Motivation

[SnowRayjah]

Maybe I’m crazy but a lot of times, I find marathons demotivating. I find having to choose a subject, enter, and meet a deadline to be very tedious (you can blame my Master’s for that one). It’s so much of the same thing that even if I wanted to enter a marathon (and I do) I find it much harder to find the motivation to actually work on them. I feel like more often than not that if I work on a marathon site I would rather work an everything else. I believe in the power of community, so I enter, but I find I struggle the most with sites that I make for marathons. In fact, of the sites I’ve entered with for marathons, there’s only one that was easy-peasy for me in terms of writing and motivation.

I find, however, that the closer a subject is to my heart the easier I find inspiration and motivation. I tend to be inspired by a great many things -Weather, furniture, people. I feel like I tend to be a highly motivated person. For me, the act of writing is motivating. So, if I can sit and write content chances are I’ll remain motivated to work on a shrine. On the other hand, graphics and design can be a huge killer for me because I’m not as fluent in it as I am in writing. Even if I have a general idea of what I want done, the designing process can and does kill my motivation.

I do not like to keep my shrines secret. I find other people’s excitement contagious and that can help motivate me too. I like throwing out ideas and talking about it – helps me write, helps keep me motivated. The design process can still kill it for me though. So, I try to hold off on the writing so that I can focus on the design. Otherwise I’ll end up with sloppy design. I like to talk about shrines though because it helps me organize my thoughts, flesh them out, and sometimes change my opinion.

For me the base is writing – once I’m inspired to write I can go on for days. And that’s usually what happens with my sites. I find reading through other people’s shrines motivating too because it gets me thinking and then I have to address something they said and how I feel about it. I have an essay I want to write after having read Somewhere Only We Know, but haven’t because of school. I HAVE TOO MANY things I want to write, so, balancing my time is hilariously demotivating too.

[Aku]

Maybe I’m crazy but a lot of times, I find marathons demotivating. I find having to choose a subject, enter, and meet a deadline to be very tedious (you can blame my Master’s for that one). It’s so much of the same thing that even if I wanted to enter a marathon (and I do) I find it much harder to find the motivation to actually work on them. I feel like more often than not that if I work on a marathon site I would rather work an everything else. I believe in the power of community, so I enter, but I find I struggle the most with sites that I make for marathons. In fact, of the sites I’ve entered with for marathons, there’s only one that was easy-peasy for me in terms of writing and motivation.

I can get behind that state of mind too, Snow. Honestly unless the event is really open-ended (1 Page 1 Month) sometimes it's hard for me to motivated unless the marathon topic is really closely aligned with my current interests. XD As much as I want to enter sometimes, shrines take a lot of work and I tend to work kind of slow-paced, so I sometimes don't enter just because I'm not motivated enough to do it. :T I REALLY WANT TO but I am damn lazy lol.

[Kibumie]

my motivation comes from when I'm really into a character and I have just so many things to say about him. 90% of the shrines I've made doesn't have any fanlisting with it. haha.

[Mikari]

I find the smaller shrines easier to get motivated for in terms of marathons, like the one pages. Ironically i dont often feel motivated to do one pages outside of marathons, I kind of let the subject sit until I have more to say. Sometimes I'll get lucky and something I've been considering doing will fit in with the theme, like Mallow. XD Maybe this other one I've secretly have in mind will fall in line with a future marathon one day and I'll get around to making it...

[Cherri]

Does being approved for the fanlisting of a subject motivate you to make a shrine? If you are rejected for a fanlisting, do you make a shrine anyway?

Well I just got into fanlistings. And I plan to make shrines for what I want anyway even if they are just one pages. If I get rejected, then I get rejected (and will probably mop and swear the whole thing off for awhile). Though fanlists are my main thing.

Do you make sites easier if you are participating in a marathon? Are you motivated by others knowing what you are working on, or do you prefer to keep your site subjects a secret?

Keeping a shrine a secret is HARD! I did that with Lulu and had to get a secret keeper. I think I'm more motivated when people know what I'm working on. And honestly I'm not sure I would have made most of my shrines if not for you guys. Not always easier if I'm in a marathon but sometimes it is.

If I feel a spark to make a shrine, I have to do it then or I lose my motivation. Or I have to be completely obsessed with it.

[Laura]

My major motivation is watching/reading my favourite series and discussing my fav series and characters with other people. Being around others who share my passions and are enthusiastic about seeing what I will do is always something that gives me a ton of energy!

I really want to make A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fan sites, but I'm afraid to watch the last two episodes that aired in the current season because I don't want to distract from the current projects I have going right now (Tasuki redesign & Nyreen). XD I know the moment I watch even just one episode my mind will switch gears.

I actually quite like participating in marathons! It's nice to work on something new, and the marathon subject helps me narrow down my choice. In the case of the Creature Feature marathon, I actually just wanted to participate and make something new but it took me a while to think of a subject I really wanted to work with. I'm glad because I really love Nyreen and this is making me get off my arse and get to it! :D

Seeing everyone else working diligently away makes me happy... and being happy makes me more productive. :)

[Eimii]

fanlistings motivate me... and sometimes just playing a game motivates me. More recently, you guys have become motivation too! :D

I like challenges like the creature feature, as it made me think about characters who could use more love. Not sure if i could do a marathon though, that would take a lot out of me @_@

[Mayumi]

For me, I think it's 50/50. So it pretty much depends. Take Little Queen's for example. I wanted to do both at the same time and lucky for me, since she wasn't a big character, I was able to finish the fanlisting and the shrine under the fanlisting time limit. However afterwards, I felt better if she didn't have the fanlisting and just kept the shrine open. :) But usually, if I watch the movie, read the series, play the game, (and actually have a date set for when it's due), then it's usually the motivation for me rather than the fanlisting (if it's taken that is).

[Tara]

I find motivation vastly depends on the people who are also interested in said subject. Right now I'm in such a Persona hype because I'm constantly surrounded by people on Twitter who love it or are getting into it, so staying focused on Persona shrines is really easy. I also find it a lot easier if the subject is from something that I've memorized like the back of the hand. I don't like to have to go and replay something to get my memory fresh... I want to play or watch something because I want to. Though sometimes shrines can be a motivator to play something and that's super cool.

Sometimes I get motivated when I'm playing or watching something currently, but I'll never start anything until I've finished it!

Marathons and events are also great motivators for me. If something has a set date I'll stop procrastinating and work on it a lot more. My biggest problem is that I get too lazy to open up my files and start writing. I have to kick myself in the butt to do it. It also helps if the shrine is smaller... If there's less content to write I tend to have an easier time because I get anxious if there's too much content to write and simply won't for weeks at a time. (Which is what happened with Yukari.)

I also find the subject matter is a big thing! If it's simply rehashed content, I get bored easily. Which is why I try to make each of my sites have unique content, even if they're from the same game. I really hate repetitive tasks...

[Laura]

I find motivation vastly depends on the people who are also interested in said subject.

YES. This goes for everything in life for me... even working out. I'm way more motivated to get off my ass if other people are talking about it. XD

It's a lot more fun to get into a series when you have people to talk about it with! That's why I like to post in the media sections to try to generate some discussion on various topics I'm working with. :)