Kyle Kerr

Motivation - Guest Post by Tess Gerritsen!

03/27/10 | On Writing | 1 Comments

Spurred on by my last entry, a guest post on Motivation by Gary Braver, I am pleased with my current progress.  I’m working on chapter 13 of my new novel, and have over 14,000 words down!  The change of genre—from literary to thriller—has also helped, because it is a new and welcome challenge.

But I still find my motivation languishing a bit, and I could use some more advice on how to keep going.  Good thing there are still generous authors out there who will help when such crises arise!

Tess Gerritsen is the NYT bestselling author of more than twenty books.  Her latest novel, Ice Cold, is set for release on June 29, and her Jane Rizzoli series of medical thrillers has just been picked up for a show on TNT!  “Rizzoli & Isles” debuts this summer.

I’ve met Tess on several occasions (the first of which was in Gary Braver’s class, funnily enough!), and she has never been anything short of fascinating.  Her wealth of knowledge on all things creepy is astonishing, which was apparent in her breathless explanation of how to make a shrunken head (true story).

More important than her success is her humility and dedication to the next generation of writers.  Her generous and honest advice is overflowing the banks of her blog, and she is always available to answer a question.  So, when I asked what keeps her motivated, she didn’t hesitate in answering.

For an already published author, the best motivator is a signed contract with a specified delivery date.  A real professional works hard to meet those contracted deadlines.  We want to be known as reliable, and there’s nothing that can shoot down your career faster than to not deliver on time.

Aside from legally contracted deadlines, there’s also the internal deadline, the little voice that starts off as a whisper and then builds to a shout, telling us: “get to work.  Get to work!  GET. TO. WORK!!!” I’m something of an obsessive compulsive person, and that’s a big help in this profession.  It means I like to see the pages start to pile up, and I like to be able to estimate just when my book will be done.  Even if I weren’t under contract, I’d always have that drive to finish the story.  It’s how I managed to complete my first three (ultimately unpublished) manuscripts.  I wrote those despite the fact no one was paying me for them.  Despite the fact I felt I might be wasting my time.  That’s what a real writer does: writes even when there’s no assurance you’ll sell.  You just want to tell that story, and you want to find out how the characters survive the crisis.

I’m also big with deadlines.  I was famous in college for starting a paper at midnight the night before it was due, write for a few delirious hours, and still manage an A.  It’s what I like to call professional procrastination.

Maybe I just need to set myself some more deadlines.  I want to finish this book and find an agent, get published, and start one of the many other projects I have piling up on my TBW (to be written!) list…

Thank you for your compelling words, Tess!  Your advice is sound, and I just need to stop ignoring that voice in my head, urging me to GET TO WORK.

For the rest of you, please utilize Tess’s website as a reference on all things writing/publishing.  She has been there, done that, and doesn’t mind telling how it is and how it works.  And if you’re in the market for some thrilling reads, check out some of her numerous books!  Just be prepared to lose hours of your life to reading, and hours of your sleeping time staying awake from that chill in your bones.

Please check back for my next guest post on MOTIVATION, coming soon!

Until next…

Kyle W. Kerr