���WIPpersnapper��� by Stacy Hoff

Some of my recent blog posts talked about WIP���s. WIP’s are what writers (like myself) call a manuscript that is a work-in-progress. My complaint last week was that there are simply too many other things for authors to get done, and our WIP often gets shoved aside so we can accomplish other tasks.

Well, I���ve found a way to push forward with my newest novel. ��All it takes is for me to crack my own whip (or in this case, WIP). Specifically, by holding myself accountable every day to accomplish my word count goal. I set the bar low to entice me to get started. A low threshold prevents me from getting overwhelmed. Or worse, refusing to even start since I know I won���t have the time to finish anyway.

It���s actually a philosophy the exact opposite of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). For those unfamiliar, NaNoWriMo takes place every November, challenging authors (both aspiring and published) to write about 1,700 words a day in order to complete a 50,000 word novel in one month���s time.

But this goal is much too high for me. It takes me countless hours to reach NaNoWriMo’s 1,700 word count goal. Considering I have a day job, a family to take care of, and household responsibilities to get done, that’d be a mighty hard writing goal for me to reach in one day. In fact, I know I wouldn’t be motivated to start. So I set my word count goal real low, at a mere 100 words a day. I���ve found out with this simpler challenge, I often exceed it, sometimes getting in a 1,000 words before I fall asleep on my laptop.

Sure I���ll write at a pace slower than NaNoWriMo, but it���s my pace.��And a slow pace is better than no pace, right? Now I better get going. It���s time for me to be a WIPpersnapper again!

What do you do to motivate yourself?

Find Stacy on Social Media: ��www.facebook.com/authorStacyHoff Twitter: twitter.com/authorStacyHoff���� Web: http://www.stacyhoff.com

Desire in the Everglades available on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Desire-Everglades-Stacy-Hoff-ebook/dp/B00NFSMCYG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410289138&sr=8-1&keywords=desire+in+the+everglades.

 

 

Filed under: A writer's life, goals, Stacy Hoff, Writing