Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to be virtually accountable. Zoom and other video
Speaker 1: conferencing programs have uses well beyond meetings. Sometimes no one
Speaker 1: even needs to talk to make it easier to do
Speaker 1: the right thing. So a few weeks ago, I got
Speaker 1: an email from my friend kJ Dellantonia that she was
Speaker 1: hosting Zoom writing hours. The idea was that at the
Speaker 1: appointed time, people could click on her link and join
Speaker 1: a virtual group of writers. People would turn their cameras on,
Speaker 1: but they're sound off. The session would go for about
Speaker 1: two hours, and during that time people would feel more
Speaker 1: accountable to working on their writing projects because other people
Speaker 1: were watching, they wouldn't be jumping up to do other
Speaker 1: things or watching videos on their phones. I decided to
Speaker 1: give these Zoom Writing Hours a whirl for two days
Speaker 1: in a row. I gave myself specific assignments for the hours.
Speaker 1: On day one, I was going to go through an
Speaker 1: old novel manuscript and write up a chapter outline. Here
Speaker 1: is what happens in each chapter. This would help with
Speaker 1: the revision process. On day two, I would write the
Speaker 1: flap copy for the book. That is, the short description
Speaker 1: of the central premise and tension of the novel that
Speaker 1: might go on the book jacket. I am happy to
Speaker 1: report that it worked. I finished those two short projects,
Speaker 1: and it's not that I couldn't have done them on
Speaker 1: my own if I had time for zoom writing hours.
Speaker 1: I clearly had time in general, but having a group
Speaker 1: of other people all working on stuff helped set the tone.
Speaker 1: I hadn't worked on that novel in three years, but
Speaker 1: in two days I made some serious progress on this
Speaker 1: speculative project. It turns out that lots of folks host
Speaker 1: similar accountability groups. I saw a time log recently where
Speaker 1: a woman was up early every weekday morning to write.
Speaker 1: On her log. She put writing and then a word,
Speaker 1: which I later learned was the name of her group.
Speaker 1: These writers all got up to write first thing. Rather
Speaker 1: than be lonely at five am, they turned on their
Speaker 1: cameras and held each other accountable for showing up. Now, obviously,
Speaker 1: accountability group aren't new. I am sure many people listening
Speaker 1: to this episode are already part of one, but old
Speaker 1: school accountability groups often required being in the same place.
Speaker 1: Accountability partnerships tend to be built around check ins. They
Speaker 1: don't often involve the hours of actually doing the work,
Speaker 1: but they absolutely can. They can also involve people from wherever.
Speaker 1: If you feel more accountable when you have a set
Speaker 1: time for something and other people are doing it too,
Speaker 1: then see if you can host some zoom accountability hours.
Speaker 1: You and a colleague could turn on your cameras and
Speaker 1: both work on projects that you need to get done.
Speaker 1: You and your fellow artists all turn on your cameras
Speaker 1: in your studios and keep going for a few hours.
Speaker 1: Students could have homework buddies. Now, of course, there could
Speaker 1: be a social element to this too. There is nothing
Speaker 1: wrong with saying hello at the beginning, or midpoint or end.
Speaker 1: Knowing a little bit about the other people helps with accountability.
Speaker 1: But for the same reason that some folks run a
Speaker 1: little faster on the treadmills at the gym, we often
Speaker 1: work a little harder when we know people are watching.
Speaker 1: Why not use that truth to your advantage in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your
Speaker 1: questions or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four than breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio.
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