Accountability

Over the weekend, the playfriends held a brainstorming session to try to help Smarty Pants break through the wall she's having with her current manuscript. We determined that the problem wasn't plot or character or anything concrete, but more a problem of motivation. After stalling about halfway through, SP just couldn't seem to get herself back on track. So we issued a challenge: For the next 2 weeks, post 1 written page so we could see that she'd been writing. We hope this will help her move past her hesitations and just get something, anything written.

I talk about the issue of accountability in my Holiday Writing Smarts article on the website. This is a hectic time of year. Not only is your body being pulled in many different directions with shopping, parties, decorating, cooking, but so is your mind. There's a lot of competition for your attention. It can be very helpful to have someone hold you accountable, have you report in daily or weekly with your accomplishments. Make sure you are on track with meeting your December goals.

Some people have this with a critique group. That's great, but it doesn't have to be so formal. Just call or email a writing friend and ask them to be your accountability buddy for December. Your goals don't have to be big, just enough to keep you in touch with your work-in-progress through the holidays.

And be sure to attend your writing meetings in December. Nothing fires me up more than talking with fellow writers about anything. Great inspiration!

If you have any suggestions for keeping on track through the holidays, let me know. I'm always on the look-out for a little help.

Angel