Looking for a Motivator

I’ve been trying to think of a way to increase the priority of writing in my life. My good buddy Keith has been a great encouragement the last few days, as I’ve let some rough-draft prose leak onto these pages. I used to do that a lot, and fun was had by all who bothered to express an opinion that I choose to remember.

I’m wondering if there’s a way I can leverage you guys more effectively. Make commitments, celebrate hitting milestones. Maybe something like kickstarter, but without the money. I say, “I’m gonna finish Monster.” You guys say, “If you finish Monster, then X!” Then I finish Monster. You do X. We are all happy.

But what’s X?

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7 thoughts on “Looking for a Motivator

  1. Jer, your idea reads an example from a book I just started reading yesterday: “SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient–Powered by the Science of Games” by game designer Jane McGonigal. Her Ted Talk on the subject is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfBpsV1Hwqs

    The lecture and the book might give you further thoughts on how to structure your challenge of strengthening your writing priority.

  2. food and beer and okay motivators. But to do a biggie task requires something with more oomph. What oomph X could be… hmmm… I dunno. The prob is that it has to motivate you nout us. Ideas fail ATTM.

    In the meantime, I think faithful readers should all get to read a chapter into a podcast. Best orator wins a basket full of TG goodies.

    • That is a really cool suggestion. I think it would be awesome to let members of the bloggcomm hear each other’s voices. The Fantasy Novel I’ll Likely Never Write has the advantage of already bing available to y’all, so it would be a good candidate, but Monster is the one I really need to work on.

      Did you have a chapter in mind?

  3. Is there a kickstarter-alike for writing, such as … 100 more people commit to buy the book, published or otherwise, and I release another chapter to those people who have already promised to buy? If you get an interested-enough audience, you may be able to sell the book multiple times over to the same people.

    • Sort of a progressive kickstarter. Hmm…

      While my marketing reach makes the idea of 100 people committing a fantasy on par with the novel I’m flogging, and while the most problematic chapter in Monster is chapter one, I’m still intrigued with this idea. Maybe not for Monster, but perhaps for the novel I’ll likely never write.

  4. I’m pondering now if ruling out kickstarter makes sense. That might be the perfect motivator. If I can get a few people to pay for the novel in advance, that would be fire enough for me to get ‘er done. I’d have to learn what that would do to any potential publishing deals, though.

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