The Prescription:

Create preset writing “dates” - with yourself and/or a partner or a group - and add them to your calendar. This might look like a writing date every Sunday afternoon for two hours, or Wednesday and Friday mornings, or Tuesday evenings. Set the time, add it to your calendar as a recurring event, and then show up for it. 

Add in accountability:

As an Appointment Keeper, you are even more likely to keep your writing dates if you’re meeting up with someone, virtually or in-person. 

Try these ideas:

• Find a writing buddy and meet on Zoom every week at the same time.

• Set up a working date with your spouse or a friend (even if they don’t want to write a book), and meet over a glass of wine or a cup of coffee every week in your town.

• Look for an online writing group.

• If you are planning to write solo, set up additional accountability by asking a friend to hold a “deadline” for you - for example, you’ll commit to sending them 1,000 words a week. 

• Alternately, you can try pairing a treat with your writing habit - for example, you might allow yourself to watch your favorite TV show or listen to your favorite podcast only after you’ve completed your writing appointment for the week. Or treat yourself to a favorite exercise class once your writing is done.

Stop doing this:  

Stop putting “write my book” on your to-do list without scheduling it on your calendar as a recurring event.

Stop canceling your writing date for other appointments. Treat it as you would an appointment with a client or your boss - nonnegotiable. If you do have a scheduling conflict, reschedule it just like you would an appointment with someone important!

Real life example: 

My client Kelli Thompson, who wrote her book Closing the Confidence Gap in my Secrets of Storytelling Mastermind, is an Appointment Keeper.

She set her writing times for Wednesday afternoons, and Sundays while her husband was watching football - and kept those “appointments” religiously! As a member of the mastermind, she had the added accountability of a monthly writing submission deadline. (She said that the deadline alone was worth the price of admission!) 

As an entrepreneur, Kelli has a lot of control over her time and the projects she takes on. Because she doesn’t like to multi-task, and because she wanted to focus on her book and finish it relatively quickly, she asked herself: what will I take off my plate in order to focus on this project? 

She was able to write her entire book within nine months, and published it the following year.

Pleasure Boosters

• Purchase “writing chocolate” (or your favorite treat!) - which you can only eat during writing appointments.

• Wherever you’re writing, attend to the environment as you would for an actual date. So if you’re at your desk, light a candle, brew your favorite tea, and put on some mood-setting music. If you’re at a bistro or cafe with a friend, dress like your author self.