Do You Write to External or Internal Expectations?

Which one motivates you? And does it matter?

Mindset, motivation and inspiration for novelists—with a dash of instruction about writing craft added in. Because—you want to get your writing done, don’t you? You want to get those words on the page? Yes, yes you do. Subscribe (free or paid) to get the fuel you need for your writing career.

Photo by Felicia Buitenwerf on Unsplash

I had an interesting conversation with my daughter this week. I described a family member as “not a self-starter.” My daughter confessed that she wasn’t either, and that she was far more likely to be motivated by things external, say a deadline or a meeting, or somebody’s expectations of her. I was fascinated with this because I am the opposite—internally motivated for the most part. My daughter went on to inform me that, “you don’t know how lucky you are. If I don’t have external motivation, I don’t do things.”

I don’t know why I am internally motivated. I really don’t. Though it might be something to do with a stubborn and rebellious nature that doesn’t like being told what to do. At times I actively rebel against external expectations. Which is why I’ve always preferred to take the sometimes rockier path of self-employment as a writer and a coach. And I’m not at all sure it is the luckier path, as my daughter declared.

But this is a Substack about writing; specifically, mindset and motivation for novelists (and other writer varieties). So let’s pull these two different kinds of motivation apart and see how they affect us. And most importantly—how we can use them to keep the writing channels open.

Brief Overview

According to the website Science.org, internal motivation is about people following a goal for its own sake, when you find the activity rewarding—such as, oh, maybe writing? External motivation is not directly related to the goal itself. You may be doing it to please someone else, for instance, or to receive a reward or avoid punishment. Both are thought to be effective in reaching goals, though it turns out that mostly short-term effects have been studied.

Internal Motivation

The upside

—You do it because you love it!

—It enhances a sense of purpose in life

—In general, you’ll be more involved in the task at hand.

The downside

—If you’re like me, you get interested in so many things that you don’t finish things

—And you can easily get into overwhelm

—You can get into a pattern of rebellion against any kind of external motivation

External Motivation

The upside

—It can be a source of feedback

—It can create interest in a project or goal when there was none before

—It can motivate you to learn new skills

Think of, say, attending a writing workshop and the instructor presents a writing assignment way outside your wheelhouse. Maybe its to write a memoir piece while all you’ve done so far is write fiction. You moan and groan because this is not what you want to do. But then you do it—because you are externally motivated and you don’t want to disappoint the teacher. Et voila! Turns out you like it. There’s brand-new interest in something you’ve never thought about before.

The downside

—If you’re always looking for extrinsic motivation when its not available you might falter

—If you get too much external praise, it may decrease your motivation all together—that intermittent reinforcement works best.

—It can hinder creativity because you’re so focused on the reward, not the action

Does It Matter?

What matters when it comes to motivation for writers is that you find some and do it. Writers face a tough road: terrible odds in the publishing world, self-doubt, criticism from the world, paralyzing fear about putting words on the page. So yes, motivation does matter. But does one kind matter form than the other? I’m not sure. But here’s what I think what matters most for writers intent on getting words on the page:

Learn what motivates you, whether that is an external or internal force. Knowing is half, maybe three-quarters of the battle. If you know you need external motivation, you can take it upon yourself to find it or create it. And if you know you are internally motivated, you can not be like me and start so many things that you can never finish them. Remember, it’s whatever gets you through the night.

Staying open. Be curious. Note what captures your interest and then follow it.

Remember that skills are transferrable. Perhaps you have strong internal motivation to clean your house because you just like it better that way. But sometimes that house-cleaning gets in the way of your writing. You can transfer the feelings you get from keeping a nice house to a sense of satisfaction around your writing. (And clean after you’ve reached your word count.)

Maybe it’s a bit of both. Many a writer finds setting word-count goals motivation. That’s an extrinsic motivation. But many of us write because we can’t not write—but we still like tracking words and hours.

We write because we enjoy it. Don’t we? Yes, yes, we do. Most of us decide to write novels because we enjoy reading them. Rare is the writer who is forced to write fiction. (Well, okay there was Colette.)So remember that you’re doing this for fun.

By the Way, Book Coaching is Available

I can help you with your writing motivation, getting words on the page, getting the book of your heart finish, completing your novel. A couple of my clients have gone on hiatus so I have room for two more writers on my roster. This could take the form of ongoing book coaching, or a manuscript evaluation. If you’re interested, drop a comment. Or reply to this post if it comes into your inbox.

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