught art and English at an international high school and started journaling about her adventures. Twenty-six of the stories of struggles and victories in Mozambique are now published on her blog in a series entitled “Mozambican Odyssey.” She has since lived in Portugal, Ghana, and Cyprus, as well as in her home state of Kentucky, USA.

Meanwhile, nine grandchildren have come along, and she is inspired to write and illustrate a children’s book for each of them. Susan has self-published four children’s books so far.

In recent years, her stories have been published by Peace Catalyst International and in an anthology entitled Prayer Warrior Confessions. Follow Susan’s adventures and her art on her websiteL susanebrooks.com, Facebook susanbrooksart, and on Instagram @sebrooks81.

Categories
Writer Encouragement

Lessons from Bart

For years, I taught full-time, but it never quite satisfied my longing to create—to put into practice what I was teaching others. “Someday, I’ll quit teaching and pursue my dreams of becoming a writer,” I kept telling myself. And finally, I did just that.

“Oh, you’ve retired from teaching, and you’re taking it easy now!” seemed to be the implied if not the stated opinion of everyone who felt free to comment on my life choices.

Never Give Up

The truth is, I have been tempted to live up—or down—to those expectations. Writers face rejection constantly. We are misunderstood, or we don’t even get a hearing in the first place. “Why do I put myself through this?” I ask on a bad day when another “Dear Susan” rejection email arrives.

During one of those why-don’t-I-just-give-up mornings, I read the story of blind Bartimaeus. Bart had been waiting who knows how long for a chance to be healed. When he called out for Jesus, many told him to be quiet, “but he shouted all the more!” (Mark 10:48 NIV). The crowd thought Bart was wasting his time, but Jesus had a plan for him. He heard him, called him, and healed him.

When publishers reject my writing, friends expect me to kick back and relax, and voices in my head clamor, telling me to give up, I need to remember Jesus has called me. And perhaps, in time, he will heal me of the need for acceptance from anyone other than him.

Get Moving

To counteract discouragement, we can take concrete steps to improve our writing. Earlier this year, I joined a critique group which requires me to submit monthly. After a few months of writing with my group, an award-winning website gave me a column to write! This made me feel like a real writer—as opposed to the fake writer I was before—but then I got stuck. Certain I was delusional to think a monthly column would be a breeze, I panicked. I listened to the accuser in my head ask these questions: “What ever made you think you’re a writer, capable of working with a deadline? Why would you want to write a column every month? How will you come up with new ideas?”

To silence the voice in my head, I took a deep breath and went back to Bart. He not only kept calling out to Jesus but also bounced to his feet when Jesus called. He got moving, taking concrete steps toward his goal. We can do that too.

Hog-tie yourself to your writing chair—or not—but sit in your writing space and type, even if it reeks, just to get the thoughts flowing. Take a few minutes to read some great writing and ask yourself why you love it. Take a walk outdoors. Find practices that work for you and make a list for the times you are panicked. Move in a positive direction like Bart did.

Open Our Eyes

Jesus opened the eyes of Bartimaeus, both physically and spiritually. When we need inspiration, we can venture out into nature and ask God to open our eyes. I walk and pray in the fresh morning air, and my mind opens up to new ideas and the guidance of the Spirit. Sometimes I sit watching the birds, remembering that Jesus said not to worry for God takes care of the birds, and we are so much more precious to him than they.

The world may seem to be falling apart, but in nature we see tremendous beauty all around us, whispering that God is real, loving, and attentive to our needs. When the descending sunlight filters through the delicate leaves, backlit with dazzling golds and corals, we need to be still and open our eyes. In the changing colors of sunsets and sunrises, we experience the creativity of God, his gifts to us, abundant and new every morning and evening. G. K. Chestertonsaid, “Most probably we are in Eden still. It is only our eyes that have changed” (2011, 2). 

If we allow God to open our eyes, the writing will flow from his Spirit, his Breath, breathed in by us, his children.                           

Reference

Chesterton, G. K. 2011. In In Defense of Sanity, 2. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press.

In 1996, Susan E. Brooks moved to Mozambique, Africa, with her family where she taught art and English at an international high school and started journaling about her adventures. Twenty-six of the stories of struggles and victories in Mozambique are now published on her blog in a series entitled “Mozambican Odyssey.” She has since lived in Portugal, Ghana, and Cyprus, as well as in her home state of Kentucky, USA.

