Un-Motivation

What motivates you to write?

Actually, let’s look at the flip side of that question, too:

What unmotivates you?

I’m suffering from an abundance of unmotivation this month, which really sucks because it’s Camp NaNoWriMo, and not only did I, for the first time ever, set my word count goal for under 50k, I actually decreased it from 31K to a miserable 10K because I just can’t seem to get focused and motivated. (I’m not counting April because I had an editing goal instead of a writing one for that camp.)

I don’t know what it is but I’m guessing it’s multiple causes:

1) brain-melting heat and humidity (especially this last week!)

2) the rescue dog fiasco

3) too much free time

4) the project in question

The weather can only be blamed for so much and the dog thing was a week or week and a half of an issue at the most, so that leaves the last two points, both of which are probably more pertinent, so let’s look at them in more detail.

Too much free time.

I think I’ve written about this before. I seem to be more productive when I have not just a deadline, but less time.  It always seemed that I could get more writing done in a couple hours before work than on an entire two days off.

And since I’m currently job-hunting I have lots of free time to not write.

(And to think that since I wasn’t working I had considered upping my goal to 50K…)

So, yeah. Having lots of free time unmotivates me.

Now for the project in question.

I’m not working on a novel.  Well, I am, but only sort of. I’m writing (not writing) a scene to be added to Onyx Sun.  There’s going to be another scene (which also isn’t written) in addition to this one to be added to the book.

So, I’m more revising than writing. And I’m so close to being able to get this book finished and released.

Really.  Finish this scene and write the other one, get them both integrated into the main manuscript, tweak a couple other things that are bugging me, get it printed again and go over it one more (hopefully last) time and release it in September.

You’d think that being that close to publishing would be a big motivator, wouldn’t you?

You’d be wrong.

It just looks like so much long dark dreary work ahead.

And if that just doesn’t suck the motivation right out of you I don’t know what will.