Peggy Jaeger's Blog - Posts Tagged "a-writer-s-life"
Bribery…and why it works so well during NaNoWrimo
So this is a totally ridiculous, narcissistic blog post today. I’m going full honesty here and tell you how I stay motivated to write so much during the NANOWRIMO challenge. Be prepared…you may learn something that clouds your opinion of me forever.
Okay…Taking a huge, cleansing breath…Here goes.
I bribe myself to keep writing.
I know! How awful is that?? I should be writing because I want to, not because I’ll get a reward if I do. The 50,000+ word book SHOULD be the reward. The ONLY reward.
But no, it’s not.
I start off with a mountain of motivation each morning as I sit at my laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard, giving full vent to all the thoughts and scenes and dialogue that have been running through my brain for the previous 8 hours – the time I should be sleeping but, well, you know. Chronic Insomnia. The brain that never shuts down. That’s me.
Anyhooooo….
I start off like a speeding train and about hour 2-3 I start to get a little fatigued, a little distracted, a little, well, bored. I know I have many more words to write – can feel them jumping out of my fingertips in their efforts to break free from my mind – but I start to wane. To keep myself glued to my chair ( figuratively, folks) I’ve developed little bribery rewards for my diligence. Here are just a few of the things I pamper myself with for my perseverance at the laptop:
If I get another 1000 words down, I’ll have a cup of tea and a Peppermint Patty
If I finish this chapter I’ll troll thru Amazon and look for new books to read
If I hit my 2500 minimum daily word count, I’ll schedule a facial this afternoon
If I can get this dialogue perfect in the next 20 minutes, I’ll go get lunch at Panera.
If I exceed my daily goal I’ll go shopping for makeup/skin care products/perfume, in other words, I’ll go to Sephora.
See how this works???
And isn’t it ridiculous? I didn’t raise my child to do what’s right in life by bribing her. I would have never even thought of that. Her father and I taught her to do what is correct simply for the reward of getting it right. We didn’t say, “do you your homework and you’ll get a cookie. Get an A on a report and I’ll take you shopping.” We never even gave cash for good report cards. The end result – the good grades – was its own reward. None other was needed.
Why can’t I, then, as a fully formed and functioning adult, heed that wisdom?
See? I told you your opinion of me would get clouded.
Le sigh….
When I’m not ruminating on my hapless state or bribing myself to go on, you can find me here:
Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+
Okay…Taking a huge, cleansing breath…Here goes.
I bribe myself to keep writing.
I know! How awful is that?? I should be writing because I want to, not because I’ll get a reward if I do. The 50,000+ word book SHOULD be the reward. The ONLY reward.
But no, it’s not.
I start off with a mountain of motivation each morning as I sit at my laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard, giving full vent to all the thoughts and scenes and dialogue that have been running through my brain for the previous 8 hours – the time I should be sleeping but, well, you know. Chronic Insomnia. The brain that never shuts down. That’s me.
Anyhooooo….
I start off like a speeding train and about hour 2-3 I start to get a little fatigued, a little distracted, a little, well, bored. I know I have many more words to write – can feel them jumping out of my fingertips in their efforts to break free from my mind – but I start to wane. To keep myself glued to my chair ( figuratively, folks) I’ve developed little bribery rewards for my diligence. Here are just a few of the things I pamper myself with for my perseverance at the laptop:
If I get another 1000 words down, I’ll have a cup of tea and a Peppermint Patty
If I finish this chapter I’ll troll thru Amazon and look for new books to read
If I hit my 2500 minimum daily word count, I’ll schedule a facial this afternoon
If I can get this dialogue perfect in the next 20 minutes, I’ll go get lunch at Panera.
If I exceed my daily goal I’ll go shopping for makeup/skin care products/perfume, in other words, I’ll go to Sephora.
See how this works???
And isn’t it ridiculous? I didn’t raise my child to do what’s right in life by bribing her. I would have never even thought of that. Her father and I taught her to do what is correct simply for the reward of getting it right. We didn’t say, “do you your homework and you’ll get a cookie. Get an A on a report and I’ll take you shopping.” We never even gave cash for good report cards. The end result – the good grades – was its own reward. None other was needed.
Why can’t I, then, as a fully formed and functioning adult, heed that wisdom?
See? I told you your opinion of me would get clouded.
Le sigh….
When I’m not ruminating on my hapless state or bribing myself to go on, you can find me here:
Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+
My life in 3 words....
and those words would be, “Help me, Jesus!!”
Let me ‘splain.
I’m doing a presentation for my Romance Writers writing group in March 2017 and then giving it again at a conference to the New England Romance Writers group in April. It’s a good talk, even if I do say so. Timely and to the point. Plus dotted with humor.
