Whether you’re participating in NaNoWriMo or you simply have set for yourself a daily word count goal (a practice I strongly advise and rarely adhere to) it’s important to celebrate your success.

Now I’m not saying you have to throw a party every time you reach 1000 words - however if you want to let me send you my email address cause I could certainly enjoy a few more parties.  I’m actually talking more about those little self care type rewards that make achieving your goal all the more golden.  Here are my favorite five ways to reward myself:

1.  A hot bath and a good beer.  I know most women prefer a glass of wine or even a hefty margarita however I’m a beer girl.  Not a Budweiser girl (though if you like Bud then go for it) I prefer a Pilsner Urquell or a good local micro brew.  Fortunately I live in the heartland of microbreweries so I have a cornucopia of choice.  Note:  If your bath is too hot then save the beer for afterwards.  You wouldn’t want to fall asleep in the tub.

2.  A seriously entertaining book.  Life is too short to read bad books (and I’m sure that quote will come back to haunt me but it’s out there now)  Grab a book that makes you laugh, gets you all hot and bothered, or scares the crap out of you if that’s your thing.  Dive headfirst into the book and forget about the world for a while.  I have a stack of these delightful books on my bedside table.

3.  Watch inane television.  Okay so that may be an oxymoron and I honestly don’t watch much television but on those rare nights I will admit that I do love to sit down and watch hours of HGTV or catch up on a series like Saving Grace or even Sex and The City repeats just for the plain ol fun of it.  It’s a nice little reward.  Of course if you regularly watch television then this isn’t much of a reward so grab a movie that feels a bit decadent and enjoy the show.

4.  Grab your favorite friend or loved one and go out to eat.  There’s nothing better than enjoying a good meal and lots of laughs with your favorite person and if you can share the latest twists and turns in the book you’re writing then it’s all the more fun.

5.  Take a walk with no time limit and no direction or goal.  These little forays into nature help us appreciate life, live in the moment, and be grateful for the little things like the sound the fall leaves make when they’re skittering down the street or the smell of the first fire in the fireplace as the smoke billows out the chimneys or the look of the billowy snow clouds peeking over the tops of the mountains.

Reward yourself.  You’ve worked hard and life my dear friends is all about the little things- the small joys and personal accomplishments.

Happy writing!

The folks over at DailyWritingTips.com offer some great tips for minimizing distractions while you’re writing, you can read the post DailyWritingTips.com offer some great tips for minimizing distractions while you’re writing, you can read the post here

I’d like to offer one more tip to their list. Set a timer. Yep, set a timer. It’s very easy to get caught up on a sentence, mired by a paragraph, or bogged down with plot, main point, headline etc… However when you set a timer and a goal to reach in that set amount of time, you don’t have time to ponder whether the word whisper or hissed is the best word. You simply write.

So now a few questions may have come to mind. How long do you set the timer for? What types of goals do you set? What happens if mad, frantic writing results in pages of material for the recycle bin? Let’s address them independently.

How long do you set the timer? If you’re very motivated to finish your project, 5 minutes. Hate to be rushed and feel anxious when you have time hanging over your head then set it for 10 or 15 minutes. Really. Find a timer which repeats automatically so you hear it go off every 5, 10, or 15 minutes without having to reset it. I use a cute little pink IronMan Triathlon Timex watch.

What goals do you set for yourself during that writing time? Again, a page every 5 minutes if you’re motivated. 1 page every 10 or 15 minutes if you’re anxiety prone. Don’t like those goals, set your own. How much do you want to accomplish in your given amount of time? For example if you want to write a 20 page report, five minutes a page is 100 minutes, right? A little more than an hour and a half. How much time do you have? If you’ve given yourself the day to complete the report then you have 4 hours to write it and 4 hours to edit and polish it. 4 hours is 240 minutes. I think that’s 12 minutes per page. So there you go, set your timer for 12 minutes.

The final question…what if after this speed writing exercise you end up with junk? You won’t. When you’re writing under pressure quite often your thoughts flow onto the paper very well. The rough parts? Well you’ll fix them when you edit and polish. Even if you’d taken a full hour to write that single page you’d still need to edit and polish it.

So how does a timer minimize distractions? When you’re on the clock trying to meet your own personal and hopefully challenging deadlines, nothing else matters. You won’t have time to think about the laundry, what’s in the refrigerator, that new social networking site you’ve joined or calling or emailing your friends. The only thing you’ll be able to think about is the words flowing from your clever and creative mind onto the paper.

Happy writing!