How to motivate yourself when you have zero motivation

Book launch & sophomore novel thoughts

Happy first day of October! It’s my favorite month of the year, and I’m absolutely exhausted.

At 35 weeks pregnant, I managed to push out a draft of my second adult novel, a rom-com set in Italy that’s a little Every Summer After and a little The White Lotus season 2, with a sprinkling of assassins. It’s now with my agents and my editors (thank goodness), but let me tell you, I struggled. The third trimester isn’t for the faint of heart, and I found myself thinking, a lot, about how to motivate myself when my motivation was very, very low. (Unless you’re talking about motivation to sleep or eat bagels; I had no problem doing either of those things, religiously.)

Maybe this feels a bit like you, too? Maybe you’ve been struggling to find the energy to tackle your writing or other creative projects?

Here’s what helped me. There’s an Australian YouTuber (@muchelleb) who, a while back, suggested that when you have low motivation, ask yourself the question: What am I willing to do right now? For me, that looked like: Am I willing to set a timer for five minutes and free write? Am I willing to sketch out a character arc? Am I willing to read what I wrote yesterday and make a few improvements in track changes? Small, small things that added up. Sometimes, the answer was even smaller: I’m willing to read this one email. I’m willing to sit in my writing chair. I’m willing to open my computer. But, an object in motion stays in motion, and I often found that - after a five-minute brainstorming session, or opening a file on my computer - my brain was willing to do a bit more than that. Five minutes turned in fifteen. Fifteen turned into . . . well, sometimes just sixteen. Then it was nap time. But at least I’d done something!

Now, I am once again asking myself, What am I willing to do, right now, for my book launch? I have a book out on Tuesday. It’s called The Takedown, and it’s like Mr. and Mrs. Smith at Christmas. I loved writing it, and I hope you love reading it.

So, right now, I’m willing to write this newsletter. It’s still not too late to pre-order (or just regular order, depending on when you’re reading this!), and it would be my absolute pleasure to see you at my book launch, on October 7th at 2 pm, at Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia. Registration available here.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and take care,

Carlie