Motivation

Please welcome guest blogger Cynthia Eden

When you first start a novel, you’re often filled with excitement and eagerness. There are so many possibilities before you. You can do anything that you’d like with this story. Your characters have no limits. The plot can twist and it can turn and it can be awesome.

There is no greater thrill for you as you begin to type.  No. Greater. Thrill.

Then you type. One page becomes five. Five pages become twenty. Twenty pages become one hundred.  And you may start to notice something…your fingers don’t type as quickly. You don’t seem quite as eager when you sit down in your chair. Instead of writing, you find yourself on Facebook. On Twitter. Doing laundry. Doing almost *anything* but writing.

Your motivation is just plain GONE.

Why does this happen?  I’ve heard some authors call it the mid-book slump.  Get  100 or 200 pages into your book, and the motivation can vanish.  Maybe it’s because you still have so much to write. Maybe it’s because other stories are already teasing in the back of your mind. Maybe you just don’t love the story that you’re writing any longer. No matter what the reason, writing is becoming a struggle.

But you know what?  It doesn’t have to be a struggle.  You can recapture that thrill.  You can find your motivation again.  You just have to know where to look for said motivation.

Here are some tips:

1. Is the book slumping for you?  Do you feel like the characters just aren’t going anyplace? Then throw a twist in the story. Surprise yourself. Surprise your readers. When I write, I try to put a twist in my plot every 100 pages.  These twists keep me on my toes, and they keep my pacing fresh.

2. Set the mood!  If you’re having trouble actually get in the writing mind-set, then set your mood.  Use music to help.  Depending on the type of scene that you are writing, allow yourself five minutes of music time before you write. If you’re going to be penning an action scene, then listen to some hard, driving tunes. If it’s an emotional scene, then go for a ballad.  The right music can motivate you so well.

3. Don’t write alone.  Don’t.  When I need to get words on those pages, when I need my motivation, I turn to other writers.  On Twitter, you can pretty much always find someone doing a #1k1hr (writing 1000 words in an hour).  Take part in one of these writing events. Hold yourself accountable.  When you start pushing yourself—and pushing hard—you’ll be amazed at the things you can do.

And if you have any motivational tips that you’d like to share, please do! I would love to hear them.

Best of luck to you!

Cynthia Eden

www.cynthiaeden.com

ANGEL OF DARKNESS—Available now from Kensington Brava

Cynthia Eden is a national best-selling author of paranormal romance and romantic suspense novels. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, and her novel, DEADLY FEAR, was named a RITA® finalist for best romantic suspense.  

Cynthia is a southern girl who loves horror movies, chocolate, and happy endings.  She has always wanted to write (don't most authors say that?), and particularly enjoys creating stories about monsters-vampires, werewolves, and even the real-life monsters that populate her romantic suspense stories.

Bound in Sin

What's the price of sin? 

Human Paige Sloan once loved werewolf Drake Wyler more than life, but then that life was taken away from her. Attacked by vampires, Paige was bitten, and, on a cold, dark night, the life she'd known ended. She was reborn as a vampire--a werewolf's deadliest enemy.  

Paige ran from the vampires who attacked her, and she ran away from her lover. She didn't want Drake to know what she'd become, and she didn't want to face the fury of his pack. But a girl can only run for so long until the past catches up with her. 

Some sins mark your soul. 

When Paige learns that Drake is being targeted for death, she knows that she can't hide in the shadows any longer. She has to return to him, and she will do anything—anything—in order to make sure that he keeps living. The vampires might have destroyed her chance to live and love Drake, but they won't take him. Not over her undead body. She'll slay them all...and maybe, just maybe...she'll even have the chance to sin--one more time--with the werewolf who'd marked her as his mate. 

Some sins are worth dying for...