A is for Accountability

Yeah, I know. I’ve been terrible at keeping up with my blog this year. It’s been an incredibly busy year for me so far, full of unexpected changes and other wonderful and amazing things. But I can’t let the important things go, so when I saw that some of my writer friends were doing an A to Z blog challenge, I thought that this might just be the way for me to get back into the swing of things.

“A” is also for Alligator
© Canaris | Dreamstime.com – Set Of Alphabet Letters, A-B Photo

So here we are at the letter A. A right now makes me think of accountability. Writing is a solitary profession, so sometimes it can be hard to keep on task. There’s no boss looking over our shoulder on a day to day basis, no clock we have to punch or external coal we have to meet. Everything is what we put on ourselves. So it’s important if you’re going to take this whole writing gig seriously to find some sort of method of accountability that will keep your eyes on the prize.

Of course, the ultimate accountability is food, clothing, and shelter. I’m a full-time, stay-at-home writer now, so if I don’t write, if I don’t publish and make decent sales, I don’t eat. Or as I told someone the other day, I have to keep working so that I can keep working. Within 20 minutes of leaving the office of my former day job, I told myself that I would never work in a corporate cube again. Never. Nada. End of story. Yes, folks, hating corporate America is the ultimate accountability.

But what if you’re not there yet? What if you’re still struggling to get to the point where you can wave goodbye to your day job and set out into the scary world of being a career writer? Sometimes it’s even more important to be accountable for the work you do in those circumstances.

For me, setting a daily word count goal has always been a neat and tidy means of accountability. That number has changed over time as my life and writing circumstances have changed, but it’s always been there. It’s good if you’re the kind of person in whom numbers strike the fear of God. Knowing that I need to get a certain, concrete amount of work done in a day has been incredibly helpful for me.

So how about if you’re the kind of person who can let goals and numbers slide on by like a snail on a stick of butter?

We keep each other in line
© Navarone | Dreamstime.com – Lemurs On Branch Photo

Recently, I’ve been trying something new in the realm of accountability, and I recommend you give it a try if you can. I am now part of an accountability writer’s group. It’s not a critique group—we don’t actually look at or comment on each other’s stuff. It’s not a promo group either, although we are all friends and naturally pimp each other’s work. Nope, this group is solely for the purpose of keeping us all on track.

Here’s how it works. In the morning, one of the group members goes to our (private) Facebook group and posts the morning “Hi, how are ya, what are your goals for today?” post. Then, we each post under that what we hope to get done for the day. It’s simple. Throughout the day, working or otherwise, we check in and talk about our progress or any issues that have come up as we write. Then, at the end of the day (whether that’s 4pm when you just can’t take it anymore or 4am when you’ve finally gotten through your tasks for the day) you check in stating what you’ve done. Encouragement blossoms in this system. Questions are answered, tasks are accomplished (or not) and camaraderie is had by all.

I never expected this to work, but it really does for me, and it’s a great way to keep close to your fellow writers in a healthy and supportive way.

So what methods of accountability do you use? I’ve love to hear about them.