Even though I love my Work In Progress (WIP), sometimes I need a little motivation. Recently, just for fun, I printed out the full manuscript of the second draft of my WIP.
I couldn’t believe how tall the stack of pages turned out to be. I had only worked on my WIP digitally. I had only looked at it on my computer as a Microsoft Word document or as a PDF.
When I printed out my book and put it in a binder, I said to myself, “Wow, look how much I’ve written!” Instant motivation mowed me over.
So, I wanted to share that tip on writing motivation. Here are some others:
Design a cover – Motivate yourself by designing the cover for your book. Even if you’re not self-publishing, you can pretend the book is published and this is what it looks like. If you’re not a graphic designer, use Canva. This website has templates for book covers and is easy to use.
Write back cover copy – Summarize the plot of your book and pretend it’s the back cover copy. Fore inspiration, use some sales copy of books in your genre on Amazon. As an added bonus, you have your elevator speech if anyone ever asks what your book is about.
Imagine it on Amazon – And speaking of Amazon, use your forethought and picture your book with its own Amazon page. And on Barnes and Noble. And on Smashwords.
Plan to workshop it with friends – One way I get inspired is to think of giving a draft of my manuscript I’m not embarrassed to share to trusted friends. Imagine them sharing great stuff about your work. Of course, they may have some advise on making your story stronger, but that’s a good thing, right?
A million ways exist to get motivated to finish your WIP. I think the lesson is you must take charge of working on your novel. It’s not just going to happen.
Andrew M. Friday 
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