Long-Term Writing Goals, Fatigue, and Mindset | The First Draft Club Podcast

How do you motivate yourself to work toward big, overwhelming goals when gratification feels impossibly far away? In this episode, Mary shares her summer reality check: facing an entire house to organize, French lessons to restart, and a secret new watercolor hobby—all while running a business and raising a kid.

Drawing from her experience writing five books, Mary reveals the counter-intuitive secret to achieving long-term goals. She shares how she went from writing zero short stories to publishing her first novel, why she's skipping watercolor exercises to paint portraits, and what her French tutor taught her about the futility of "homework."

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer scope of your writing goals, this episode offers a refreshing perspective on how to stay motivated when the finish line is nowhere in sight.

🎧 What you’ll learn:

✅ Why willpower alone isn't enough for long-term goals
✅ The mindset shift that makes big projects sustainable
✅ How to find motivation when gratification is months away
✅ Why skipping the "basics" might be exactly what you need
✅ How to let your mood guide your writing choices
✅ The overlap between "hard" and "fun" in creative work
✅ Real strategies for staying excited about your writing process


Time Stamps
00:00 Summer Goals Reality Check
03:20 When Long-Term Goals Feel Overwhelming
06:02 How I Actually Motivate Myself to Write Books
07:09 Forget the Goal, Focus on the Process
11:14 Three Tips for Looking Forward to Writing

Love the show? Share it with a fellow writer or leave a review! For more resources, visit thebookincubator.com.

🎧 Prefer to listen in podcast format? Tune into The First Draft Club on your favorite podcast platform!

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Let’s connect!
Come say hi on Instagram: @book.incubator (  / book.incubator  )

Happy writing!
— Mary

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I’m Mary Adkins, author with HarperCollins and book writing coach (for novels and memoirs). I’m so glad you found me!

Learn my Four Notebooks Method & get your free template:
http://bit.ly/3wGmMTc

Ready to write your dream book? Apply for my program The Book Incubator in just 5 minutes with no obligation to enroll and get my free 60-minute training HOW TO WRITE YOUR DREAM BOOK WITH A FULL-TIME JOB (AND A LIFE):

https://bit.ly/3wEwrJQ



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Mary Adkins is a recovered lawyer, mom to a goofy kid, novelist, and writing coach.

She moved from the hectic world of corporate law into novel-writing…and has published 3 novels (and counting!) with HarperCollins.

During her career transition, she learned a whole bunch of stuff about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to writing, revising, landing an agent, and getting published. She created www.thebookincubator.com to help aspiring writers on their journey.

Want to improve your craft, get your book done, and—most importantly—make it FUN again?

Learn more about The Book Incubator™ at https://www.thebookincubator.com/