Off to a slow start? I am!

I'm on page three and a half. That is a full six and a half pages behind. I'm not worried, though, because you know what we've got sitting right in front of us?

(Besides the computer you are reading this on…)

A weekend! The first weekend in April 2009.

To be on track by Sunday night, we should be at page 16.66. What do you say we use this weekend to get on track?

The goal: Get to page 15 by bedtime on Sunday.

Are you with me?

Even if you haven't written a single word yet, this is 100% within your reach. But you've got to go for it.

A few tricks to try:

1. Accountability: Tell everyone that you're busy this weekend and why. Let your friends, family, teammates, and evil nemeses know what you're up to. They'll ask you about it on Monday, and you don't want to say you didn't make it! Post your goal on Facebook as your status. Change your voicemail message. Set an auto-reply in your email.

2. Curve Ball: If your story is getting off to a slow start (and therefore hard to write), mix it up in a major way. Reveal that your characters are really guinea pigs in an experiment, only they don’t know it yet. Blow something up. Kill off your main character and make their sidekick the real hero. You don't owe any loyalty to the idea you had a few days ago. If it isn't working, kill it, and kill it now! (It doesn't hurt that all that killing takes many pages to write!)

3. Treats: Plan your rewards! Have a few different reward increments. For example, after each page, you get a square of chocolate. At the end of three pages, get yourself that special drink. (You know, the one that comes with extra caramel and whipped cream.) At the end of page 15, watch a movie or sleep!

4. War: Script Frenzy counts in pages, but there is an amazing thread in the forums called Word Wars. A word war is a sprint to get the most words on a page, while your opponents do the same. Post in the forum when you're starting, and how long you're going for. Other participants will join in. At the end of the given time, post your total words. It is amazing how fun and productive these wars are.

Use and abuse this weekend, and get back on track. You'll love the feeling of victory on Sunday night.

I know you can do it, writer!

See you at page 15,
Jen