You might remember from our various annual goals posts (2017 // 2018) that I am working on a novel, but I haven’t talked about it too much here. That is the same approach I tend to take in my personal life as I try not to be that person who is always talking about their personal journey through their creative endeavor. It is just not that interesting from the outside, and I recognize that.

However, I also recently learned that some folks were holding off on asking me about it because they thought my lack of bringing it up meant that it was secret and I didn’t want to share. That isn’t true: I LOVE talking about it. And since it is such a big part of my life I wanted to share a little about it on the blog along with a few tips I’ve learned that helped me make a long-term creative commitment. That has a tenuous connection to DIY, right?

So let’s talk about it…

YOU: SO HOW’S IT GOING?

Great! And terrible. I set out to write this story thinking it would be about 90,000 words long (a slightly long but regular length novel) and here I am at 107,000 words and counting and only about 4/5 of the way through. Back in January I set a goal to be finished with the first draft in April, and that is feeling ambitious now even though I am moving along at a good pace just because each part keeps stretching longer than I expected. And it is a little disillusioning to think that I’ll probably need to cut out a lot to get it down to a more reasonable size, even though I know I need to write through these words to the end before I can think about revising.

YOU: DO YOU WRITE EVERY DAY?

Nope, there is no way I can be creative and productive on it when I get home from work. A typical good pace for me when writing fiction is about 500 words per hour. If I try to write in the evenings it takes me twice as long and I hate every second of it. I try to set aside long blocks of time on the weekends to focus with a fresh head, and I do my best writing when I get to focus for more than one day back-to-back. Therefore, I set and track my goals by the week, rather than the day.

YOU: SO WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Mars! And taxes, revolution, loyalty, long car rides, bad choices, sarcastic charts, and unhappy endings. My protagonist is a total jerk who isn’t as perceptive as he thinks he is, but he’s funny and tries hard and some likeable people like him so overall I hope readers will relate to him.

YOU: DO YOU PLAN ON TRYING TO PUBLISH IT?

No idea. I am trying not to get too far ahead of myself. Writing a novel isn’t a quick thing and it is only worth it if you enjoy the process. I am going to write the first draft so I know I can achieve that. Then I’ll read it and if I like it, I’ll work on revising it, and see where I am from there. I’m interested in trying but that’s not why I’m doing this and not something I’m thinking about much.

YOU: I COULD NEVER WRITE A NOVEL!

Sure you could! You don’t need a whole idea or a character that emerges fully formed like Athena from the head of Zeus. You just need a place to start and a willingness to progressively invent and carve out the story from there.

Throughout all of this I’ve also learned a lot about how to keep moving on a big, creative, personal project like this. Some of these tips might only work for me, but in hopes that they are helpful to you, here are some things I’ve learned:

TIPS FOR CREATIVE SUCCESS

Practice Doublethink

This is the biggest thing I’ve learned. When writing, I hold two totally conflicting ideas in my head simultaneously. First, that this is a work in progress, I have a long way to go, and that I need to keep revising and improving to get it into shape, that I am a beginner at this craft and need to learn and take it seriously. Second, I also wholeheartedly believe in those moments that I am a total creative genius and the world needs this story!

If I sway too far toward one of these ideas or the other I get off balance, either really depressed and unmotivated or producing work too quickly for it to be any good.

With any creative art I think it is important to both recognize how much you have to learn as a student in the craft, and also think that you have some unique voice to skill to add. In DIY, I’m excited to learn a new skill or make a piece of furniture that is just at the edge of my skill level, but I also recognize my limits and seek training/new information to take on new projects. I write a DIY blog but also freely admit the disasters that occur… hence the title 🙂

Acquire External Motivation on a Regular Cadence

No matter how motivated you are life will get in the way. You might have other priorities (like work and friends/family), other creative pursuits (like a blog and fixer upper house), or things that just seem a hell of a lot easier to do with your time (like bake cookies, watch TV, literally anything else). Overall your project will only really be satisfying if you stick it out and the best way to make sure you “refill the well of motivation” is to schedule regular times when you’ll get whatever you need to keep going.

For me, this comes in the form of a writing group that meets monthly. We are all either writing or revising a novel, and we read excerpts and provide a careful mix of critique and cheerleading. Having other people bought into my story makes me excited to write the next section for them, and they help me readjust and change things that I know are issues but am not sure how to address.

This doesn’t just work for writing. In the blog, I have this in the form of a blogging partner who I can get together with to work on projects and who also cares about keeping this project going… and all of you who comment and engage!

Make it Work

No, not in the Tim Gunn way. I mean literally make it work. I have my most successful writing days when I take a couple vacation days from work, get up at a decent hour, sit down in front of the computer, and don’t stop until I’ve hit my goal for the day. I tell myself on these days that this is literally my job, working for myself to get this personal goal done. All of the focus and no-excuses tools that I apply professionally can also be used on this.

Not everyone has vacation days that they can use on something like this, but overall if you are going to get a big creative project done you have to prioritize making time for it, set goals, and then take advantage of the time you have. It isn’t supposed to always feel easy.

This works on the blog, too. Sage and I have deadlines (when posts are supposed to go up) and when we get together we do focused things like set our schedule and commit to different parts of shared posts or projects.

I could go on about this forever.  I spend a lot of time thinking about it because it is so much easier to sit and think about how I “work best” than actually do work!  But I need to get back to writing.  What tips do you have?  What works for you to achieve a long-term creative goal?