Accountability and a Writer's Fragile Goals
Care and feeding. What works for me.
Care and feeding. What works for me.
Let’s start with a couple of working concepts or definitions.
Let us say, for this purpose, that a writer's desire is to end up with a dissertation of X number of words by such and such a time.
We are not dealing with the mechanics of dividing the total work into bite-sized chunks based on the number of days we have until the completion date. That is a given.
The problem is leisure time.
My problem is one of leisure time. A long weekend or distracting events can cause a writer (me) to lose inertia and be slow to get restarted.
There are at least two possible cures for this situation.
One is to stop taking any time off. Work through the weekend. Work over the holidays. Never be worried about restarting because you never stopped. (But I just can’t do that.)
The second is to devise some sort of accountability.
For me, accountability means simply to realize or be reminded that you are not moving at your predecided speed and manner toward your goal.
Accountability tools
A simple calendar that I mark daily could serve as a reminder.
An accountability buddy or coach who called you every day could serve as an accountability friend. This can be simple or it can be complex.
If it is your job to walk the dog, the dog himself can become your accountability coach. For free.
One of my many problems is that, after a spring break, for instance, it can be WAY too easy for me to add JUST ONE MORE DAY to my time off.
That shatters my goal into pieces.
My stories tend to write themselves. My job is to find that first line or that title, get it written, and then kick away the chocks and let it go. I don't feel I have to write 500 or 2000 words, so there is no pressure there. The only pressure is to start that work
Maintaining inertia
So the inertia is very real. When my writing chops are at rest, they tend to stay at rest. When they are in motion, they tend to stay in motion.
The decision to be, or not to be is mine. And it is generally based on my accountability to the task at hand.
Thanks for your time.
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