Carrots Are Divine

Carrots are divine, you get a dozen for a dime, it’s magic.
— Bugs Bunny

The carrot and the stick are pervasive and persuasive motivators. But if you treat people like donkeys, they will perform like donkeys.
— John Whitmore

Someday Isle is not a dream vacation spot.
It is an imaginary destination to which you will never arrive.
It is the carrot on the stick perpetually in front of you.
So close you can see it, yet you will never reach it.
Don't vacation on Someday Isle.
— Frank F. Lunn

Do you use a reward system to help motivate you into getting things done? I find, sometimes, it can be very helpful. Like last week when I was trying to catch up on the PAD challenge, but I also really, really wanted to read a book. So I made a deal with myself – if I wrote a couple of poems, I could read a chapter of my book. If it was a long poem, I’d only have to write one.

The only problem with this is, you have to have the discipline to stick with it. And I don’t always. It worked for me last week, mostly, but reading a current book is an iffy situation for me usually. Sometimes it back fires. If I reach my goal late at night and there’s no time for the reward, I’ll start reading while I’m having breakfast the next morning, and I don’t stop until the book is finished.

That being said, I usually have a book as a reward for the end of NaNo. When I finish NaNo I can sit down and read the whole book. This works better because the reward is reading the whole thing at once instead of just doling out one chapter at a time.

The reward system is great for building good habits, but you have to find the right reward. I used to reward myself with time to play games. Write X number of words and then I could play something mindless for half an hour. But that was a really slippery slope. I’d get caught up and keep going, and before I’d know it hours would have passed and my eyes are ready to fall out of my head. And since I couldn’t focus enough anymore to write, I might as well keep playing.

I’ve been reading up on reward systems, and most of the articles I’ve read so far say that rewarding yourself is a good motivator for writing. One site said you should have big rewards for big accomplishments – like a day with friends for completing a draft of something – and smaller rewards for smaller accomplishments – an hour of TV for finishing that tough scene.

Better Writing Habits had a great article that I was going to quote from, but I think you might want to check it out for yourself. You can find it HERE. It not only tells you how to use a reward system, it gives you a list of ways to reward yourself.

I think the list, in particular, is a great idea. This is something I think I’m going to do – make myself a list of rewards, breaking it down into small, medium, and large rewards to correspond with my small, medium, and large blocks of writing.

The more I read about the reward system, the more it makes sense. Here are a couple of other helpful articles about rewarding yourself:
20 Ways Writers Can Reward Themselves Without Food  

Writing Rewards

Problem, Goal, Reward  

So what do you use for your carrot on the stick?

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WORDAGE REPORT

It was a busy week last week, and writing-wise I spent a lot of it still catching up. But once again I managed to get all my blog posts done.

NEW WORDS:
Blog Posts – 1,088+924+477+989=3,478

Poetry
47+62+41+128+52+71+44+80+148+89+76=838

Total words: 4,316 words

Three minute words – 127+100+98+107+95+130+121=778

Goals For Next Week:
Finish catching up on my words, and forage ahead with new ones.

EDITING:
I got the first reading done on Beet Down by the fabulous Jamie DeBree and I’m just starting the serious editing. This is the latest in her Death By Veggies series, written under her Alex Westhaven personae. While you’re waiting for it to be published, you can check out the rest of the series HERE

Goal For Next Week:
Finish editing Beet Down, and get back to Magickal Mayhem.

MARKETING MONDAY:
To be honest, I forgot all about it. Again. Bad, bad writer!

Goal For Next Week:
Submit two flash stories and one poem.

TECHNO TUESDAY:
Half of Tuesday was taken up with a zoom meeting – I’m not sure what happened to the other half. I did purchase several online classes from Holly Lisle’s site, but there’s a glitch in the system and I haven’t been able to access them yet.

Goal For Next Week:
Do something technical.

POETRY WEDNESDAY:
So . . . I got caught up for the Wednesday post, but then I fell behind again. The last day of the challenge was yesterday, and I only have three poems to go. It was pointed out to me that the prompts weren’t really as bad as I thought, it was just my attitude towards them. And you know what? They were right. I’m going to end up with some half decent poems from the month.

Goal For Next Week:
Finish the PAD challenge. Maybe write a new poem.

CRAFTING:
I failed to start a new craft. I pulled out this stamped table cloth I was given, and even pulled out some thread to use on it. But I didn’t like the colour of the tablecloth, nor will I be able to use it because it’s a rectangle and my table is square. I did, however, buy a bunch of needle felting supplies off of Amazon. ;-)

Goal For Next Week:
Start a project in needle felting, or find something else to embroider.

WHAT I’M READING:
Last week I read The Valley of Silence, Born in Fire, and Born in Ice, by Nora Roberts. I’m about halfway through the third in the Irish Born Trilogy, Born in Shame. It looks like I’ve managed to slow down a little, but yesterday I was shopping and I spotted Immortal Rising, by Lynsay Sands. I didn’t even know it was out yet, so I’m chomping at the bit to dive into it.

But her books make great carrots. I’m going to save it until I finish catching up on the writing and editing. God help me.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep the reading under control

GOAL REVIEW:
Once again I got all my blog posts up, and once again they weren’t all on time (like this one) but they’re there.

I had an epiphany with the Cave serial when I was catching up on my three-minute words. I knew how it was going to end, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get there from where I was. But I came up with a way to handle it that may work even better.

I am still not caught up on the PAD challenge, but I’ve only got three poems to go (yes, I know the challenge is over). And I’m contemplating keeping Wednesdays as a poetry day. Lord knows if I don’t have time to come up with a new poetry form I have plenty of old ones to share.

And seeing as I paid for all those online workshops, I may have to change Techno Tuesday to Tutoring Tuesday.

Not a bad week overall, and hopefully this week will be even better.

Happy writing