What happens when you promise yourself a writing reward, do the writing and skip the reward? Because you’re at least as smart as a dog, you stop trying. This video demonstrates what happens when dogs know they’re being cheated out a reward they earned. You might think that not giving yourself a promised reward is … More Why You Must Never Skip a Writing Reward
Reader comments on my previous post, Writing Should Be It’s Own Reward, Right? Wrong!, highlighted where I need to clarify a few things for everyone’s benefit. (This is one of the reasons I love your feedback; another is that your comments tell me my writing mattered to you, which tremendously rewarding for me.) Joel Canfield … More Refine Your Writing Rewards
When we’re in the flow and the words flow effortlessly, writing is its own reward. We don’t need to reward ourselves then; in fact, giving a reward for something that is intrinsically rewarding can be counterproductive. But writing isn’t intrinsically rewarding all, or even most, of the time. The misbelief that it should be creates … More Writing Should Be Its Own Reward, Right? Wrong!
In the previous post, I promised that you can train your brain to follow two simple commands that will transform your writing no matter how resistant you are. The first was Sit-Stay. The second is: Pay Attention To the trainer, Pay Attention means “look at me, make eye contact with me” (which is why some … More Train Yourself to Resist Resistance: Second Trick
What’s wrong with this picture? The writer is asking to be rewarded; he should be rewarding himself! It’s no accident that the Get Around Writer’s Block flowchart says “Reward myself,” not “Ask for reward.” The research is clear: when incentives are offered for routine work, they work; when incentives are offered for creative work, they … More What’s Wrong with this Picture of a Writer?
Rewards are in the eye of the receiver. A reward is whatever the person getting it wants. What I find rewarding might be “mngh” for you. Rewards for writers might include: beverages: sip of special coffee or latte, tea, hot cocoa, lemonade food: a bite of a cookie, a few M&Ms, a piece of chocolate, … More What Rewards a Writer?
Rewards cause your brain to release the neurotransmitters that allow you to rewire your brain. This rewiring takes more time and repetition than your conscious mind might think necessary. You might spend several weeks or months repeating and rewarding a series of tiny, incremental steps to acquire the writing habits and skills you want. If … More Rewards Rewire Your Brain for Better Writing
Speaking is natural and innate for humans; writing is not. Likewise, much of what dogs do in agility are natural behaviors – running, jumping, climbing – but navigating the teeter-totter is not. Watch the first 40 seconds of this if you’ve never seen a dog on a teeter-totter. What does teaching my dog to walk a … More Reward Your Intermediate Writing Steps
If you’ve seen a border collie run an agility course, you’ve seen the epitome of self-rewarding behavior. Clearly, these dogs are eager to run. You might think that because these dogs are having so much fun, they never needed to be rewarded for doing agility, that agility was always its own reward. Not so! What … More Why Rewards Work for Writers
Joel Canfield commented that he’d like more information about the Reward Yourself box on the Get Around Writer’s Block flowchart. The funny thing is that when I ask writers about rewarding themselves for their writing efforts, many react as if I’ve suggested they do something immoral or indecent. “Writing is its own reward!” they say, … More Write, Reward, Repeat
Bane of Your Resistance 