The Motivation to Write: Finding That Spark

    The beauty of the internet is its vast resources for learning new things. Inspiration can easily be found. Pointers on developing new skills are there to help you. A lot of the internet can be inaccurate and we know that, but that’s because some things are based on personal experiences and opinions.
    When you think about what drives a writer to write, there’s a variety of reasons as to why they do it. There’s no shame in writer’s wanting to see their books get adapted into films, or to have thousands of fans gushing over the same characters as them. Those writers were successful for a reason. They were able to find the motivation to help them write their stories.
    As for people like me? We still struggle with figuring out how to even write a sentence out on a paper. Staring at a blank document isn’t as fun as one would think, but at that moment we have nothing to fill that document with. 
    But even if we were able to get that first sentence out… Have you ever been able to keep that spark going? 
    For me, I am not afraid to admit the tens of hundreds of documents filled with half of a story. The rest of the story stays in my head. Because I lose the drive; I am no longer motivated to have it written out, to have it shared with an audience bigger than just myself. 
    One of my biggest sources of motivation has always been having supporters. When there are people who genuinely enjoy what you write and share with them, then it only makes you want to write more. Having others like what I put out is a great sense of accomplishment. It tells me that I am not doing something that’s a waste of time. 
    Sadly, that isn’t always enough for me. Writer’s block hits a lot. My insecurity spikes up no matter how many compliments I receive. 
    So what other ways can I keep on pushing my drive to write, whether it’s for me or others?
    I’ve always seen ads about MasterClass, a website where you can learn from people who have achieved their success story. Writers. Chefs. Athletes. Now that they have reached their goals, they aspire to teach and help others achieve theirs. 
As college students, money can be an issue. MasterClass does cost money if you wish to learn from people who are experts at their craft. The good thing for us is that articles on the site are still free for viewing. 
Now whenever I wish to seek ideas for my writing or plain motivation to keep on writing, I do a basic google search. Writing motivation or writing ideas. It doesn’t have to be difficult; we have the internet as a resource and we should be free to use it. 
And MasterClass popped up with a lovely article, listing some strategies that can help us write. I’ve decided it would be nice if I were to list out some of the strategies and how they might help you keep motivated, depending on what might work best for you. 
Set Writing Goals
This is not a bad idea, especially if you are trying to work on something that’s the length of a novel. The amount of words that are in a novel… It's quite daunting. Splitting up the word count and setting a daily goal for words written can help. You might end up shocked by how many words you were able to get down.
My only issue with this method is my habit of coming up with an idea and wishing to see it to an end. There is no set structure and I do not know how long the story will go on for. I only write. I write as many words as I can in the hopes of seeing the story to the end. If only I knew when I would reach the end and what it would be.
Set Deadlines
School has drilled into us that all assignments have due dates. Typically, anything past those due dates are not accepted. And because school has drilled this thought process into us, setting deadlines for our writing can help us pump out the work we need to produce. In the heat of panic, we do not care for quality and only wish to get the work done. As a writer, that is what we should do: write then revise. Deadlines can help you do just that.
This was a method I’ve tried for myself. My issue is my self awareness. When I know a deadline was set by myself, I am able to push it back when I struggle to meet the original deadline. But if you are someone who can make a deadline and keep it, then this strategy would help motivate you to write and keep at it.
Join a Writing Group
When surrounded by people who do certain things, you can’t help doing the same. We absorb the habits of people we are exposed to. Surely, we all must’ve noticed certain phrases or actions we do that originally were something our friends do. The same can be applied to writing. When surrounded by people who write and are motivated to write, you follow suit. 
The article suggests joining National November Writing Month, NaNoWriMo, to help people come together and write more. Since I am not a sociable person, I have a difficult time accepting the idea of being surrounded by a lot of people, especially large groups of people. 
I can admit, however, if it were a few collective writing friends I am very comfortable with sharing with them. And currently I frequently share my writing with an online friend. Since they write, too, we like to motivate each other to write while encouraging breaks when they are needed. 
So you can join a national group where everyone who is a part of it aims to motivate each other to write. If that’s not your thing, it’s always nice to at least have one person who you can confidently share your writing with.
Now the article contains fifteen different strategies which can help motivate you to write more and to keep at the momentum. Out of the fifteen I had read, some provided me with temporary or short bursts of motivation. The three that I have mentioned here are just some of the methods that did not help me. I chose to discuss these in the hopes that maybe they might help other writers who are motivated differently compared to me. One solution will work for some people and another solution will work for others. It’s just important to know what those would be.
Just never forget why you wanted to write in the first place. Whatever inspired you to start writing, I hope you never lose it.