(It’s painfully apparent that I forgot to push this out on schedule yesterday, but I am doing so now because I am a strong supporter of the topic)
Like many of my friends and acquaintances, you might be in the midst of the sheer madness that is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal: to write a book (yes, sir, that’s right a whole book) in (gasp) 30 days!
The Day 18 tip of the day is: reward yourself! Whether you reward yourself for a job already well done (for instance, you’re probably hovering around the 30K word mark this week) or if you rely on rewards to keep pushing on, rewards can be important.
I personally set small goals: 1500 words, pushing past 20k, for every 5,ooo words. There’s some sort of reward that keeps me going and keeps me honest. Maybe I can go to dinner & a movie with my family when I pass the 35,ooo word mark. I’d like another cup of tea, but I can’t get up to get that until I’ve gotten another 1,000 words. I’ll write for three hours then take a break to watch a show I’ve recorded, then come back to writing. Pick some form of reward, no matter how small, and treat yourself throughout this experience. Don’t wait until the very end to reward yourself. NaNoWriMo is a major undertaking and you deserve to pat yourself on the back for sticking to it, so give yourself a kiss (Hershey’s, of course, and only after you’ve written 750 words!)