Five Tips on Motivation and Project Management

1. Be realistic

We’ve all set unrealistic goals for our writing. We boldly declare “I’m going to write a book in a month,” then feel like a failure when we don’t.

The biggest problem with unrealistic expectations is that they set us up to fail and I am all about setting us up to succeed. So, when it comes to expectations look at what is actually possible then reduce it by 10% and set that as your goal.

I can almost hear you saying “But Annaliese, that’s not how goals work! I’m supposed to stretch myself not expect less!” but just take a look at the next tip.
 

2. Consistency is the key

Someone far wiser than I once said that “consistency has written more books than inspiration ever will” and they were so right!

“Do the doing” is one of my favourite mantras. For me it means to show up and write! When we show up we want to be realistic about what we can do and hit that minimum goal, whether it be a certain number of words written or a time target. Magic happens when we do just enough – we find that we then want to do more and not only that, but we can and do.

(A word on consistency – It does not mean every day, but it does mean regularly. You have to regularly show up and do.)
 

3. Something is better than nothing

When I sit down to write I have one aim:  to make progress. The consistency that I spoke about is the process, it is showing up regularly and doing something. Now, that something can fluctuate but it needs to always move in a positive direction, mainly– towards finishing your story.

A step closer to that is better than no step at all. So set your bar at something rather than all or nothing and keep taking small steps.

4. It just needs to exist

This is another of my mantras. A manuscript doesn’t need to be perfect, it doesn’t need to be a thing of worth – that will come - the minimum required is that it exists.

This should always be your goal for your story, for it to be.

The state that it exists in will shift, the something you have written will become “A thing!” and you’ll know when the story has transcended to a thing that is worthy but it can never do that if it doesn’t exist.

5. The joy of writing

I have a huge problem with the idea of the struggling writer. The image of the tortured artist bleeding on to the page feels extremely unhealthy.

I like to write from a place of joy, and I think that as writers we should be enjoying what we are doing. Otherwise, what is the point in doing it?

Yes, writing might be difficult, but we can enjoy the challenge and growth.

One brilliant side effect of writing from a place of joy is that you will feel more positive about your writing process. This in turn will make you eager to show up, and as you regularly hit those realistic targets until something exists, something that you have enjoyed spending your time and energy on developing into a thing of worth, you will want to do it all again and again, word after word, story after story.

Annaliese Avery is the author of the widely popular middle-grade series The Celestial Mechanism Cycle, which debuted in 2020 with The Nightsilver Promise, and her highly anticipated YA debut, The Immortal Games, will release in May 2023. Former library manager, children's book editor, and creative writing tutor, Annaliese has been hailed as the queen of goalsetting and organisation for writers and will be bringing lots of skills, tips and tricks on how to beat procrastination and how to conquer your creative goals to the W&As Children's Writers and Illustrators Festival 2023!