Community Discussion:

[writingvixen.livejournal.com]

I'm going to keep this discussion short and simple and to the point:

What motivates you to do this? Why NaNo? Why now?

Go. I can't wait to hear these responses.

Comments

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

What motivates me is the fact I never write epic novels and NaNo gives me a good reason to do it. I came across NaNo through a friend and now I'm hooked. As to why now? WHY NOT!

As to motivations writing wise I tend to use TV/Movies/Music to keep me smiling whilst still hitting the daily amount needed.

[snapes-angel.livejournal.com]

Why not?

Extra motivation, i.e., a given time to quit plotting and start writing, even if you go back to the plotting later.

[pinkphoenix1985.livejournal.com]

Hey :)

I'm new to the comm mainly because this is my first NaNo ever! And I can definitely answer why now because I've completed my degree and currently job searching. So I know that I'll have a little time on my hands to write without feeling guilty about not studying or doing something else.

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the comm! Job searching is worse for me than NaNo... it gets me all mixed-up and pouty.

[pinkphoenix1985.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Yeah job hunting hasn't been fruitful so far :(

I'm soo nervous about NaNo though and I'm so disorganized

[tijae.livejournal.com]

My participation in NaNo is pretty much the only time I give myself permission to allow my love of writing become important -- more important than other things that usually end up as reasons (or excuses) to not devote time to it.

[happeningtolife.livejournal.com]

What motivates me is knowing that if I manage to do my 1667 words a day every day through November, I'll have a potential book-to-be-published at the end. After a crapton of editing, of course, but having something that's around 50k words is better than having nothing, which is what would happen if I never took part in NaNo.

This is my second NaNo, and I think the reason for why I am doing it is because otherwise, I would never accomplish anything with my writing. I always say, "Oh, I'll write at some point," but I never get around to it. NaNo forces me to stop gaming long enough to get my 1667 words. And also because why not? :) And this year, because I know that I can do it, and because winning a NaNo is one of the best feelings ever.

[aradiachiba.livejournal.com]

I love NaNo. I do it because I love the crazy, creative rush. I love knowing that I'm not alone and that thousands of other people are on this crazy ride of caffeine and little sleep and insane rushing to get the idea out of the head and onto the page, and I can do it with them. I love that it inspires me to write, which I have trouble finding the motivation for during the rest of the year. It's just a rush to put so much energy into creating something when for most of the rest of the year, I just don't manage to find the time.

And that's why I do NaNo every year. Because it's the only time I really allow myself to have this outlet, and it's so great. :)

[mutive.livejournal.com]

For me, most of it is social.

I write a fair amount anyway. (Most days I'm writing or editing something.) Nano gives me a bit of an extra push (to write more, to take a break from editing, etc.) but also gives me a group of people to do it with who aren't my usual writing buddies. (Who I love, but sometimes a change is nice.)

I really wish Nanoedmo had a better community (and didn't keep crashing) and that there was something like a Nabetamo or something (seeing as I spend a fair amount of time betaing/editing other people's work.) But it doesn't, so I tend to get all excited about the one yearly writing activity that actually has a sizable following. (Even if most of the more permanent groups I'm in seem more serious.)

[krazikrys.livejournal.com]

This year, I honestly don't know.

I don't know what I'm doing with my plot. I don't know how I'm going to fit this all in.

Usually it is that elusive "win" that I'm after. I've only managed it once. I guess because I got that "win" early on, I figured it would be easy to duplicate. It hasn't been. Not with work, marriage, pregnancy, a kid and now another pregnancy.

The only motivation I have is the chat room. I usually hang out with a different group or writers throughout the year but starting around September, I come here. I hang in sprints. I find it very motivating and comforting. I also find some bit of nostalgia. I guess I think that if I hang out in chat, it will be like the year I won because that was how I won back then.

