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Right now you’re thinking “someday”…
But SOMEDAY never comes.
“Someday…” is an excuse that will kill every dream you ever have.
“Most people never do
what they want with their lives…
and every one of them has an excuse.”
What Excuses Are You Using For Not Writing?
When I asked writers to tell me about the problems they were facing with their writing, here’s what they said:
“I do the work when I have a real, imposed deadline (ie. The project is being published and other people are truly counting on me to get it done). But if I’m doing a project on my own or for a general submission, I just can’t seem to keep it going – I lose steam quickly.”
And…
“I love writing. However, I always seem to be making up excuses not to write, like someone makes excuses not to go on vacation or splurge on that tempting slice of cake. I am at a loss as to why I do this to myself, and it would be wonderful to discover how to bypass this dilemma.”
And…
“I just can’t seem to find the will to sit down and write. It’s as simple as that.”
And this one…
“I have a great story going, I know the major changes it needs when I finish the first draft, I know how to write the ending to bring the story full circle. I know what I need to do. So why don’t I do it—at least more consistently? Why do I allow other things to distract me from actually doing the work? I become angry with myself, and I feel guilty for not doing what I’m supposed to—and it rebounds on me with even more procrastination. If I could find the answer(s) to that question, I could write a book like this one in a month or two.”
BOTH of these…
“I think I’m one of those SAFE, scared out of their trees people who need a little more help getting over the fears and jeers of writing before getting into the course, mental blockers are a huge struggle for me.”
And…
“I always find excuses not to when it comes down to it, which is strange. I set aside time each week for exclusive writing. I look forward to those times with great anticipation, jotting down ideas, thinking about my story, etc. When it comes time for me to sit down and do it, I draw a blank and my mind wanders, fogs out or I just suddenly get sleepy for no reason.”
Plus this…
“I am notorious for having stories running around in my brain, but finding everything under the sun to do instead of write.”
And this…
“I realized that I can’t have a writing career if I can’t find some way to get the WRITING done. First things first.”
And finally…
“Without eliminating the procrastination and excuses first, none of the other issues are relevant.”
These writers are right.
You can be the most gifted, brilliant writer in the world, but if you can’t make yourself sit down and do the work, what difference does being gifted, or brilliant, or even just “pretty good” make?
None.
- If you’re not doing the work…
- If you’re not using you gift…
- If you’re not even showing up to fight with the words several times a week…
Then being a better writer than William Shakespeare is less valuable than being your absolute least favorite HACK…
BECAUSE at least that least that HACK is creating something!
If you recognize yourself in any of those comments above, realize that you are not alone.
Yep. I’m in there… And I don’t want to be.
Most people (something over 90% the last time I read the statistics) want to write a book. Yet most people don’t.
Would-be writers have a multitude of reasons for not writing:
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I don’t have time.
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I’m afraid I won’t be good at it.
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I don’t want to embarrass anyone.
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I get started, but then I lose interest.
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I keep having new ideas that seem better than the old ones.
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And on, and on.
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Anyone can find countless reasons NOT to write.
After all, writing is hard work. It’s challenging, and it requires focus and attention and patience and effort and time… and a willingness to face fears, and learn skills.
Finding reasons TO write, though—that’s another matter.
Most people who want to write but don’t
can’t find enough reasons to do what they want to do
to fill a thimble.
I Know Where All
The GOOD Reasons
To Write Are Hiding
My name is Holly Lisle, and after writing over forty published novels (as I write this — I’m nearing the end of Book Four of a five-book series that’s going jump that number again), and writing a series of nonfiction writing books, one massive course on how to write fiction and build it into a career, a second massive class on how to REVISE fiction, an even bigger course on how to write NOVELS (specifically), and many more fiction and nonfiction projects, I know how to find those good reasons, and how to make them work for me.
Better yet, I can teach you to find your reasons, and how to make them work for you.
You don’t need all your friends to cheer you on.
You don’t need to learn a bunch of tricks designed to fool your mind into doing what you want to do… your mind—being exactly as smart as you—is not going to fall for tricks.
You need to learn how to build motivation within yourself:
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To understand what you want.
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To know exactly why you want it.
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To learn precisely how to get it.
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And then to learn to create real, achievable, step-by-step goals that will get you where you want to be.
That’s what I’ve created with
How To Motivate Yourself.
