Just a quickie today, but I saw a good video (10:47) last week on YouTube that really rang a bell with me. It’s called “How I Tricked My Brain to Like Doing Hard Things”, and it’s not about writing, but rather getting to the gym. But a metaphor is a metaphor, and I think his points apply well to writing.
Enjoy the process was the biggest thing. What do you love about actually writing? I love it when the writing gods drop a fantastic idea down in the middle of my process – a cool character, or just the right word in a very good sentence. I feel a physical “click” when that happens, and it really is awesome!
Take a look. Point after point could be applied to writing, or any creative endeavor – whether it’s creating a story, or creating a better body.
Eight Ladies Writing 
I’m not in a place where I can watch a video right now, but I will—I need the incentive to go to the gym, if not to improve my writing. Thank you, Michaeline!
LOL, he’s so young and earnest, and it really spoke to me, even though I’ve heard the advice before. It’s nice to hear it again, and have it sink in a little bit this time.
Enjoy the process. Come from an abundance mindset (not: I am lacking the body of a Greek God, but rather, I enjoy breathing, and the sweat is cleaning my pores — I’m so lucky to have all this). And habit-bunching — listen to your new music or watch that DVD only when you are exercising.
As you can see, it all translates to writing effortlessly (at least in the brain!). Enjoy those special a-ha moments of writing, and the thrill of filling up a few centimeters of page. Don’t look at it as, “I must write a novel that I don’t have yet”, but rather as “I look at this scene I wrote! That’s another one!” (I think these two first ones are very connected.) And save your special chai (that’s my favorite drink) for writing sessions, along with the best writing music.
Another thing I’m going to try very hard to do next week is “pay myself first” — there are three things I really want to do (well, OK, four), but I always wind up treating myself to YouTube and catching up on the news. Well, I don’t get any phone time until after I finish at least one of my priority tasks.
(Why next week? This week is going to be all about getting to bed extra early, and sleeping. I might try to do one priority thing a day — I should probably write out a schedule so I can put a big check-mark after it after I accomplish it.)