[ahavah]

It's gotten to the point lately where I rarely ever write outside of NaNo, so November is my writing lifeline. I also love the camaraderie of it. I do well under pressure. I do it because I LOVE it! I've NaNoed through personal tragedy, a cross-country move, and a newborn. I don't think I'll ever not do it since discovering it. No matter what else is going on, I know that me & my muse will always have November.

[aenrhien.livejournal.com]

What motivates me to do Nano is the fact I'm one of those obsessive plotters that rarely makes it to actually writing, so Nano gives me an excuse to throw my plotting out the door and just write like a madman. As for why now; I don't have anything else to do, and I might have a publishable thing when it's all said and done, so what better time than now?

[ibonekoen]

I've been participating in NaNo for almost seven years (I missed a year) and I keep participating because I need that kick in the pants to be more disciplined about my writing. I write throughout the year, but I never seem to get anything finished. At the end of the month, when I've got 50K, even if I never do anything with it, I keep a little accomplishment.

[rydain]

I originally got into NaNo because I hadn't written fiction since high school, and I hoped it would inspire me to have some fun with a story idea that I had poked at to no avail. I won despite starting a week late, and it was so much fun that I came back in subsequent years whenever I had enough of an idea to produce 50K of something - even if it was more of an idea farm to inspire a later planned draft, which was definitely the case with my first NaNo.

For a while, I focused on poke-at-my-own-pace short stories, which taught me a lot about writing but didn't help much with the process of penning long narrative. Last year, I got an idea for a challenging novel and decided to fast track its requisite research and planning in preparation for NaNo. I wanted to ride my enthusiasm for the project, enjoy the social aspects of the event (I hadn't participated in meetups or online discussions before), relearn how to push past blocks and crap or get off the pot, and get a sense of what pace I could sustain over the long term. I got all of that, plus a bonus education on how much more R&D I needed (a ton) and the limits of what I could BS on the fly (which also had to do with not knowing the setting well enough to extrapolate conflicts and other structural whatnot in a hurry). I'm returning to the same project with much more knowledge under my belt and a far more solid outline because the NaNo atmosphere is just too much fun. And hopefully this time I can continue the resultant rough draft instead of having to dismantle and redo it.

[ladyseraph-756.livejournal.com]

I don't have room to do anything creative IRL as my work is quite demanding and I care for my Mother so this is really a way of doing something for me. I deliberately take two weeks off in November most years I've done this to devote to Nano.

I probably would never have carried on writing after college if I hadn't discovered Nano to be honest. I have these stories in my head anyway and Nano gives me a chance to get them developed and out even if I haven't published yet, and may never do.

[sarahcb1208]

The compulsion to write has always been with me. Since I was little, I've been writing, creating stories, in my head.

NaNoWriMo is my chance to do that. Each year, I have a story, or two. I'm thankful for that. If I have no ideas, I'll stop. Until then, I'm game for anything :D

[ellettra.livejournal.com]

I am motivated to begin a habitual daily writing practice! And this year specifically because I've had a rather significant change of life, and I really need something upon which to focus.

After 33 years...

[delazan.livejournal.com]

...it's about time that I write the novel idea that I had when I was about ten or eleven years old. FTR: I'm 43 now.
-L.

[dingbatz7.livejournal.com]

Because I'm insane.

Okay, maybe it's not all insanity. It's because I love the community around Nanowrimo. Why now? I don't have school to get in the way. I do have job searching and with luck my search will not be futile. But yeah. Now I have no excuse.

[lauralynnfoster.livejournal.com]

I tell people I want to be a writer, but lately I never write (fiction, I mean. I write in my journal all the time, but that doesn't really count).

I always start stories, but then I don't know how to finish them, and therefore I never have anything to show anyone that I am, in fact, a writer.

I want to start a daily writing habit that I won't be able to break.

Plus, this year I'm not in school and I will only be working the last to weeks of November, so if people can do it with a full time course load at school AND a job, I have no excuse not to win, right?