But, I digress…
The lecture/talk is accompanied by a POWERPOINT presentation. Now, I am a great talker. I could ramble on for hours about any topic that strikes my fancy. I was on debating club in school so I can argue for both sides of almost any discussion. But I have never before used a machine to aid me in my discussions, and this is why I need celestial help. I have no freaking idea how to effectively use PowerPoint.
Now, because this is, well, me, and most of the things I’ve learned about in life I’ve learned about in books, I did the logical, smart, quick thing to do and bought a PowerPoint Manual. 2 in fact. Powerpoint for Dummies, ( because this is, like, me!) and Teach Yourself Visually PowerPoint.
Last night I started learning how to navigate through the PowerPoint system. Chapter one was called NAVIGATING THE POWERPOINT INTERFACE. Okay, what?? Navigate and Powerpoint I knew the definitions of. Interface? No friggin’ clue. This is Webster’s definition of Interface:
a device or program enabling a user to communicate with a computer.
• a device or program for connecting two items of hardware or software so that they can be operated jointly or communicate with each other.
Okay, once I got over being panicked by a simple word, I read on. How to choose a theme, how to decide on a design, how to create a SLIDE, how to navigate around the RIBBON. That’s another word I had trouble with because, you know, RIBBON signifies something I tie my hair back with or the backs of fancy dresses.
I dutifully created my first slide after about 50 stops and starts and deletions and begin-agains. I had some text – no pictures yet because my mind was boggled by now – but a starting point.
Okay, so now, how to save it? I did everything the manual instructed me to do. Perfectly, I might add, the first time.
Then I went back to check and see where the document had saved to and….couldn’t find it. Yup. Two hours of sweat down the drain. Another fifteen minutes of frantic checking and I “found” it listed in an obscure compartment titled PRESENTATIONS. Well, Du-uh and FML!
2 hours and fifteen minutes on just one slide. Here is what it says because –of course– I couldn’t figure out how to cut and paste it here!
Romance and the Baby Boomer Generation
or
Writing Romance about and for the Seasoned Crowd.
2 hours fifteen minutes, people. For that. At this rate, my presentation will be complete in 2020.
When I’m not pulling my hair out trying to learn something new, you can find me here:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
Let me ‘splain.
I’m doing a presentation for my Romance Writers writing group in March 2017 and then giving it again at a conference to the New England Romance Writers group in April. It’s a good talk, even if I do say so. Timely and to the point. Plus dotted with humor.
But, I digress…
The lecture/talk is accompanied by a POWERPOINT presentation. Now, I am a great talker. I could ramble on for hours about any topic that strikes my fancy. I was on debating club in school so I can argue for both sides of almost any discussion. But I have never before used a machine to aid me in my discussions, and this is why I need celestial help. I have no freaking idea how to effectively use PowerPoint.
Now, because this is, well, me, and most of the things I’ve learned about in life I’ve learned about in books, I did the logical, smart, quick thing to do and bought a PowerPoint Manual. 2 in fact. Powerpoint for Dummies, ( because this is, like, me!) and Teach Yourself Visually PowerPoint.
Last night I started learning how to navigate through the PowerPoint system. Chapter one was called NAVIGATING THE POWERPOINT INTERFACE. Okay, what?? Navigate and Powerpoint I knew the definitions of. Interface? No friggin’ clue. This is Webster’s definition of Interface:
a device or program enabling a user to communicate with a computer.
• a device or program for connecting two items of hardware or software so that they can be operated jointly or communicate with each other.
Okay, once I got over being panicked by a simple word, I read on. How to choose a theme, how to decide on a design, how to create a SLIDE, how to navigate around the RIBBON. That’s another word I had trouble with because, you know, RIBBON signifies something I tie my hair back with or the backs of fancy dresses.
I dutifully created my first slide after about 50 stops and starts and deletions and begin-agains. I had some text – no pictures yet because my mind was boggled by now – but a starting point.
Okay, so now, how to save it? I did everything the manual instructed me to do. Perfectly, I might add, the first time.
Then I went back to check and see where the document had saved to and….couldn’t find it. Yup. Two hours of sweat down the drain. Another fifteen minutes of frantic checking and I “found” it listed in an obscure compartment titled PRESENTATIONS. Well, Du-uh and FML!
2 hours and fifteen minutes on just one slide. Here is what it says because –of course– I couldn’t figure out how to cut and paste it here!
Romance and the Baby Boomer Generation
or
Writing Romance about and for the Seasoned Crowd.
2 hours fifteen minutes, people. For that. At this rate, my presentation will be complete in 2020.
When I’m not pulling my hair out trying to learn something new, you can find me here:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
