i was doing something but this is more important

Im actually reaching the end of my novel rn, this is the first time I haven't lost motivation after the second chapter.

Side note: I’ve noticed that Kate tends to glance over her shoulder often in these podcasts and I’ve always wondered why. I think I’ve figured it out. Her soul is just so intertwined with nature that when she’s indoors it’s just constantly grabbing for a window and longing to be with the trees. (*either that or Rocket is just being distracting lol)

Omg finishing the draft of my first book was one of the biggest accomplishments in my life. And I love the ending of my book soooo much that it’s inspiring me to press on with the 1st major edit that I’m on now. I put on the music I listened to while writing the final act ( it’s the soundtrack to Ori will and the Wisps), and imagining the ending gets me so friggin excited that I want to just hit the desk and type away.

Kate: “Chop wood, carry water... ok, that sounds like a good time.” 😂😂😂 I’m dead lol

One word, one sentence, then one paragraph and the next. Great advice.

"Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

I rewarded myself with a celtic-style ring when I wrote 50,000+ words on my Irish novel a few Novembers ago. I've been looking for what I want to buy for myself when I finish this book.

This is gold. Excellent writing advice, yes, but also excellent life advice! So many people (myself included) have not been taught the science (or practice) of perseverance. Some of us see a daunting task or problem and become paralyzed by the overwhelming heap and just give up because our brain/emotions can’t handle it. I needed this today. Thank you 🙏

I’m literally in a writer’s block rn and this is absolutely amazing and with perfect timing. So happpppy

Wow. This went up literally the second after I made a lengthy post in the StartYourStory group about struggling with my WIP. Thank you so much!

Yay! This is so helpful. I am working on my fantasy novel and it's not quite done yet but I really needed this motivation to finish it! Thank you guys so much! You are incredible. I don't know where I would be in my writing journey without you twp. Thank you for helping me reach my dreams!

Just finished listening to this episode for the second time this week! I really love the advice you guys give in it. 😄 The idea of just writing the next word, rather than focusing on the whole book, is one that really resonates with me. I love planning how I'm going to do everything, and sometimes can get a little caught up in looking ahead, rather than what is right underneath my nose. So, thanks for the new episode! 😄 Loved it!

Just watching your videos inspire me, my characters feel so real to me and while it isn't a requirement, I do wish to share them with someone one day in a way that will help others love my characters as much as I do.

Don’t fixate on the Outcome but focus and give your all to the step or the scene you are on now because the thing you’re doing now will determine the quality of the Outcome. That’s so important and hit me hard! I’m glad though because this will help me significantly.

Thank you so much for this episode!! It was so good and encouraging! The part about just breaking things down and doing the small steps was very inspiring and made me feel like I can finally get back to writing my novel. Love you guys 💛

Guys, I can't begin to tell you all how helpful your advice is. I've been listening to you since the new year and you have helped me so much, with my mindset, with my motivation. You have helped me be more productive in my day job (as a commercial copywriter) and your writing sprints have made me so much more productive in my creative project. And this is so helpful for when I get overwhelmed, and at a loss for what to do. - I really can't thank you enough!!

Where can I get the sweet cup that Abbie has on top of Seth's book -- which I have just ordered on Amazon?

I love you guys so much. I'm sitting here - was dreading going to the new house to wash ALL the walls and paint at least 3 rooms tonight before I go to bed ... we don't get keys till 6pm. Chop wood. Carry water. I can do that. Thanks

It's not so much that I lack motivation to finish my book, it is that I'm stuck on a loop and thinking way ahead. Also, I'm at the mercy of creativity, the feeling, so all the advice you gave today were super helpful as inspirational. They apply to writing, but also to some many other things that don't necessarily have to do with art. Thank you so much, you two.

I'm watching this while typing out a plot that I need to write for Stary Writing. I actually was stuck about how to get to the end result, but I just kept listening to you two and now I'm getting to the ending plot! So proud :))

I needed this today

Exactly on time! ❤️❤️❤️

This was so fun!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I REALLY needed to hear all of this right now!

You ladies are amazing! Your discussion is by far the best that I have come across. Thank you from a struggling writer.

I compare myself to other peoples progress and feel like I'm not good enough. It makes me struggle with finishing because I feel I have to meet the same goals as them. Then I worry and stress, loosing my motivation.

I am actually working on a book series and watching you two makes me want to just keep gokng with it. I have been working on this series for three years now (2 was spent on research, 1is just the rough draft). This show gets me so motivated it's now funny. Keep up the good work ladies.

I truly love this.

I've been in a serious rut for the last few weeks and not just creatively but many things and that quote you gave really gave me a little boost so thank you!

