elanya

Today, kennesaw asked me what motivates me to write.

This is a slightly different question as to what inspires me to write - at least, that is how I am taking it - what gives me the drive to sit down and actually put words into my files, and make the stories go?

One of the biggest motivators is the idea that people might actually want to read them! Knowing there is some kind of audience makes me much more likely to write something. So even if I am just writing fic for a few people in my games, for instance, I know they are likely to be very excited to see them (or I can tell myself that, anyway), it makes me more inclined to write them. Potential feedback fits in this category too. Comments are like lifeblood!

Going along with this - external pressures also help me want to finish things. If I tell someone (and let's be honest... usually this role is filled by naryrising) that I am writing a particular thing and I know they are excited to see it and they are actively encouraging me to work on it - I am probably more likely to put effort into finding the time to do so. This translates to having people look at things while they are still in progress, especially if it a fandom or characters I'm less familiar with, or if I am trying something that is challenging in other ways. Google Docs is great for this, of course. Stories that get less active encouragement in the production phase, for whatever reason, are more likely to get abandoned. *Pokes her pile of works in progress*

Sometimes I have a story that I just *really* want to get down, because it helps me figure out details that are relevant to other things - this is especially true of character background stories. Knowing how a scene played out gives me a good grip on how events will affect someone in their present. In some cases, it is a matter of wanting to show other people how those things played out so *they* can understand how things affect characters in the present. I think this accounts for like 90% of my Vedran stories, to be honest.

I find having other people to write with very helpful as well - I hang out in the yuletide chatroom year round, and I can often find people to do word wars/word sprints there when I am trying to get things out. Sometimes (many times) it is the only way I can make myself focus my concentration. Even casually working on stuff while other people are also writing can be very helpful too, whether in person or on the internet. This is another role often filled by naryrising... Are you sensing a theme? Probably I can also just use her as an answer: naryrising motivates me to write ;)

Another thing to note are various writing challenges. They usually stimulate me to think of stories I might not otherwise put down. I love yuletide of course, and Jukebox might secretly be my favourite (shhhhh), but writing communities like fan_flashworks are great, too, and then other challenges like Kink Bingo, Trope Bingo, drabble challenges I set myself, other exchanges... Writing for someone else, or writing for specific goals can help motivate me as well.
The last thing I will note is something that is maybe not as constant a motivator, but is definitely present - the desire to improve. I have gotten better in some ways, in terms of communicating ideas and characterizations, and with having coherent story structures and such, but I still have a lot of room for improvement!


I still have slots remaining, especially later in the month: (On DW|On LJ)

But now I have to go get ready to go to delicious Indian Buffet for lunch :) Followed by a trip to the oral surgeon to look at getting my wisdom teeth yanked. :(