So I have a dilemma. I've spent part of this evening coming up with a reward/punishment system to help me reach my goals. This is really easy when it comes to my fitness goals. Did I exercise? Did I lose weight? Yes or no. Simple as that.
I came across a problem when I was trying to put my writing into this system. What should I count as a good writing session? Should I count hours? Words written? Pieces completed?
See? It gets sticky. One day I may write a ton in a short amount of time or it might take me 3 hours to get a page or so out. Which of those is successful? Is either a failure if I managed to get something written? How can I go by pieces completed if I start a novel? That takes much longer than a short story or poem. What if I spend the day editing? Does that count?
I'm coming to the conclusion, my writing goals will need to be their own thing and cannot go into my pretty, colored paper reward system. I personally think any day I write anything is a success. However, for my system, I need a mark of success and I simply can't pick a good benchmark.
So...I guess I'll have to trust myself to meet my writing goals without my system. I haven't truly been lately, but I know why and hopefully will soon be over that. I do feel blocked creatively but I've been working on it. Words are coming out in trickles, but they're coming and I will keep scratching away until they start flowing a bit better.
Does anyone have suggestions for how to decide what counts as a success? What counts as a writing success for you?
I don't know why, but 1,000 words always feels like a "success" for me. I guess because that's about how long my average chapters are and if I can manage to get one out a day, I feel like I've done a good job. Still, that doesn't always happen. Not by a long shot. Sometimes it's just a line that pops into my head and fits no where, so I really have to work for those 1,000 words someday's, while others, I'll write several chapters without blinking. For someone who loves consistency, this is totally frustrating!
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