Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Tell People What You’re Doing

At some point in the very near future, you’re going to reconsider your NaNo goal. You might have a crazy schedule, kids with various homework demands, or you’re starting to miss your normal evening routine. What will stop you from giving up on the story you’ve started? If you aren't careful, it will be a variety of everything.

 How Do You Fix That?

We talked about the power of positive peer pressure recently. That is true in write-ins, but it’s also true elsewhere. You need to tell people what you are trying to do. Tell as many people as you can. Inform Facebook. Tell your family why you’re running to the computer in between browning the hamburger for supper. Tell them you are writing a book. They will either ask you why or what it’s
about.

Trust me, they will get bored with the logistics of your story soon enough. But for now, they will be interested. They may offer ideas. Some may tell you of a few books they’ve read about the subject. But the majority will offer support. They will tell you that’s great. They may not understand why you want to write a story, but few will discourage you from the task.

Now, when you reach the moment of doubt and consider leaving your story alone, you will remember all those people following your progress on Facebook. You’ll remember when your spouse made supper the night before so you could write. You will remember your kids trying to be quiet as you worked to finish the chapter. You will remember the coworker who always asks how the story is going.

When you consider quitting, remember these people. You’d be surprised how the thought of admitting to others you have quit will keep you motivated to keep going.

Remember that writing breaks are a good idea. Quitting on the story is not a good idea. You won’t know if the story is any good until you finish.

Now, go tell Facebook what you’ll be up to this month. You will be surprised at the amount of support and interest you’ll receive. I told my Facebook friends one time that I would edit one page of my manuscript for each like the status received. I got 25 likes from people I would have never thought cared about my writing.

We’ll talk more about keeping on with your story when you’re unsure of where to go. But for now, just focus on telling as many people as possible. You will be thankful for this step later on.

2 comments:

  1. This is a great tip! So I can be held accountable by people other than myself.

    ReplyDelete