How Gamifying My Writing Got Me More Motivated Than Ever Before
I love writing creatively, and it’s always been my dream to publish a novel of my own. However, since graduating with a degree in Creative Writing over six years ago, I haven’t really worked toward that goal.
Sure, I’ve written some stories here and there, and I’ve started working on a novel that is really close to my heart. But, I just haven’t successfully put aside the ideal time to work on my craft. It was hard for me to prioritize writing when it didn’t have a financial return right away. Motherhood and the constant pressures of working a stable job meant that creative writing wasn’t feasible.
And shit, after going to school, working a part-time job, then going home to care for a baby and be a wife, my exhaustion let creative writing fade away from my daily to-do list.
But, 2020 presented me with an opportunity to make a change, as it did for many of us.
What It Means to “Gamify”
You may have heard the term “gamify” before, which is basically adding elements of gameplay (like winning points, progressing through milestones, and earning prizes) into an everyday activity.
It’s often used in the classroom, where teachers give students points for good behavior or grades. Students can then use those points to earn prizes or special recognition at the end of each week.
In marketing, customers are encouraged to stay loyal to a brand or spend more to earn points that unlock discounts or other prizes. (Gotta love that Target Circle!)
Gamifying My Writing with NaNoWriMo
This year, I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, for the first time. It’s a nation-wide challenge where writers sit down to write a full first draft of a novel of 50,000 words in 30 days. (And because it was my first go at it, I set my personal goal to 40,000.)
NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit organization founded to help encourage and strengthen writers. They accept donations throughout the month to fund their efforts of designing year-round events to support aspiring writers of all kinds.
The website is built to support the game elements of the challenge; you can create a profile and engage in forums with other writers. The idea is to update your profile after every writing session to watch your word count get higher and higher. Then, you can see your writing buddies’ progress, encourage each other, and earn badges as you get to certain milestones. I particularly liked the colorful designs of the badges you can show off on your profile when you earn them.
I had heard about the challenge before and thought it was so cool to try to write a novel in a month. But, I never thought I had time to attempt it until 2020. I’ve been freelancing and caring for my infant the whole year, and like a lot of people, I’ve had a lot more free time than in other years.
My Experience with Gamifying My Writing
I love a challenge. And with the right activity, I can be pretty competitive. So, the new writing challenge of meeting a monthly word count was great motivation for me. In the past, I just wrote to write, and that resulted in me losing interest in my own writing.
Quantity over Quality — at Least for Now
This year, I sat down to focus on quantity over quality. As a perfectionist, that was never a concept for me in the past. But, all the NaNoWriMo tips told me to just write the words, get the ideas on the page, and understand that you can edit later.
This was a new freedom that I hadn’t felt with writing before. Normally, I would obsess over a paragraph being the most beautifully sculpted before moving to anything else. And, as many writers know, that fear of not writing perfectly can be extremely detrimental to a good writing session.
But for NaNo this year, I just wrote. And I kept writing even when things didn’t seem to make perfect sense. I watched the word count in my Scrivener file increase every time I sat down to write more. And it felt good.
Find Your Ideal Tool
As a Type A personality and lover of all things stationery, my bullet journal was an especially great help in making a game of NaNoWriMo. I prefer handwritten notes and planners, so my journal was the best place to customize my charts and trackers.
Creating these graphs in my bullet journal allowed me to visually see my really productive days and my not-so-great days. And, comparing my word count tracker with a habit and mood tracker helped me take note of which activities seemed to fuel my writing. (For instance, having a good night’s sleep or doing yoga often meant more productive writing sessions.)
In addition to the badges from the NaNoWriMo website, I also gave myself prizes at certain word count milestones. It gave me the rewards I wanted, but it also kept my wins private when previously, external validation was what I needed to be motivated.
Instead of a teacher’s pat on the back, I treated myself with things like a pedicure, my favorite wine, and Ben ‘n Jerry’s dairy-free ice cream every 7,500 words.
Struggles I Had with NaNoWriMo
I did not “win” National Novel Writing Month in the sense of making it to 50,000 words in a month. But I am proud of myself for getting a great start on what could be my debut novel. I ended NaNoWriMo with 29,701 words.
Here are some of the things that I need to improve on:
- Finding time to write. I’m a work-at-home mom and freelancer. My time is filled with balancing client work, mommy duty, creative writing, and resting. And toward the end of the month around Thanksgiving, rest ended up being the priority for me and my family.
- Planning to write. I did not take full advantage of Preptober and completely outlining my novel. After writing a few chapters, I started feeling overwhelmed by the questions I still needed to answer for my plot. I thought I was a Planner (being over-prepared to write), but I ended up being more Plantser (somewhere between planning and flying by the seat of your pants).
- Having discipline. I let the warmth of the holidays and last days of fall take over when I could’ve been a bit more strict with my writing time. I woke up a few times for the 5am Writers Club because that was a peaceful time before my family woke up. However, I didn’t make a commitment to waking up early every week.
Intrinsic Motivation and Some Takeaways
Intrinsic motivation has been something I’ve struggled with in the past. I’ve always found it easier to get something done when I knew someone would be proud of me, or if I got some type of raise or recognition after completing a challenging task.
That’s also why my creative writing had been pushed to the back burner in my early adulthood. I was more focused on the immediate gratitude and necessity of a paycheck to care for my family, as opposed to dedicating time to my craft which may not give me the same satisfying reward right away.
Participating in NaNoWriMo this year gave me the chance to have a little bit more internal motivation. No one was going to award me with anything for completing the challenge. Hell, hundreds of people did it every year. Instead, I had to be okay with being proud of myself and seeing my progress on the page as my single motivator.
It was a personal challenge meant just for me. And it felt good to finally dedicate some time to creative work that made me happy — without the strict pressure of knowing it would be graded or judged. I was my own judge for this activity. (Well, besides all the other NaNos who saw my progress, but I’m pretty sure no one’s going to give me shit for not “winning” my first try.)
I’m working every day on my Imposter Syndrome and affirming that I am talented, a great writer. And I guess if it takes a gamified challenge to motivate me and get shit done, I’ll guess I’ll be buying myself some gold star stickers for the next one.
