Greetings and salutations. This is Graham.

So we are discussing motivation. Let’s see what I can write about that Clevenger didn’t already cover. Hmm, currently in an inspiration dry spell? Check. Similar start-and-stop drought during book one? Check. Need to work on writing as a habit even when the muse is away? Check. Knowing it will eventually return? Check. Well, umm, our original goal when we started? Damn, check. Doesn’t look like Clevenger left me much to talk about.

Or did he?

See, we started with a goal, a simple goal. Write a book, go to a print on demand website, and print copies for us to each put on our personal bookshelves. That was it. That was the goal. At some point, the story expanded, first to three books, then to four. Soon after, Clevenger’s goal expanded, he shared it with me, and we had to be talked down from this ledge where we had -almost- convinced ourselves we were about to become famous authors off these books, making enough off our debut series to support both of us professionally. We now realize that while that would be amazing, it is statistically unlikely to happen off a debut publication.

However, when Clevenger started expanding his goal, he did so by doing what he does best: planning, organization, and research. He looked into traditional vs self publication. He started watching and following BookTubers. And he took some of the writing tips I had given him, and studied YouTubers who gave “how to” videos on writing. He shared several of these videos with me, and I began exploring for more alongside him. We learned two very interesting things from many of these videos, one positive, one conflicting. First, pretty much every “novice writing mistake” rule we found, we were already avoiding, and pretty much all “new writer helpful hints” we found, we were already doing. We had already discovered and incorporated them as “logical and reasonable” on our own, without even being told. But the second thing we found out was that Clevenger wasn’t the only one who didn’t know how to write.

Oh, I can put words on a page. I can even spell them correctly and but the commas in the right places. But I was quickly discovering that, as has been mentioned in previous posts, I turned out to know nothing about pacing and structure of anything longer than a ten thousand word short story. I had to learn how to design, build, and write a novel, right alongside Clevenger. And this led to a third, expansively more important goal for our writing project. Are we going to put copies of our books on our personal bookshelves? Absolutely. Are we going to sell enough books to eventually support ourselves and our families? We believe so, although we have admitted it will take longer than just this first series. But goal number three became simple. Learn to be the best writers we can. Learn the best writing skills and methods. Learn how to produce and publish the best quality books that we possibly can.

Maybe Clevenger wouldn’t see this as directly motivating us. But it is what motivates me. We have discussed our mental health and how it impacts our writing. In Palaye Royale’s song, “Lonely”, they say, “My life don’t mean that much to me – So I’m living for you – Yeah, I’m living for you”. One of the things they teach with depression is that if you can’t find self confidence, find a substitute while you work to build it back up. I adore impressing Clevenger with a new scene I have written, a new piece of dialogue, a new plot idea. I can only do this by improving as a writer. So whether it has been directly spoken between us out loud, improving our writing skills has become a third, and arguably ultimate, goal for the both of us. I write to impress Clevenger. He is one of my two best friends. He is family. He is the reason I write, and my motivation for putting words on a page. One day my mental health will improve, and I will work on getting enough self confidence back in my belly that I can live for myself. Until then, “I’m living for you. Yeah, I’m living for you”.

Don’t forget to love one another,

Graham