Pressure is a strange thing. Too much and something can explode. (Or implode, depending on which direction the pressure is coming from.) But in the proper amount, pressure can be useful. It can propel things forward, for instance.
Things like writing.
As you’re probably aware I recently backed out of a couple projects I was taking on. The pressure from them was too much and I was imploding. I was motionless, unable to move forward. I felt (and was) stuck.
Since dropping them, I have been feeling much more creative. Ideas are flowing and excitement is building.
I am, however, someone who needs at least some sort of pressure in order to actually get things done instead of just create inside my head. That’s why NaNoWriMo is such a great thing for me. (And I am including the Camp sessions in that.)
The goal. The deadline. The fact that hundred of thousands of other people are doing it too…
Yeah, just enough pressure.
The problem then becomes how to have “just enough pressure” the other nine months of the year. I need a goal and a deadline and some sort of accountability. A goal and a deadline are easy, but the accountability? Not so much.
I’m going to set up some sort of tracker in my bullet journal, but I’m not quite sure of the final design yet.
(What I really want is the NaNoWriMo graph available all year long that I can plug my monthly word count goal into and have it tell me how much I need to write each day to meet it, etc. I love that thing – it really helps me stay motivated.)
So now I’m asking:
What keeps you motivated on long term projects? (Not necessarily writing, but anything that doesn’t produce instant results, be it a large embroidery or cross stitch project, a creative endeavor of any sort, saving money for something far in the future, losing weight, getting rid of clutter, whatever.)
What do you do to keep just enough pressure to keep you moving?
Novel Notes 
NaNoWriMo itself is motivation enough for me. I like looking at everyone else’s word counts and comparing them to my own. Not like a race, but like a little friendly competition.
But what about the other nine months of the year? How do you stay motivated then?
I treat them like NaNo months. It doesn’t work as well because there’s no stats, but it works alright enough for me.
Can’t help ya there. I’m in the exact same boat on those months.
At one point, I had an excel sheet that worked like the NaNo graphs, and I bet I could create a chart based on the information plugged in. However, I haven’t found anything that works like the NaNo charts, which makes me sad…
I found something you might like. I found a forum with a NaNo chart in Excel and Google Drive. Here’s a link: http://nanowrimo.org/forums/helpful-resources-sites/threads/255094
I downloaded the excel version and it’s working lovely so far.
I am writing poetry at 10,000 words for Camp NaNoWriMo and celebrating my birthday July 11. I have a cabin called Cabin Enigma. Do you have a cabin yet? I would like to be NaNo writing buddies with you.
I do have a cabin, but we can still be writing buddies, either for Camp or the November session. My handle on the NaNo sites is SoloWytch.
Do you do NaPoWriMo in April?
No I have never have done NaPoWriMo in April. My username at Camp NaNoWriMo is azurebreeze