I love that you called my Wonder Woman cape a "need"! Lol. And yes, the interrobang is a much-needed punctuation mark. I'm just waiting for its long-overdue and rightful recognition. 😉 Thanks for reading, Jeanne!

I'm right there with you: "I'm going to make this writing stuff fun, even if it kills me!" Lol.

I do know you've had some lovely rewards with contest wins lately, and that's often another good thing that spurs writers on. Especially if you get a full manuscript request, and then you find yourself saying, "Wait, the whole manuscript? Um, I should write the rest of the book, I guess."

Would love to hear how your incentive experiments go!

Oh Erin, believe me, I'd love to give up the fear! Now, if I could just find that damned Manual of Life that I misplaced after Kindergarten...

My fear is usually very manageable - but then came a broken leg, loss of hearing, and, I'm beginning to think, old age. My process has changed, I HOPE only for this book.

There would be a reward, right there.

Very interesting! But isn't there a built-in reward system with that approach you described? Once you meet a small established goal, getting past the stuck point, you see that progress (feeling that reward) and things loosen up to take the next step.

Maybe you need a different KIND of reward or fear. Maybe the "usuals" don't do it for you. One time, I actually made a deadline because I promised myself that once I did, I would go ride a roller coaster I'd been wanting to visit. It was an unusual reward system for writing, but it worked for me! (And my 70-something mother came with me—my very willing partner in the amusement park adventure.)

A deadline is a bit like Samuel Johnson's reference to the noose: "When a man knows he is to be hanged...it concentrates his mind wonderfully." When you FEEL like you're going to be metaphorically hanged if you don't get 'er done, it can certainly make you concentrate and finish! Thanks, Bryan.

Hahaha! I get it, though. Fear does motivate me in other areas of my life...in a good way.