This week: What Motivates You? Edited by: Kit of House Lannister  
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How do you motivate yourself? What goals and challenges do you set for yourself as a writer?
What goals and challenges do you set for yourself here on Writing.Com?
This week's Drama Newsletter is all about motivation.
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What motivates you? For me, it’s the view from my window that gets me out of bed in the morning. The rolling hills, the woods, the horses and the sheep. They’re inviting me to step outside and get active. Beyond that, I want to live a good life with my husband and my cats. I want to be there for my family. I have academic and creative goals that I want to achieve. I always make certain that I have something to look forward to.
As we approach winter, however, there’s a risk that I go into something akin to hibernation-mode. I live in an old house that can be quite difficult to heat, so stepping out of bed means leaving behind a lot of warmth and comfort. Ice and snow, or just cold rain, make my daily walks over the hills more difficult. It is then when self-motivation really matters. It would be far too easy to wrap some blankets around me and watch Netflix.
It’s not just the winter, either. There are times when I look at what’s going on in the world and feel a sense of despair. I see the hatred, the violence, the suffering, and I confess that at those times I feel that the future is dark and wonder what’s the point of it all. I know that I am not alone in this. It’s only natural to feel that way. I have to remind myself that there is plenty of good in the world. That the bad gets reported on far more than the good. That there are far more kind and caring people than there are nasty and selfish ones. And, again, I motivate myself to continue chasing my goals because they are worth pursuing. As are yours.
I’ve found that it’s helpful to set some fun goals alongside more serious ones. When everything in life is serious business it can become stressful. We need fun. We need something light-hearted. The main place for my fun pursuits is Writing.Com. On Writing.Com I can set myself challenges and goals to work towards over the longer and the shorter term and the only one who’ll know about my success or failure is me. There’s no harm done if I don’t succeed. That doesn’t mean that I‘m not doing my best to achieve them, though. I like to win, even if the only person to care about it is me.
At the moment I’m catching up on "The Contest Challenge" [13+]. I’ve completed 2017 – 2021, and am nearly done with 2022. Completing these challenges has seen me write a wide variety of items, with a wide variety of genres and prompts – it’s a good learning experience. I would recommend this challenge to everyone. Even if you don’t catch up on past years, it’s worth participating in one of the listed contests each month. You’ll add to your strengths as a writer, and it’s fun!
I’ve started a poetry collection: "Darkness & Light" [18+]. It’s a real mixture of the silly and the serious. I use it for the Contest Challenge as well as prompts from other contests and events, such as the "Promptly Poetry Challenge (2023-2024)" [E] and "The Writer's Cramp - Poetry Week" [13+]. I hope to eventually make it to 100 poems. They won’t all be good, I’m sure, but it’s about practice, and the creative process. Something to look back on as I learn and grow as a writer.
There are many fun challenges you can set yourself on Writing.Com. Some people try to earn each Merit Badge available on the site. There are over a thousand to be had. Some try to earn the various Awardicons. Some like Trinkets. Plenty love them all!
This time of year there is, of course, NaNoWriMo to prepare for. NaNoWriMo itself is a big challenge that can be very fun and rewarding. If you are planning on participating, there is plenty of support here to help you succeed.
I recently received a comment that much activity on the site has a competitive element. There are, indeed, a wide variety of contests, but there are non-competitive activities as well. Outside of NaNo there are, for example, blogging groups, review groups, there is poetry sharing such as over at "EXPRESS IT IN EIGHT" [13+], you can earn badges in "Merit Badge Magic" [E] and read and review books over at "Rach's Reading Club" [E]. Those are just a few examples – there are campfires and interactive stories, crossword puzzles and word searches, and there are a variety of groups and forums where you can hang out and talk with like-minded people. There’s something for everyone or, if there isn’t yet, you can create it and invite others to join in.
This is very much a site where you get out of it what you put in, and you can shape your experience of it to your own taste. I use it for fun and motivation. And for the community, of course. In my experience, this is the kindest, most supportive community on the Internet.
Kit of House Lannister
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Some contests and activities to inspire you:
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The Drama Newsletter Team welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in! 
Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
The Drama Newsletter Team
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Drama: October 18, 2023 Issue [#12226]
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