Motivation and Demotivation- For Roleplaying!

[Kakumei]

Many people have different motivations for roleplays, and many people have things that can demotivate them while playing.

These things can take many forms both in and out of the roleplay itself. So.. Lets discuss them!

Personally, storytelling is fun. Its one of the reasons why I roleplay. Sure, video games can help you create a narrative for characters, especially sandboxy-ish games like The Elder Scrolls. But there is so much creative freedom in roleplaying if you find the right people, that just rivals any other medium of story telling.


Demotivation sucks. Badly. Currently my own emotions are holding me back right now. Its hard to actually be creative when you have a lot of stuff weighing down on your mind. Other demotiviations is just simply the sheer number of roleplays that you see that you aren't interested in, and have trouble finding the kinds that I am actually really wanting to do.

Anyways, let me know your thoughts below!

~Kakumei

 

[Windsong]

I stopped roleplaying after finding out one of my parents was cheating on the other mid-post. Lasted for three months. Decided I'd jump back into the saddle for one of my favorite things.

Then my grandfather went to the hospital and my family expected him to die that night. Nah. Just half his stomach removed and they found lymphoma (I think that's the name) cancer.

Every fucking time I try to start back up bad shit happens and it really murders my motivation and creativity..

Sorry, @Nemaisare . I know it's been a whole week. Despite tons of ideas and desperately wanting to I've not been able to come up with a second post that comes anywhere close to the detail and charm of yours.

I miss roleplaying but really enjoy smoking my stress away..

Edit: Also our internet has been broken for four days now.

 

[Kakumei]

Hey, @Windsong I am terribly sorry to hear that. All of that is rough and I can't imagine what you are going through.

I hope that everything does in fact, work out better for you and things turn for the best.

If nothing else, I have pretty big ears /points to avatar/ in case you ever need to let off some of those heavy emotions.

 

[Windsong]

Not to forget losing out on a promotion to a baby boomer who didn't want it and still doesn't because he was best buds with the (now leaving) principal.

/endrant

This probably all belongs in the therapy bitching ranting pleading for help attention counseling section. But it's alright. Things are bottled and compartmentalized.

It's the worst having so many ideas but none of the motivation. Usually just the patience and like-mindedness of my partner(s) kept me checking Iwaku hourly for an alert or response.

That was my roleplaying motivation. The people who read what I wrote, liked it, and responded.

 

[Nemaisare]

Take your time @Windsong. There's no rush. If it doesn't come, it doesn't come, I understand. You're certainly in a rough patch right now and even the internet seems to be saying nope, no rping for you right now, ha! Which is rather balls... Thanks for notifying me though and if nothing comes, don't sweat it. Spend time with your grandfather. He's more important.

If things start looking up and you want to brave the risks (because that was kinda awkwardly coincidental....), I'll be around and happy to pick up where we left off. Doesn't matter how long it takes. I like the idea we had going, I'll wait. A week is nothing consequential. Neither a month nor a year. ;) You can always PM me just to talk if you need to.

As far as my own motivation to roleplay, it is much the same as Windsong's and yours, Kakumei. I like bouncing ideas off of partners, knowing that they're enjoying the story and the thrill of setting the scene as much as I am. And the freedom to create just about anything you want (limits are a thing you set yourself, whoo!) is absolutely wonderful. It's fun to take an idea and run with it, let it snowball, or watch it peter out and turn into something else entirely. It's nice just talking with like minded people and seeing what they think of this or that notion, or feeding off each other's enthusiasm. You don't really get that when you're writing alone. You have to make all the energy and all the ideas. Much lonelier, too.

What demotivates me, or turns me away from rping on occasion is sometimes the social trouble of having to deal with real people and real problems caused by the IC writing. I am often amazed by how difficult it is for writers who put themselves into different characters' heads every day to put themselves into someone's else's shoes just because that person happens to be real and can't be controlled by their fingers on the keyboard. My having to deal with that is thankfully usually a rare occasion, however. The thing that more often steals away my writing desires is waiting on that one rp where I'm really stoked to be writing it just that moment but I haven't got a reply yet and damn it I can't possibly write for anything else until I get that reply because I'm just so darned antsy and sitting on tenterhooks waiting for it! It doesn't matter how much I love the other stories either, if that one particular craving of the moment isn't being satisfied, rping is hard, man. :P

Don't worry, Windsong, you're not doing this to me, although there was a brief few days during our plotting when this happened... Heh.

It's also sometimes hard to continue being enthusiastic if it doesn't seem like your partner is half as into the story as you are. Or doesn't seem to be putting the same amount of effort in. Which is always hard to quantify, of course, but often, I get overly excited and then spend a day or two feeling disappointed just from answering an interest check where someone reads my often inordinate amount of chatter to them and then responds with one half-sentence. Considering how often it happens, I really should be over it by now, as I've also managed to find more than enough people who respond in kind.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

I like RP's because it let's me take on new persona's in a new world.
Experience new things I wouldn't in real life.

And I'm sucker for Good Story and Interactivity.
Both being something roleplays supply well.

The only times I tend to take breaks is when something happens in RL that just saps away my motivation to create for a while.

 

[Midnight Maiden]

Well.. Admittedly, I get demotivated with RPing quite often. I guess the most common reason for this is stress or medical problems, or on occasion, other issues such as having to drama between my friend networks. However, I also tend to roleplay as a stress-reliever, as it's a good, interactive distraction for me that keeps my mind from wandering to bad places. o_o