Day 633: Gamifying the writing for motivation
I’ve blogged before about how gamifying the writing has really improved my productivity. Today I was again reminded how 4thewords has really helped to prod me to write more even on days I don’t feel all that great.
I had taken a quest that has you write 4000 words in 48 hours. I had already written 2000 words for the quest when I started writing today. I wrote 1500 more words, and then I started feeling tired, but I needed to write only about 500 more words to complete the quest, and I had only a few more hours left before the deadline. So I pushed myself to work a little longer to finish the quest in time.
I definitely would have just quit once I started feeling tired today. I’m still feeling a bit of discomfort from the IBS, and the intermittent queasiness is extremely distracting when I’m writing. I always end up not being able to get much done because my brain gets pulled away from the writing when the discomfort gets above a certain level. It always dies down after a few minutes, but having my attention being constantly pulled back and forth makes my work efficiency tank. I’m much more productive when I can focus for an hour or two without interruptions.
Thanks to 4thewords and the 2000 words I needed to write before the timed quest ended, I pushed myself to get a little more work done. And on other days, 4thewords sometimes prods me to work when I’m simply feeling lazy, especially if I have to finish a timed quest. Because of that, I’ve been taking more timed quests lately.
Not every writer is motivated by gamifying their writing, but I think that finding a way to motivate your writing like that is really important for productivity. Even if it’s not using 4thewords or making the writing into a game, I think it’s helpful if a writer can figure out how to motivate yourself to get work done even when you’re feeling poorly or even if you’re just feeling lazy.
Some people are writing full-time and therefore they’re motivated by the fact that if they don’t write, they don’t eat. However, in my case, whenever I had a deadline or an absolute necessity to write, the stress and pressure of writing caused writer’s block. I’m afraid that if I had to write simply to survive, the writer’s block would come back and it would be even more difficult for me to get any work done.
Other people are really good at self-discipline, and they withhold rewards if they don’t get a certain amount of writing done each day. I kind of use that method, because there’s a special Japanese potato snack (that’s really expensive) which I don’t allow myself to eat each day unless I get 500 words written. However, in general, I’m not terribly disciplined, and even a yummy snack is not enough to force me to write sometimes. I need an outside force to push me, which is why 4thewords works for me. Basically, it’s a game that I can’t cheat at.
It occurred to me that another way a writer could push themselves to work more would be that they can only spend a certain amount of time doing something they like if they spend an equal amount of time working. I wouldn’t suggest that the activity be something too relaxing or comforting, because when I’m feeling poorly, I want to do something relaxing to get my mind off the pain, so I’m not going to write for an hour in order to be able to spend an hour watching Netflix. I’d want to watch Netflix precisely because I’m feeling too poorly to work. But maybe something like going shopping or getting a manicure, whatever would seem like a reward.
Anyway, all that to say, every writer is motivated by different things, and there are very few writers who are always motivated all the time. There will be days you’re just not motivated to write. So in my opinion, it’s worth it to brainstorm to try to find a way to motivate yourself with something that means a lot to you or that you like. In my case, games motivate me because I enjoy them, so gamifying my writing has worked for me. It might seem silly that I’m motivated to push myself to write in order to finish a game quest, but that just works for my personality type. I think that writers might have to think outside the box a bit, but they can find something that works for their personality and their particular likes.
Regency series:
Editing: Time spent: 1 minute
Writing: Time spent: 43 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 640 words
Writing streak: 112 days
Blocking: time spent: 1 hour, 52 minutes
Blocking streak: 106 days
Hawaii series:
Outlining: time spent: 46 minutes
My takeaway for today: Gamifying the writing has worked for my personality type to motivate me to work just a little harder, or to work when I would otherwise feel lazy.
I had taken a quest that has you write 4000 words in 48 hours. I had already written 2000 words for the quest when I started writing today. I wrote 1500 more words, and then I started feeling tired, but I needed to write only about 500 more words to complete the quest, and I had only a few more hours left before the deadline. So I pushed myself to work a little longer to finish the quest in time.
I definitely would have just quit once I started feeling tired today. I’m still feeling a bit of discomfort from the IBS, and the intermittent queasiness is extremely distracting when I’m writing. I always end up not being able to get much done because my brain gets pulled away from the writing when the discomfort gets above a certain level. It always dies down after a few minutes, but having my attention being constantly pulled back and forth makes my work efficiency tank. I’m much more productive when I can focus for an hour or two without interruptions.
Thanks to 4thewords and the 2000 words I needed to write before the timed quest ended, I pushed myself to get a little more work done. And on other days, 4thewords sometimes prods me to work when I’m simply feeling lazy, especially if I have to finish a timed quest. Because of that, I’ve been taking more timed quests lately.
Not every writer is motivated by gamifying their writing, but I think that finding a way to motivate your writing like that is really important for productivity. Even if it’s not using 4thewords or making the writing into a game, I think it’s helpful if a writer can figure out how to motivate yourself to get work done even when you’re feeling poorly or even if you’re just feeling lazy.
Some people are writing full-time and therefore they’re motivated by the fact that if they don’t write, they don’t eat. However, in my case, whenever I had a deadline or an absolute necessity to write, the stress and pressure of writing caused writer’s block. I’m afraid that if I had to write simply to survive, the writer’s block would come back and it would be even more difficult for me to get any work done.
Other people are really good at self-discipline, and they withhold rewards if they don’t get a certain amount of writing done each day. I kind of use that method, because there’s a special Japanese potato snack (that’s really expensive) which I don’t allow myself to eat each day unless I get 500 words written. However, in general, I’m not terribly disciplined, and even a yummy snack is not enough to force me to write sometimes. I need an outside force to push me, which is why 4thewords works for me. Basically, it’s a game that I can’t cheat at.
It occurred to me that another way a writer could push themselves to work more would be that they can only spend a certain amount of time doing something they like if they spend an equal amount of time working. I wouldn’t suggest that the activity be something too relaxing or comforting, because when I’m feeling poorly, I want to do something relaxing to get my mind off the pain, so I’m not going to write for an hour in order to be able to spend an hour watching Netflix. I’d want to watch Netflix precisely because I’m feeling too poorly to work. But maybe something like going shopping or getting a manicure, whatever would seem like a reward.
Anyway, all that to say, every writer is motivated by different things, and there are very few writers who are always motivated all the time. There will be days you’re just not motivated to write. So in my opinion, it’s worth it to brainstorm to try to find a way to motivate yourself with something that means a lot to you or that you like. In my case, games motivate me because I enjoy them, so gamifying my writing has worked for me. It might seem silly that I’m motivated to push myself to write in order to finish a game quest, but that just works for my personality type. I think that writers might have to think outside the box a bit, but they can find something that works for their personality and their particular likes.
Regency series:
Editing: Time spent: 1 minute
Writing: Time spent: 43 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 640 words
Writing streak: 112 days
Blocking: time spent: 1 hour, 52 minutes
Blocking streak: 106 days
Hawaii series:
Outlining: time spent: 46 minutes
My takeaway for today: Gamifying the writing has worked for my personality type to motivate me to work just a little harder, or to work when I would otherwise feel lazy.
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