Motivational techniques that work with writers
How do you motivate people? I am not a coach. I am an entrepreneur who likes to to teach. I teach people law. I teach people how to be innovative and tap into their creativity. I teach people to speak with confidence. Basically, I love to teach. The problem is that most people need to be motivated to learn so, as an educator, how do you motivate people? As an Entrepreneur, how do you motivate people?
For the writer's group that just completed the competition, I submitted a poll to see what motivated them during the competition. I gave them the following list:
o Daily emails
o Daily words to use
o Weekly writer's meetings
o Having an organized group for support
o Having a deadline to finish
o Offer to put the book at the book messe
o Keeping word counts in a database
o Celebration dinner
o Peer Pressure
o Not wanting to be embarrassed
Here are the preliminary results... Here are the motivational techniques writers found useful:
1 person found the daily words helpful and motivating. The idea was that the writers would have a list of words to incorporate into their daily writing. A game.
4 writers found the meetings useful. I organized a weekly meeting that lasted from 5pm till 730pm where the writers could drop in and talk to me and to each other in person. One writer commented that knowing me and knowing that I was there waiting to hear from her made her want to write. If I was just an abstract it would not have been as motivating. Knowing me in person helped her to write.
4 writers found having a group called Toytown Writers useful. A group of people organized to do the same thing. Write. A collective of writers who provide mutual support for each other and a sounding board for ideas. One writer acknowledged that he received some very valuable ideas that helped him complete his novel.
4 writers found my daily emails useful and motivating. I wrote to them everyday, telling them what I was struggling with in my writing and what I thought would help them to get through the day. These emails were sent to everyone in the group.
A reminder to them to write.
4 writers found having a deadline useful. You have to finish by the end of November. This helped them to plan. Some of the writers wrote the same amount everyday to finish in time and others sprinted either during the first two weeks or the last two weeks. Knowing how much time they had gave them an idea of how to plan and organize their time.
2 writers found the idea of having their book at the book messe motivating... Only Two. So the idea of fame and fortune was not a motivating factor... Fame and fortune.. yes, I am being serious..... It seems that the book messe was just not as motivating as I thought it would be.
2 writers found the word count database motivating. Seeing their progress in print. I found the word count useful because it showed a pattern to my writing and I was able to adjust to this pattern and make it work for me. (I did not include myself in the poll)
No one thought peer pressure was a motivation and No one thought that avoiding being embarrassed was a motivating factor nor was celebrating at the end a motivation.
So there you go. That is the results from the writing contest as of Today. I emailed the writers who did not respond and will post their responses when I have them if it changes the weight of the motivational factors.
I am not a coach and I don't like the term, it implies that life is a game... life is not a game and you should not be playing with it. You should be learning from life and you should definitely learn from your mistakes.
I am a teacher and I hope that these writers learned something in the last month... I know they learned how to develop a positive habit, they learned that they are able to complete a difficult task and they also learned what motivates them to write.
These writers are now in my circle of influence and I am going to be their cheerleader. I am going to make sure they are ready to go where they want to go. Isn't that what a teacher does? Gets you ready to go where you want to go? where do you want to go?
I want to go all the way to the top. Ready to join me?
For the writer's group that just completed the competition, I submitted a poll to see what motivated them during the competition. I gave them the following list:
o Daily emails
o Daily words to use
o Weekly writer's meetings
o Having an organized group for support
o Having a deadline to finish
o Offer to put the book at the book messe
o Keeping word counts in a database
o Celebration dinner
o Peer Pressure
o Not wanting to be embarrassed
Here are the preliminary results... Here are the motivational techniques writers found useful:
1 person found the daily words helpful and motivating. The idea was that the writers would have a list of words to incorporate into their daily writing. A game.
4 writers found the meetings useful. I organized a weekly meeting that lasted from 5pm till 730pm where the writers could drop in and talk to me and to each other in person. One writer commented that knowing me and knowing that I was there waiting to hear from her made her want to write. If I was just an abstract it would not have been as motivating. Knowing me in person helped her to write.
4 writers found having a group called Toytown Writers useful. A group of people organized to do the same thing. Write. A collective of writers who provide mutual support for each other and a sounding board for ideas. One writer acknowledged that he received some very valuable ideas that helped him complete his novel.
4 writers found my daily emails useful and motivating. I wrote to them everyday, telling them what I was struggling with in my writing and what I thought would help them to get through the day. These emails were sent to everyone in the group.
A reminder to them to write.
4 writers found having a deadline useful. You have to finish by the end of November. This helped them to plan. Some of the writers wrote the same amount everyday to finish in time and others sprinted either during the first two weeks or the last two weeks. Knowing how much time they had gave them an idea of how to plan and organize their time.
2 writers found the idea of having their book at the book messe motivating... Only Two. So the idea of fame and fortune was not a motivating factor... Fame and fortune.. yes, I am being serious..... It seems that the book messe was just not as motivating as I thought it would be.
2 writers found the word count database motivating. Seeing their progress in print. I found the word count useful because it showed a pattern to my writing and I was able to adjust to this pattern and make it work for me. (I did not include myself in the poll)
No one thought peer pressure was a motivation and No one thought that avoiding being embarrassed was a motivating factor nor was celebrating at the end a motivation.
So there you go. That is the results from the writing contest as of Today. I emailed the writers who did not respond and will post their responses when I have them if it changes the weight of the motivational factors.
I am not a coach and I don't like the term, it implies that life is a game... life is not a game and you should not be playing with it. You should be learning from life and you should definitely learn from your mistakes.
I am a teacher and I hope that these writers learned something in the last month... I know they learned how to develop a positive habit, they learned that they are able to complete a difficult task and they also learned what motivates them to write.
These writers are now in my circle of influence and I am going to be their cheerleader. I am going to make sure they are ready to go where they want to go. Isn't that what a teacher does? Gets you ready to go where you want to go? where do you want to go?
I want to go all the way to the top. Ready to join me?
Comments