I am one of those people who thrive on deadlines. Nothing brings on inspiration more readily than desperation. —Harry Shearer
The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write and keep on writing. —Ken MacLeod
Today we begin the countdown to the launch of my new book, Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It). Starting today, I will be counting down the eleven reasons to sign up for a Write-A-Thon—a writing marathon like National Novel Writing Month. I’ll be posting a new reason every day (except for Saturday and Sunday) until the book launch at Boswell Book Company on October 18, 2011. Today’s reason? Writers need deadlines.
One of my marathon-running friends told me that sometimes the best way to get in shape is to sign up to run a race. When we set a big deadline, like running a 5k, we have no choice but to train. Instead of dreaming about exercising, we do it.
It’s the same with writing a book. 80% of Americans want to write a book. But few of us actually do it. Signing up to do a write-a-thon like National Novel Writing Month might be one way to motivate ourselves to write the book we have been dreaming about.
Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month, started the program because he believed that writers need deadlines. Doing a write-a-thon, especially one like NaNo, will give you the deadline you need to stop procrastination and start writing.
Writers, will this be the year you write your book? A write-a-thon can give you the structure you need start and finish that book and cross off one more item from your bucket list!