Yes, creativity is an action. But actions require an anticipated effect in order for us to initiate them - a vision of the outcome. This is the ideomotor principle in psychology. It is that vision of the outcome which I would call “inspiration”. Establishing that vision of the outcome is the entire point of outlining: You create a mental image of your characters, your plot, your individual scene *first* - and only then will you actually be able to write it. Because now, that mental image is what you know you have to aim for. You don’t just create anything randomly on the spot, without any idea of what you’re aiming for. And if you do (which is what kids do, and which is therefore also what a lot of authors do when starting out, usually by pantsing), it will probably result in chaos, which you then have to edit a lot. Yes, rewarding yourself gives you an anticipated outcome (such as celebrating with your friends, or imagining the finished book sitting on your shelf). But it’s the ultimate outcome of writing your entire book - that doesn’t help you much to write the individual scene. Rather, the outcome you have to envision in order to start writing a given chapter is “What is this scene supposed to look like at the end?” And yes, that also has the upside of being a comparatively small, more manageable task than writing an entire act. Therefore, it is pointless to just sit down in front of a blank page and force yourself to write the next scene in the chronology of your chapters - if you don’t have a clear-enough image of what that scene is supposed to look like. If you have nothing to aim for, you’ll fail. In these cases, I’d rather write a different scene later or earlier in the plot, for which I already have a clear image in mind. Thus, I give my brain time to develop the vision (the “inspiration”) for the scene I can’t write yet in the meantime - without simply letting that “waiting time” go to waste. The “action” you have to do before you start writing is to start “acting” like an actor would: Play the scene through in your head, ideally while being away from your writing software altogether. Eventually, you’ll find that your characters “just start talking” to each other in your head. Of course, do write down any lines or interactions that come to your mind in the process (in the notes app on your phone or whatever). This gives you more and more stepping stones that the scene can be comprised of. And once you have created and compiled enough pieces of the puzzle that is the entire scene or chapter this way, all you have to do is sit down and put them together. Now, the blank page doesn’t feel like a blank page anymore, because all of the puzzle pieces are already in your head, and you merely have to take them out and put them together. TL;DR: The process is twofold. For one, in terms of *enjoyment,* you have to enjoy the process itself. Merely enjoying the outcome (“delayed gratification”) won’t pull you through, because your brain doesn’t like that long-term perspective. But that only gives you *motivation,* not a guidance on what to actually do with that motivation. Therefore, second, you need to establish a mental image of your scene *first* before you are even able to sit down and turn that vision into a reality on the page. Even pantsers need to do that - they might just do it on the fly, while already sitting in front of the screen. But they still envision a scene, an interaction, a line of dialogue first before writing it down.

Are you guys able to get the last two weeks uploaded to Spotify? I prefer to listen on there so I can get inspired on the move!

You guys are talking about advice for writing but I'm taking some awesome life hacks for sure. I really like the Karate Book paraphrase. Super legit. Thanks

I’m 5% of the way of my 60,000 word goal manuscript and I’m starting to get a little burnt out thank you so much.

I've been writing my book for years now, and I finally stopped planning and started writing the first draft, but it just feels like it takes forever to even just write one chapter. I'm so worried that the story won't work as a whole when I'm done so I keep wanting to go back to planning.

That's me. I haven't finished a book since the 1980s.

i am new to writing so ive been doing flash fiction each day like 500 words and my incentive afterwards is i get to do a happy dance

These girls read my MIND

Do you have a video on how to actually begin your book? I need to start mine 😅

💛

Thanks for this, I really needed it. Would love to hear if you or the notification squad have any advice about motivation drop at the end of macro editing(/rewriting/revising, whatever you personally call big edits before line editing). I get tied up there very severely because it's the last chance to make big changes and improvements and I feel this heavy weight to try and make it as close to perfect as I can - this is the book that will go out to [editors/agents/readers], this is my last chance to make it as good as I can, and I can ALWAYS think of things I want to do better. (I know you've covered this perfectionism/procrastination loop before but I'm struggling hard...I know I need to sit down and write and let it be imperfect but the motivation isn't there to get me in front of Scrivener to do that.)

To me the hard part is to start the editing part when the first draf is done. It doesn't feel as fun...

Hi Ladies! Abbie, I have watched all your videos about the 3 act structure and character development and have outlined something that actually might be good. lol But now, I'm terrified to start writing bc of all the what ifs. What are your recommendations for fighting through "writing anxiety?"

abbie kate you are the best

When I get money I’m def going to pay to keep this going

Oh thank god, you read my mind

"Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood carry water." I believe that is actually a Zen Buddhist koan. The idea that enlightenment is not something that changes our reality in some cross-dimensional shift, but it is something that lets us exist without excessive suffering. But then Stoicism and Buddhism have a great number of overlaps. Just focus on what is in front of you, not worry about what happened before or what may happen in the future.

Yes, Jordan Peterson, “clean your room” is too big a step for chaotic creatives. 😂 Start with “clean your bookshelf”. (Funnily enough, Peterson has realised this “allow yourself to have minimal standards” concept on other occasions. When he said something along the lines of “ask yourself how you can make it through the next day, or maybe just the next hour, or just the next minute”.) Delayed gratification is the goal that people want to achieve, but the concept itself is self-defeating - because your brain doesn’t like being *aware* that the reward is being put off for that long. Instead, you gotta learn to enjoy the work itself - or at least the reward of having finished a single chapter - so that working on your book actually becomes “instant gratification”. 😁

If you’ve covered all bases, you guys can come here and meet me. We can go to some place. Long-drive is going to happen. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be another false-start.

I’m constantly in between “what’s fun for me now” and “I’m so old and I never published something” :(

how do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time!

Just come here, tell your story and say that you’ve a lot planned out and let’s get out of here. You really don’t have to think beyond that.

At first I thought you were talking about finishing a novel because you read all the way to the end. But you're talking about writing one! Whoops. A lesson I learned when I was in my early 20s was that it's not called writing a novel, it's called writing a NOVEL-LENGTH manuscript. Sorry. I had to do it. Not trying to be mean or snarky.

writer’s block comes from lack of structure...

💜