A Motivational Kick in the Pants

    I know I’ve been talking a bunch on this blog about how challenging it has been for me to get back in the writing groove, and how hard I’m working to push myself so that I can get back up to speed and meet some of the goals I’ve set for myself. Even though I’ve tapped into my desire to write again, I’m still having some trouble motivating myself to get my butt in gear.

Enter the YA Buccaneers Spring Writing Boot Camp. When two lovely writers I follow mentioned it on their blogs and on their Twitter accounts, I thought it was a brilliant idea. Boot camp ties into Camp NaNoWriMo and a bunch of the principles are the same. You can set your own writing/editing goals, commiserate with other writers, get helpful resources, and win prizes.

And the best part? The only person you’re competing against is you.

The first step is to list and discuss your goals for the next three months on your blog. So without further ado:

March:

Finish my big round of revisions for Facing the Music. Start sending chapters to my CPS by mid-month and re-read each chapter ALOUD before it goes out. Stick to my ‘weekends are for editing’ schedule until the final week of the month. Those seven days are devoted to wrapping everything up.

Continue drafting my new NA Amnesia Conspiracy during the week. (Come up with an actual title to replace the super cheesy working title I’ve got going right now.)

April:

Draft, draft, draft away on Amnesia Conspiracy. Depending upon how things go and how much other stuff I have going on, I want to add between 25-30k to this MS before the end of Camp Nano.

Use CP suggestions to do another round of edits on Facing the Music.

May:

Finish Amnesia Conspiracy? This feels like kind of a stretch, and it’s probably too dependent on how much momentum I build up. Ideally though, I’d like the end to be in sight.

Finish–or be close to finishing-–revisions for Facing the Music. Again, this is dependent upon how much I’ll need to change, and right now I have no way to successfully predict that. It’s okay to dream big though!

I’ll try to update this blog and keep everyone up to speed on my progress. That’s usually an effective way to hold myself accountable, but I’m counting on you guys too. Writer-friends and blog readers alike: feel free to kick my butt this spring and ask if I’m working. And good luck on your own upcoming projects, whatever they may be.