A Contract to Write #3

What do you want to accomplish in your writing life over the next few months?

For this, the third swap in this series, you will draft a writing contract for yourself, sign it and send it to three partners.

The contract period is now through December 31. In other words, short-term goals. Make sure your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely.

Why a contract? First, one of the ways to successfully reach a goal is to write it down. A second way is to tell someone what you want to do. To reach a big goal, you have to break it down into manageable pieces -- little steps lead to big ones. "A journey of a completed book begins with a single word."

You can create your contract longhand, do something on the computer, put it on a postcard, or whatever suits your fancy.

The contract period is through December 31, 2010.

Contract elements:

• your name

• the date

• what you will write/accomplish during the contract period

• I will accomplish this goal by: (how you will reach the goal)

• the reward you will give yourself for successful completion of the contract

Your signature

Optional elements:

• a signature line for your partner who is your contract "witness"

• any additional info that will inspire you to meet your goal

Group membership. Snail mail. International.