Meanwhile, nine grandchildren have come along, and she is inspired to write and illustrate a children’s book for each of them. Susan has self-published four children’s books so far.

Categories
Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Keep Motivated

This year has been a year of crazy weather in the South with abnormally high temperatures late into fall. Georgia weather is always bipolar, but this year has been worse.

Just when we thought the mugginess of summer was gone and the crisp fall was here, de ja vu set in as record highs smothered the South.

The irony for me is I generally like warm weather because it helps keep me motivated and going in my outdoor activities. Although I bike year-round, cooler temperatures can suck the life out of a person with a brain injury.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the beauty of fall, but I know the ugly reality of SAD (seasonal affective disorder):

  • Feeling depressed most of the day, nearly every day.
  • Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed.
  • Having low energy.
  • Having problems with sleeping.
  • Experiencing changes in your appetite or weight.
  • Having difficulty concentrating.
  • Feeling hopeless, worthless or guilty.
  • Having frequent thoughts of death or suicide.[i]

Add to these the effects of cooler temperatures on brain injuries and the outcome is almost paralyzing. Cooler months plus the holidays can make it impossible for writers to stay focused and keep motivated to write.

Motivated?

Webster’s defines motivation as, “A motivating force, stimulus, or influence:incentive, drive.” Often during this time of year most of us begin to focus on the holidays: the planning, shopping, and schedule rearranging can be overwhelming itself, much less waiting to see what crazy weather may be coming our way to throw a wrench in our schedules.

The additional stress of the holidays can suck the creativity out of writers like a vampire. During this season, while I’m physically struggling due to my disability,  I have to force myself into my home office and hope I can be creative instead of just looking out one of the windows as the leaves gradually change colors and drift off to their final resting place on the ground.

Recently, I searched online for some tips on being productive with my writing over the holidays. Writership.com suggests ten tips to keep our creative flow, flowing during this congested time of year:

  1. Know yourself – think about what distracts you and avoid those things. And if you can’t, devise a backup plan to help keep you on track.
  2. Remember your writing goals – keep your writing goals posted and in your line of vision so you can focus on that to help keep you motivated while holiday parties are calling your name.
  3. Stick to your routine as much as possible – although there are added commitments during the holidays. Keep doing all the things you can to support your writing.
  4. Schedule your writing time – figure out what you need to do to stay on track with your writing goals and schedule that in. If another activity requires your attention, then reschedule your writing time so that your writing doesn’t suffer.
  5. Lean on your accountability partner or group –let your support group know what’s hard for you and what you’re trying to achieve.
  6. Make use of the time you have – as Steven Pressfield says, ‘work in the cracks.’ Get up a little earlier; go to bed a little later. Use your lunch hour. Have your spouse watch the kids for an hour. Bring your writing tools wherever you go. Think about characters while you drive.
  7. Don’t give in to discouragement – if you miss a milestone, allow yourself to be disappointed for a few moments, and then get back to it.
  8. Say no when you need to – prioritize what’s important and say no to everything else.
  9. Prioritize self-care – among your priorities should be getting enough sleep, eating well, and moving your body.
  10. Continue under all circumstances – something will always compete with your attention, whether it’s the holidays, a day job, or a life-challenging circumstance.[ii]

I think the basic idea here is to work with what you have, something is better than nothing. 

Work with Whatever You Have?

This year I focused on building my platform on brain injury awareness. Whether connecting with survivors or caregivers online or in person, I always try to tell people to focus on what they can do instead of what they can’t.

Last month in an article published in a brain injury magazine, I discussed letting go of the past and what we used to do and instead focusing on the present and what we can do. Having a brain injury doesn’t mean my life is over, just life as I used to know it. I’ve learned to keep three thoughts in mind to keep me motivated:

  • Keep moving to keep momentum and stay moving.
  • Don’t make excuses, make progress.
  • Don’t wallow in self-pity; this is a season and it will pass.

For the most part, just like in life, seasons change and life goes on. When the weather blues get to you, look within and not around you to stay motivated.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

[i] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20364651

[ii] https://writership.com/news/2016/12/16/10-tips-keep-writing-through-the-holidays