Motivation

My husband was supposed to be the writer in the family. He got his degree in Film. He has books and books on screenwriting, plotting, and scene setting. He always jokes that I got the benefit of his degree. In the beginning I would him why he doesn't write? He would always shrug his shoulders and grumble about how hard it is to break into the market.

Today, as we were shopping, we ran into one of his old professors. You should have seen his face light up. He was so excited to talk to someone who was once a mentor to him. The professor asked what my husband had been up to and he admitted the never used his degree. After a bit of a chat with the professor regaling us with the accomplishments of other students that my husband had known, he said something I had been telling the Hubby for a long time. "If you want to write, just do it". You can't get anywhere if you don't do the first step. He even suggested Hubby try to adapt my novels to screenplays, just to have something to do.

It was a great little chat and as we walked away and husband seemed like he was a little more willing and motivated to take the plunge. He said he was going to revisit his original screenplay and get it ready to try and shop. He also has another screenplay in mind, something he had been bouncing around in his head for years.

I have my fingers crossed that he will actually stay motivated. He can be easily discouraged at times and breaking in to film is supposedly as hard if not harder than publishing.

So today's question is about motivation.

Let's face it. Sometimes we hate writing. It's not always glamorous. We don't always get a thrill from it. Sometimes it can be boring and monotonous. Some days your characters just aren't speaking to you. Your muse might have taken a vacation to the Bahamas and not told you. In short, some days it's more work than fun.

But we still do it.

Why?

Because something deep down is driving us forward.

For me, it's a combination of dream (to hold a book in my hand that was written by me), recognition (there is a certain sense of pride that comes with saying, 'I'm a published author.'), and escapism (let's face it, sometimes the fantasy world is so much better than the real one).

All together, those driving forces push me to create.

Don't get me wrong. I don't write every day. But I do call on these little motivators when I have received a rejection letter or when I have gotten a bad critique and yes especially when my muse has left and I am struggling to get through a scene.

So what is your motivation? What is your reason to write? Is it purely a need to create? Is publishing in some form or another your ultimate goal? What do you call on when you are feeling down and need that push to get back to the pen and paper again?