Bribing yourself

I don't think I've ever bribed myself except when I'm finished this draft, I can start planning my next WIP.

Other than that, I prefer a mental award (also, the only reward I can afford ). I instead think to myself: "Well, at least I don't have to edit/rewrite that chapter until the next draft demands it" or "Thank goodness, it's over."

When I finish a full revision of my WIP, I reformat it and print the whole thing on 5x8, hole-punch it and put it in a small three-ring binder. It feels like a real book then, and it's really nice to be able to hold it, and leaf through the pages. (Maybe - I said maybe - I might carry it around with me somewhere or everywhere I go for the next several days. Maybe. And maaaaybe it might find its way up to bed at night next to my pillow...... maybe. I'm not saying that though).

BUT - I gotta say, outside of that, it's really hard to feel like rewarding myself when I know the book is still such poor quality. And my revisions always take longer than expected. If I start editing chapter 3 and plan on it taking a week, it's really hard to reward myself three weeks later when I finally finish that chapter. I'd figured on chapter 4 being done by then too, and being well on the way into 5, so it's hard to feel good. I know this is a self-defeating mindset, but it would feel phony to reward myself for taking too long to do something, and still ending up with low quality anyway.

I think this was supposed to be a happy thread, not a whining one... sorry!

It's not phony--it's an achievement. It takes as long as it takes, esp for a first novel.

There’s something incredibly special about finishing your first novel... what an incredible rush! The ones that followed are great too but that first one, it was like a first love affair.

Harlequin said:

It's not phony--it's an achievement. It takes as long as it takes, esp for a first novel.

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Thank you.

Chocolate chip cookies tonight. For editing half a chapter this week.


@indianroads - finishing (first draft beginning to end), or "finishing" (submit worthy)? And yeah, as much as I look forward to having this completed, I know I will miss it terribly when I let it go.

Toto Too said:

my revisions always take longer than expected. If I start editing chapter 3 and plan on it taking a week, it's really hard to reward myself three weeks later when I finally finish that chapter. I'd figured on chapter 4 being done by then too, and being well on the way into 5, so it's hard to feel good.

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If you give yourself a month instead of a week to edit each chapter, then you'll be pleased with yourself when you get it done in three weeks.

Still, you're setting yourself up for disappointment when you set unrealistic goals. Frankly, it might be better to not have time or date goals at all, but to let each chapter edit take as long as it needs to take. There's no particular reason it has to be finished by a certain date, is there? The real goal is not finishing the marathon on time, but finishing the marathon with a very good book. And you can't rush that.

When I finished my book, I celebrated with a lazy day of reading whatever I wanted.

If I get my book published, I want to celebrate with new shoes.

BethS said:

If you give yourself a month instead of a week to edit each chapter, then you'll be pleased with yourself when you get it done in three weeks.

Still, you're setting yourself up for disappointment when you set unrealistic goals. Frankly, it might be better to not have time or date goals at all, but to let each chapter edit take as long as it needs to take. There's no particular reason it has to be finished by a certain date, is there? The real goal is not finishing the marathon on time, but finishing the marathon with a very good book. And you can't rush that.

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Great advice of course (thank you ). And I would give the same advice to anyone else. But that doesn't make it easy to follow Sometimes I feel like a surgeon. I've opened the patient and fixed a couple places where he was bleeding. That's great, and as all surgeons know, not many people have the skill to do that! But the patient is still open, and bleeding from places I'm not sure how to find. I can't step back and pat myself on the back and have a slice of pizza over what I've done so far. I can't do that until all the bleeding has been stopped and the guy is all zipped up again.

But I know. There's no bleeding patient here. Then again, you haven't seen this WIP.

Toto Too said:

Great advice of course (thank you ). And I would give the same advice to anyone else. But that doesn't make it easy to follow Sometimes I feel like a surgeon. I've opened the patient and fixed a couple places where he was bleeding. That's great, and as all surgeons know, not many people have the skill to do that! But the patient is still open, and bleeding from places I'm not sure how to find. I can't step back and pat myself on the back and have a slice of pizza over what I've done so far. I can't do that until all the bleeding has been stopped and the guy is all zipped up again.

But I know. There's no bleeding patient here. Then again, you haven't seen this WIP.

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This description is unbelievably accurate.

Toto Too said:

I can't step back and pat myself on the back and have a slice of pizza over what I've done so far.

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Well, you can actually. Take your rewards in small slices, knowing the whole job isn't complete but you've made progress to that end.

It's a mind game. Which means you get to set the rules and the rewards. And change them, if necessary.

The patient can never be cured; you'll always find more things wrong with him. So definitely stop for a back pat every now and then