I do this every year and it works a treat. Before Nano starts I go out and buy something I've been wanting for a while, usually in the $50-$100 range. (In other words, not your everyday casual purchase.)
I stick this item on the shelf above my monitor, still in the packaging/shrink wrap.
Then I get started on Nano, knowing that I can only have the reward when I hit 50,000 words.
If you're on a tight budget, make the item a favourite bar of chocolate or a voucher for your favourite food - it doesn't have to be expensive, just a treat you'll really enjoy. And after four or five days of Nano, when you're 2000 words behind and are about to give up, the treat should catch your eye and encourage you to do another 300 words a day for a week to catch up.
(That's the other secret - as long as you stay more-or-less on track it's easy to do just a little bit extra now and then.)
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Simon Haynes, programmer of yWriter.
Author of the Hal Spacejock series.
60,340 / 50,000
oct. 7, 2008 - 06 14
Mate this is a good idea.. i like this trick :)
Now to work out what it is i need/want.. hmmm