Sometimes, after a short hiatus from a writing schedule, it's hard to get the mojo back. While talking to my daughter and fellow writer about getting inspired to rebuild that writer's schedule, we came up with a plan.
We were ready to challenge each other to make a word count.
Yeah, that would be easy to blow off. Oops! Didn't make my word count....and the challenge dies. Kind of like my NANO.
So we added prizes. We made a list of things we'd like and then went back and forth matching the prizes to the word count. This works on two levels; if you really like the prize, you might work harder to get it or if you lose that word count goal, you have to pay up.
Then we made up rules.
- It had to be a totally new story, not something you've been working on.
- We agreed to start writing on a specific date. We started it on Monday, March 7th. (I was up at 4 a.m. so that worked for me.)
- Every Wednesday we had to check in with each other on our word count.
- If you hit the word count for a prize you must notify the other party immediately and send your work as proof.
- Prizes must be sent as soon as possible.
Here's the prizes we chose:
2,500 Notebook 5,000 Fancy Pen
7,500 The First Line Mug
10,000 Book about Writing
12,500 Writer's Game
15,000 Aqua Notes
17,500 Writer's T-Shirt/Tank Top
20,000 On Writing by Stephen King
22,500 Writing Wall Art
25,000 Writer's Digest Subscription
27,000 Writing Jewelry
30,000 Tea Basket
32,500 Writing Book
35,000 Snack Basket
37,500 Travel Coffee Mug
40,000 Wish List Surprise!
42,000 Full Book Editing with one week turnaround
45,000 Writer's Throw
47,500 Writer Movie Gift Basket
50,000 Amazon Gift Card $100
I hit 2520 words this past Wednesday and won the notebook. Yay!
Seek inspiration and write on, my friends. The next great novel is inside you.
