In physics, objects in motion are said to have a momentum. This momentum is a vector. It has size and a direction. It has velocity.
This is significant for me because the single greatest thing lesson I’ve internalized this year is the all-importance of momentum. Whether you’re a writer or something else, the same is probably true of you, too.
We exert tremendous amounts of energy overcoming inertia, simply getting started and headed in the right direction. Then after we’ve picked up some speed we let up, ease off the gas, coast. It’s a fatal mistake where dreams are concerned because gravity is relentless and, unlike us, doesn’t need sleep.
The challenge isn’t beginning. That’s simple. The trick is continually and consistently adding “push” to your situation so you can keep momentum. Knowing how to do that is a thing that’s unique to each of us. I have a friend who keeps a list of his goals in front of him everyday and reads it in the morning and evening. I know someone else who wrote a future article about herself talking about what it took to become the success she is (will be). Me, I keep a piece of paper in my office. All it says is “New York Times Bestselling Author Kevin Kaiser.”It’s enough to remind me to shove the pedal back down to the floor when I want to give up (which is most days).
Bottom line…find whatever it is that encourages you and adds “push” to your day. Keep your momentum, especially when it’s hard (which is most days), because it’s easier to keep a moving object in motion than it is to start a dead one rolling.
How do you keep momentum?
I wrote about this very thing back in September (on Michael Hyatt’s blog). Like many people here, I find inspiration in Ted Dekker. His life story truly is an amazing one, and it goes without saying that his stories are remarkable, too.
Here is what I shared with Mr. Hyatt:
“Mounted on the wall overlooking my desk is a framed piece of paper. I glance at it every day before I write. The first day I brought it home, I carried it to the dinner table. Couldn’t be away from it.
The piece of paper is the cover page of my first novel, a 100,000-word suspense/fantasy. Below the title are the words: Inspired by. And below those words is Ted Dekker’s signature.”
I still get excited when I talk about the Circle Series. It never gets old. Ted penned the redemption story beautifully, and just like reading the Christ story every December 25th, the Circle Series stirs up almost unspeakable emotion. Every. Single. Time.
These stories live. They breathe.
What powerful inspiration.
Good word Kevin, I’ll have to look better into what keeps me motivated because I’m having a lot of starts and stops lately. Need to find that thing that will help me throw the pedal to the floor.
Dude, Caleb, that is sooooo cool! I’m quite jealous
How do I keep momentum? I don’t know if I can legitimately count any momentum so far. I’ve only been steadily writing for a month. Granted, I wrote 40,000 words since November 1st, but it’s hardly momentum lol.
The best thing that works for me is peer pressure. Yup. If it weren’t for my friend Cody, who’s taken on the same challenge as me, writing a 50,000 word novel in a month don’t even ask yes we’re insane, I would have given up on about day two, and most days since then. But working together with a friend, egging him on and being egged on by him, it works. Writing alone is much harder than writing with a fried or group of friends.
I now use a writing log that allows me to see my progress (or lack) and encourages me to keep my word-count up. I have found that my speed nearly doubled once I started keeping track.
With the spreadsheet knowing the expected word-count of the novel, it can calculate the average words per day, and how far along I am in the novel. From that, the spreadsheet can give the predicted “finish date”.
Then if I slow down, I see the date slipping, but I can speed back up to move it closer, and that really motivates me.
I find momentum builders in all sorts of places. For example, when I’m reading a particularly good novel, it drives the competitive side of me, makes me want to be up there running with the authors I love to read. I also keep a travel brochure for an island in Fiji pinned to the wall above my desk. I promised my wife I would take her there when I had my first bestseller. When all else fails, including my self-confidence, my family is there to prop me up and encourage me to get my butt back in the chair and write something.