Motivation, Please?

I’m having a lot of trouble getting motivated to write these days. I still enjoy it, and I still get a lot done when I start; it’s the getting started part I can’t seem to manage.

I’m still working on two main writing projects, a fanfic bigbang story and an original novel, and I’m slowly revising a former fanfic story into an original. I had an idea this week for a Christmas story, so I’ve scribbled down some notes on that, too. 

I also have several editing/revising projects on my plate, but those aren’t as tough. I have first proofs for the novel, plus an original manuscript and a fanfic chapter to beta. Only the proofs have a strict deadline, but there’s not a lot to be done there. Editing doesn’t require as much effort or creativity as writing, though, at least for me.

On top of all that, I really need to get more organized with my writing files and projects. I have a long list of story folders all piled up together, but without much rhyme or reason. I should have them prioritized based on deadlines or progress or something. In short, I need more direction as much as I do more motivation.

I’ve been brainstorming to try to come up with ideas to get myself across the starting line. I have a “words jar” that I won as part of the Help Write Now auction, and I’m considering filling it up with a pile of “tickets” with various writing, editing, or organizing tasks written on them. Then I can pull one out each day and make myself doing it: write 1,000 words, write for an hour, revise a chapter, make/update a works-in-progress list, work on a character bio, write a synopsis/summary, organize folders and files… you get the idea.

So what do you do to motivate yourself? And how do you keep your projects organized? Any suggestions are welcome at this point! Help meeeeeeeee! 😉

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