Writing tip 1... understand what it is that motivates you

I'll be putting a tip up with an explanation on this day each week. The first is about writing motivation and clarity of purpose.

Try to clarify your reasons for writing and what it is that you want to achieve

This is my suggestion - spend some minutes jotting down what it is that has brought you to this endeavour, and what you want to get out of it. Discuss it with interested others in a relaxed, social situation. I hope this will help you to become clear in your own mind about how to stay on track with your long-term writing project.

I hope this is a useful tip.  It's about knowing your heart and mind and staying true to your vision. Your vision can change, but if it does, check back with yourself to ensure that it is a vision that continues to motivate you.

I think many writers, myself included, write for reasons that are not all that hard-headed, and not altogether within consciousness. If I write simply for the love of it, that's ok. Okay.

Personally, I'm still not entirely sure why I continue to write things down, but I know part of the story - the values that are important to me. Sometimes external factors (the changing scene of publishing; other peoples' perceptions; others', or our own, expectations of how long something should take, or other expectations) can send us off-track, and this can be demoralising.  Negative feedback on your work-in-progress can do this, especially if it cuts across your unique artistic vision.

If in doubt, return to your vision. With regard to feedback, be open to advice, evaluate it, and use what is useful to you - when people provide feedback on your work they are almost always trying to help, and often they do, but in the end the work belongs to the writer, and the writer has the final call on the direction it should go.   Whether this direction is likely to be commercially viable might (or might not) be a different question.

My feeling is that you will know if you are being true to your vision if you are continuing to enjoy the process.

Now for the writing prompt. Prompts are about exercising the writing muscle - bringing in an external impetus to get you started. Try this one, if you like:

Writing prompt:

Write (stream-of-consciousness - don't edit) about an incident or event shared with a childhood friend, or an incident that occurred with a childhood rival