Most of the time I'm quite self-motivated. I get up every day and write a "to do" list and manage to get most of the items checked off by the end of the day. But like most women, there are not enough hours in a day to get all the things done that I would like to do. Some things, like exercise, need a push from outside sources in order to make them a priority. Last summer it took a facebook post from a high school friend wanting to form a walking group that finally spurred me to make exercise a regular part of my routine.
I decided to examine the challenges that motivate me to get other things done to exercise my brain. Goodreads has now become part of my life through my association with writers. I spotted the reading challenge there. I realized that as I've begun writing more, I've read less and less. And that bothers me because I need to keep up on what's out there. Besides, I want to support my fellow writers. So I signed on to assure that I read on a regular basis. It's easy now with ebooks. I have some on my laptop, some on my ipad, and some on my iphone. There is absolutely no excuse to "just sit there". I can read anywhere, at any time.
In my writing life, other challenges motivate me. I use a website called 750 Words to make myself write every day. If I don't get 750 words written by 9 am Eastern time, I get an email reminder. And if I skip a day, my calendar on the website has a "hole", or a square with no X in it. That bothers me enough to start writing again, wanting to get that uninterrupted writing streak longer and longer.
Both of my writing groups issue a yearly challenge that urges us to "get that book done". We pay money to the treasury for each book we want to finish in that calendar year and then when the book is finished, we send a copy of the last page to the coordinator. At the Christmas party, the names of all who completed the challenge are put in a hat and a name is drawn. The winner gets half the pot, and the treasury gets the other half. Last year the winner of one writing group got over $100!
Another writing challenge that just began this month is Winter NaNo. Modeled after the National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) challenge in November, this puts the contest in a month in which women are not as stressed about family holidays. We pay $5 to accept the challenge to write 32K in 28 days. It's a doable challenge and I've accepted it three years in a row. The first year of Winter Nano, I wrote a story taking place in Greece, where I had vacationed the previous year. Prior to the challenge, I did a little plotting and a few character sketches, and on the first day I went to work. After the month was over I had a good start on the story. I worked on it some more and then put it away. Other projects called me!
Then last year I got my foot in the door with Astraea Press. I had such a great experience with my first novella, The Legacy, that I decided to take out my Greek Island story and dust it off. Instead of the full length novel I had planned, I tightened it up to novella length and submitted it. Aegean Intrigue, released on February 2, is the result.
Blurb:
Someone has been stealing priceless Greek artifacts and it's Alex Leonidis' job to uncover the thief. His prime suspect is beautiful archaeological graduate student, Francie Vasileiou. His plan is to join in an archaeological dig and catch her in the act. All he has to do is keep his mind on his job, and not on the way his lovely suspect warms his heart. He's learned the hard way not to trust fragile-looking women who seem to need his help.
Francie wants to get her PhD and become an archaeologist, like her famous father. The sudden invitation to participate in a dig on the beautiful Greek island of Paros is a wonderful opportunity. She has no time for distractions like Alex, the handsome Project Director. Experience has taught her to stay clear of handsome, charismatic Greek men.
On the shores of the Aegean Sea, Alex and Francie work together, searching for treasures from Greece's past. While pursuing their goals, they discover some of the truths they had believed to be carved in stone may have been flawed.