Collect this post as an NFT.
It’s 8:30am, 30 minutes before my self-imposed “deadline” for getting this done.
Normally, when there are no external motivators, I won’t hold myself accountable. A “deadline”, a calendar block, or even a reward won’t work for getting myself to do something that I don’t exactly want to do in the moment. (Hello /adhd fam!)
There are many reasons that people may struggle to write. Impostor syndrome is probably most prevalent, but externalizing thoughts can be a scary process even if you’re not going to share with anyone but yourself.
So, why am I actually publishing this time?
I created some external motivators.
First Draft Club v1: a writing accountability group with 4-week commitment - Buy-in is $20 via /daimo - Share new writing in /firstdraft before Monday 9am ET each week - Each week you ship, you get your $5 back - Groupchat for mutual support Have a few slots left, DC me if you want to join!
My previous life as a behavioral scientist taught me that there are plenty of ways to incentivize behavior. Whether the pressures are financial, social, or psychological, I knew it was possible to get myself to write more. (Why I love writing is another post.)
I had been toying with the idea of a writing accountability group for a few months. After some discussions with friends and group chats, I realized it made sense to ship an “MVP” that wasn’t too much of a technical lift. Instead of obsessing over the idealized version, I just decided to “ship” the bare minimum to start – just like I’m doing with this post.
So here we are! Thank you to the OG members of First Draft Club for taking a chance on this and shipping this week.
I would love if this inspired you to write. But I also understand if you need a little more support :)
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My deadline is 9am ET and I'm just beating the buzzer :) Find out what got me to write! https://paragraph.xyz/@angeluser/first-draft-club
Congrats on publishing! 1500 $DEGEN My own version of "writer problems" is the opposite of what you wrote in this cast. I'm all about the ideas; they flow so fast and furious I can barely keep up. But I really struggle to publish. Every single time. https://warpcast.com/markfishman/0x88cfd486
What’s your main struggle with publishing? I also love writing ideas down but they often come out as casts – once I need to expand/refine them it gets “real”
Main struggles: 1) As a persnickety professional copyeditor, it's hard to turn off "editor-brain" and allow my builder-self to release drafts. 2) Much as I love Paragraph and FC, I often want to publish texts that are too long for a cast, but too short for a blog post. They just sit in my drafts folder and get stale.
Feeling unmotivated to write? @mark shares how external motivators helped overcome procrastination and impostor syndrome. Introducing the First Draft Club: a 4-week writing accountability group with financial incentives and support. Join now and start shipping your drafts!