I have a few different hobbies; writing is one of them. However, I find that motivating myself to write an be very difficult at times. Usually once I get started I am able to carry on, but getting past that initial hurdle seems almost insurmountable at times.

The following tips I have found useful in kick-starting my writing. They can probably be loosely applied to real life as well.

1. It doesn’t matter what you write with, as long as you get up early and write every day.

As long as your tools are up to the job, you should worry more about whether you are using them than whether they are the best.

When writing, you can be productive with just paper and a pen, or a laptop, or possibly even a tablet PC (I’m not too sure about that last one, but the point stands). What matters more is whether you’re using the tools you have, rather than constantly tweaking or faffing about with them.

You’re not going to find a set of tools that makes writing effortless, because the task itself requires effort. A good writer will be able to write with any tools, although they may be more comfortable using their particular set up. The point is that once you have something that works, it may be counterproductive to keep changing it.