I’m gonna give credit for this idea to Noom, the psychology-based weight-loss program that I checked out because I wanted to see the science and strategy behind what they were doing.
This was one of their strategies that really resonated with me that I thought might be really useful for me and my writers:
They call it a “Motivation S.O.S Plan” - here, I’m calling it a Writing S.O.S Plan. It’s the thing you implement when your commitment to your writing practice has gone off the rails.
You come up with the following:
Warning Sign: What’s a sign that things are getting off-track?
Danger Zone: Okay, now that warning sign has progressed from orange to red. It’s possible you will go totally off the rails if you keep going in this direction.
Reaction: So, what do you do to get back on track?
Example:
Warning Sign: Skip a writing day.
Danger Zone: Skip three writing days in a row.
Reaction: You might call your writing buddy for some accountability, set alarms on your phone so you don’t miss your writing time, put your writing time in your calendar, get up earlier…etc.
That’s really all there is to it. So, my little challenge to you: create a Writing S.O.S plan, choose an accountability partner, really stick to it…and see the results.
You may have multiple S.O.S plans going, but start with one first and revise it as needed so that it’s really working for you.
Happy writing!
