How do you know when you’re ready to write? Ready to translate your thoughts into words? What mood should you be in? What mood should you put yourself in? 

An answer comes from neuroscience. You want to feel motivated—motivated to motivate readers. Motivated in this way because you’re then producing neural rewards for yourself while focused on giving them to others.

Without the prospect of rewarding yourself and others, and the pleasure, you’re not going to write well. 

Eight Mood-Inspiring Steps

The eight strategies in Writing for Impact offer a roadmap to generating the needed rewards. Just refashion the strategies into eight questions:

1. How can I improve my “processing fluency”? Can I make my writing more accessible, more reader-friendly? “Keeping it simple” rewards you and your readers. Remember: Everyone loves it easy.
2. How can I deliver a sensory and motor experience? Can you choose words rich in smells, sounds, sights, textures, or movement? “Keeping it specific” fires up simulations in the brain’s sensorimotor strip. Remember: Everyone loves it sense-filled.
3. How can I make it more unexpected? Have you found a novel idea? Or composed in a novel way? “Keeping it surprising” tells readers you’ll reward them with something they didn’t know. Remember: Everyone loves surprises.
4. How can I speed comprehension by writing with emotion? Have you framed your thoughts to arouse people? “Keeping it stirring” motivates people via both head and heart. Remember: Everyone loves feeling.
5. How can I trigger anticipation? Have you cued readers to expect something better in the next sentence or paragraph? “Keeping it seductive” teases readers with the promise of  tasty payoffs. Remember: Everyone loves looking forward to good things.
6. How can I surface deeper insights? “Keeping it smart” offers not just information but realization. Remember: Everyone loves a good aha.
7. How can I connect as a human? Have you opened yourself up enough to let readers learn your thoughts? Or infer your characters’ thoughts? “Keeping it social” allows others to read between your lines. Remember: Everyone loves the “inside” story.
8. How can I connect with storytelling? Have you offered a narrative to carry your points?  “Keeping it story-driven” makes meaning memorable through a human plot. Remember: Everyone loves a narrative arc.

Getting the Frame Right

What frame of mind do all these questions put you into? One of fulfilling your desires—and your readers’ desires. Maintaining that frame of mind forces you to raise your aspirations. Transform yourself from communicator to creator.

The payoff is a buzz of pleasure for you and your readers. 

A shortage of motivation on your part means a shortage of motivation on the reader’s. Turn a shortage to surplus by sticking to a simple motto: “Don’t write ‘til you’re ready!” Ready, as in motivated. Ready, as in passionate to motivate readers.

Image: “Changing Moods” by David S. Soriano, 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, via Wikimedia Commons