For the 100 Days of Writing challenge, there are daily questions being posted, and the question I'm going to answer now relates to "your current WIP" (work in progress). "What motivates you to write this specific story? What makes this story special for you?" Etcetera. So, let's look at the stuff that I'm writing (or... attempting to write) right now:

This goddamn thing won't die. At the moment, I'm motivated by a weird species of fear (the impending deadline!!) and stubborness.  Stubbornness because in the feedback I got for the proposal, my reader said that they weren't sure that I wasn't biting off more than I could chew - that's like a red rag to a bull for me. Sometimes I do write things spitefully - not directing the spite outward, but definitely challenging myself into uncomfortable things. 

Okay, it's not uncomfortable in terms of the intellectual piece, but it is uncomfortable to have the feeling, even peripherally, that you might be operating under a bit of hubris. 

I was slightly more sensible here - I didn't sign up for the exchange itself (where there would be pressure on me to write a piece of a certain length for a particular person, based on one of three prompts that they had contributed), but I have chomped up a couple of prompts to work into short gift pieces. Some of these prompts are delectable, but I have really been demotivated to write any more after publishing one - not because it was recieved badly, but because of the deadline for the essay. It's chewing up all my resources at the moment, which makes me resent it more. Still, these are lovely prompts, and I have deliberately chosen them because I like the people who have prompted them. That's always a great motivation for me - writing for people that I like.

This isn't due until July, but I'm ticking away at it. I like art, and I know a lot of artists; but I generally hate art writing. Mostly, it's pompous, full of ridiculous metaphor and references to obscure theorists - but if fandom has taught me anything, it's that you should write the fic (or the criticism, in this case) you want to read. I'm motivated by that ideal of deconstructing the class antagonism of art writing, but also by the fact that I'm going to write about an artist who is doing some very interesting things.

In most of these cases, I've noticed, the writing itself (or the subject matter) isn't actually the motivating factor for me to write. It's the affect or the community around the writing (or, in the case of the essay the social ramifications of doing a poor job). Writing is about more than the act of writing for me - it's part of one of my strongest skillsets, that of communication. And if my experience and education has taught me anything (God, I hope so!) its that communication is social, wonderfully and horribly so. It's certainly the biggest factor that motivates me. 

_____________

*I apologise for nothing, and certainly not for getting that song in your head.