Down the Rabbit Hole

Monday Motivational Musings

30-Day Blogging Challenge
PROMPT November 19th
As I’m sure you’re aware, November is NaNoWriMo and the site is abuzz with novelists typing furiously to reach their word count goals. What motivates you to write?

Writing has always been cheaper than therapy. That sounds a bit cheeky but writing has largely been the way I processed and dealt with things that happened to me in my life, be they traumatic or wonderful. As far as blogging and writing non-fictional pieces, it gives me the opportunity to examine how I feel about things and reflect on the effects those experiences have on me as a person. I believe it is true that there is always some degree of truth in fiction, so there is almost always something I can learn about myself as I craft characters and lay out the basic plot lines that become my stories. I'm motivated by the method, by the discoveries that I make through writing.

I'm also motivated to leave something behind for my daughter. I write a lot of her through the various stages of her growth and development. When I was pregnant I asked a lot of questions and was struck by how many mothers said they could not remember things that I assumed would be indelible like milestones or experiences as a young parent. I never wanted to lose those memories, those moments. By writing about them, about her, I feel that I leave this record for the both of us. She can read through my writings and remember what she was like as a child, but also and most importantly, realize I was there with her...cheering her, teaching her and loving her through it all.

I've never attempted Nano...even this 30 Day challenge is something I need to work at all the time. I know I need discipline. I know that I could be so much more as a writer if I could devote the time and the discipline to the craft. This is perhaps my biggest frustration...that I love to write, that I believe that I have some ability to write, and that it is always the thing I do last...the thing that gets the back seat in my life, because well...life gets in the way.