If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with a group. (African proverb)
It’s the end of the first week of Camp NaNoWriMo, where a writer friend and I created a private two-person cabin and set some hefty writing goals (hefty, considering what else is going on in our lives). Using my kitchen timer, I marked on my calendar each hour that I spend writing this week. I wrote more in three days than I had written in the previous three weeks.
Why?
Accountability
What’s so important about accountability? If you click on the tag to the right called accountability, you’ll see that I’ve written about this topic five or six times in the past already, mostly when running accountability challenges. If you haven’t tried an accountability challenge or group before, you might want to consider it. Knowing that someone “out there” is waiting for your check-in at the end of the day is very motivating.
For Inspiration This Weekend
For this weekend’s reading pleasure, I’m going to give you other writers’ perspectives on the subject. This just might be the missing piece you need to get your book written.
- Maintaining Accountability by Tasha Seegmiller provides writing trackers, plus a quiz to find out your particular accountability style.
- The #1 Way to Finish What You Start (Writing Accountability) by Cathy Presland gives you some ideas about setting up various accountability structures.
- 8 Accountability Strategies for Writing Your Book by Debbie Reber shares some of her best accountability strategies that she builds into the process of every book she writes.
- How to Use Accountability to Hit Your Targets by Mary Jaksch gives you practical steps on how to set up accountability for yourself in order to get the writing done.