2 ways that helped us to write (with deadlines):
Sign up by July 11th for a 500 word fiction challenge with NYC Midnight. Cost:$47.
Set up a free online account with NaNoWriMo and set a goal for July camp now, use their software to track your goal for the month of July. Cost: Free
Setting a deadline is the first recommendation for managing procrastination associated with ADHD in this Healthline article. When you are writing for fun or in the hopes of getting published someday, there aren’t a lot of deadlines. Writing was a dream of mine for decades, but I didn’t start doing it until I had deadlines with NYC Midnight contests and National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). In the fall of 2020, Adriana asked me to do a NYC midnight screenplay writing contest with her. I somewhat reluctantly accepted the offer, and I am so glad I did. I hadn’t written for years and never a screenplay. We edited each other’s screenplays and cheered each other on, it was a fun experience and one that we have continued to do over the years.
There is a 500 word fiction challenge with NYC Midnight that begins July 12, 2024! The last day to sign up is July 11, 2024. It costs $47. If you remember to sign up earlier, it costs less, but we rarely remember to do that. You can get $5 off if you follow their directions and post it on facebook or twitter. If you sign up you will be assigned a genre, action and object and asked to write a story in 500 words or less in 24 hours. If you are interested, you can sign up here, NYC Midnight.
NaNoWriMo is in November and is free. There is also a NaNoWriMo camp in July. It’s a little late, I apologize. You can still set a goal now and log in your word count. You can set up a free account here, NaNoWriMo.org and make a goal. If you are already doing that, yay! I have met my goals each November that I’ve tried but failed to meet goals in April and July for their writing camps, but I did write 1000s of words for each one, so that is something. If you are new to NaNoWriMo, it is a free website where you sign up and make a commitment to write 50,000 words in November. In April and July, you can set a goal to write 50,000 words or make your own goal and use their software to track your writing progress. They have fun digital badges that you earn after meeting different milestones which motivates me. I usually donate money in October so that they will send me donation goodies including a sticker which I use as an incentive to complete the challenge. I only get to put the sticker on my computer if I write 50,000+ words. You can also purchase water bottles, t shirts and more- they are a non profit and support the writing community in many ways.
We are not affiliates for NYC Midnight or NaNoWriMo and do not get anything for recommending them, they just both really helped us start writing.
Let us know if you sign up for either NYC Midnight or NaNoWriMo that way we can cheer each other on! Do deadlines work for you? Are there any other ways to write with deadlines that you recommend? Please comment below.
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