The course contains the exact step-by-step process I’ve used to accomplish everything I’ve wanted to accomplish in my life—both things writing-related, and things not.
If you’re serious about wanting to break away from your past motivational failure, if you truly want to create short stories or novels or screenplays, if you are willing to ask yourself a few hard questions, and then dig for the honest answers, then I can help you.
How To Motivate Yourself is a three-day work-at-your-own-pace video workshop with a discussion forum that walks you through my process.
Along the way you’ll take breaks to do the exercises that will allow you to discover what’s been keeping you from achieving your goals—because, believe me, you have reasons, and if you’re willing to look, you’ll discover that they’re good ones.
In This Workshop:
- You’ll discover how to give yourself better reasons for doing the things you want.
- You’ll discover your right to be motivated—and if that sounds weird, realize that many people never accomplish what they want in life because they don’t think they HAVE the right to be motivated.
- You’ll learn how to separate what you really want from things you think you should want (things that leave you feeling guilty when you don’t pursue them, but never win your heart).
- You’ll take a torch to your excuses—AFTER you learn what you get out of hanging on to them.
- You’ll discover the difference between goals, NON-goals, and FALSE goals (I can pretty much guarantee that right now you have some of all three, and that your NON-goals and FALSE goals are keeping you from reaching your real goals.
- You’ll dig deeply into the WHY and the HOW of your real goals, figuring out exactly why you want each and every goal that matters to you, and then coming up with the answers for why you aren’t doing each thing already.
- You’ll learn the roles your conscious and subconscious minds play in motivating you, and you’ll learn how to short-circuit the negative influences you’re getting from each half of your mind.
- You’ll take a fascinating tour of both halves of your brain, discovering what you know you know, and then getting into what you know, but don’t know you know. (Really.) Yes, it’s strange, but it’s easy, it’s incredibly helpful, and doing this will set you free from some of the worst tricks your mind plays on you in keeping you from accomplishing what you want with your life.
- You’ll identify your personal conflicts, and then you’ll learn how to fix them.
- And when you know why you’ve been avoiding what you want to do, and when you’ve learned how to give yourself the bone-deep motivation to walk away from the excuses and grab your goals… You’ll learn exactly how to create the step-by-step plan that will get you there.
- You’ll learn to use the success triad of ACTION,
PROCESS, and REALITY, uncover the truth that most goals don’t contain ANY of them, and discover that any goal that doesn’t contain all three is impossible to achieve. (Yes, some of your problems with setting goals have come from the single heartbreaking fact that you’ve made your goals impossible to achieve without recognizing those goals’ awful flaws.)
- You’ll discover the train wreck that is the abstract goal, and the rocket that is the concrete goal, and exactly how you turn one type of goal into the other.
- And finally, when you have your goals nailed down, you’ll take necessary action.
That is, you’ll work toward your own success, your own happiness, and the realization of your own dreams.
There’s no “MAGIC” in this process.
There are NO gimmicks. Nothing here that will only work for some people some of the time.
This process got me through the writing of all those novels (in all their drafts), all the many writing courses I’ve created, and (off the writing topic, but relevant, so I do include it in the course), allowed me, when I finally wanted to, to lose quite a bit over a hundred pounds and get my health back without fads, or crash diets, or other Stupid Pet Tricks—and keep the weight off for twenty-plus years… and still counting.
YOU can do this.
The How To Motivate Yourself course includes:
- Seven videos
- The course transcripts
- Mindmaps for each section
- A course outline
- Worksheets to help you drill down to the core of what motivates you
- And a live, private forum where you can discuss what you’re discovering with other students who are going through the same process
What you want to do with your life is within your reach. And your dreams are worth reaching.
You have to take a deep breath, and decide that your dreams matter to you. That your life matters to you. If you can get that far, I can help you from there, starting today. Dreams do matter. Dreams made real are the source of my joy—I love my work, I love the people I get to do it with, and I’ll cheer with you when you let me know that you:
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Finished your first draft of your first story
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Dared to send out your first book
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SOLD your first book, or
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Simply found a way to create what you love regularly, and discovered your own joy in the process
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Start class now, and find your motivation.
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- Printable PDF lessons
- Downloadable, printable PDF worksheets
- Always-available Classroom*
(retake this class alone or with other
writers as often as you like) - Forum Discussions, Brainstorming, and Help
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Holly Lisle
Novelist, Writing Course Creator