One Month of Persistence Training - September

It has often been said that the key to getting better at anything is persistent practice. For the month of September you're going to focus on one writing skill of your choice and practice it. It doesn't matter whether you're starting a journal, working on a professional project, or gearing up for NaNoWriMo; writers of all levels and goals of all sizes are welcome.

What you will need:

1) A Goal Since this challenge is about building a skill, having a consistent, measurable goal is important. To this end, your goal for this swap should be a specific daily goal. The idea is that at the end of each day you should be able to tell clearly whether you have completed your goal.

Here are some examples of goals that I came up with (feel free to modify them or make up your own):

Clear off my desk at the end of every day
Add a new word to my vocabulary every day
Outline 1 chapter every day
Brainstorm a future blog post every day

Write 1 journal entry a day
Write 1 page a day
Write 1,667 words a day
Write a poem a day

Read 50 pages every day
Read 1 article about writing every day
Research 1 hour every day

Edit 20 pages every day
Research 1 literary agent every day
Send 1 query letter every day

And here are some examples of goals that would NOT be a good fit for this swap:

Finish a novel by the end of the month--This is an admirable goal, but it isn't something that you can check off at the end of each day. Consider instead a daily word count or page count goal.
Write something everyday--This goal isn't specific enough. What is 'something'? Does writing an email count? Or a grocery list?

2) A Calendar for the Month of September Once you have your goal, you'll need somewhere to keep track of it during the course of the month. Use a calendar for the month of September 2014. You can cut out a page from a wall calendar, design one yourself, or use an internet printable. Here are a few I've found (note that these are year-long calendars, but you only need to print September):

Calendar One
Calendar Two
Calendar Three
Calendar Four

On September 1st you will start marking your calendar. Each day you will indicate whether you Exceeded, Met, Attempted, or Did Not Attempt your goal. It's perfectly okay if you aren't able to meet your goal every day (in fact, if you do it may indicate you need a harder challenge). If you want, you can also write a little note about how you did (For instance, if you have a word count goal you could write your word count in the boxes every day. Or if you did not attempt a goal because of a family emergency you could write that).

Not only will this give your partner a quick visual overview of your month, but it will help you out in the next part.

3) A Letter (one full page typed or two full pages handwritten) At the end of the month you will write a letter to your partner. Include an explanation of what your goal was and why it was meaningful to you. For the rest of the letter write about how your month of persistence went. Below are some suggested discussion topics, but feel free to come up with your own:

-Did you succeed more/less often than you expected?
-Were there certain days when you knew ahead of time you wouldn't be able to meet your goal (a holiday, for instance)? Did you try anyway?
-Does having a daily goal suit your writing style? Did it help you accomplish more, or did it sap your creativity?
-Was it a struggle to work on your goal? Was it hard at the beginning and easier near the end or vice versa?
-Did you tell other people about your goal? Were they supportive?
-How seriously did you take your goal? Was it a priority in your day or more of an afterthought?
-Did you find there were certain circumstances that made it more/less likely for you to meet your goal (writing at a certain time of day, weekend vs. weekday, a bad day at work)?
-Was there something you had to give up in order to meet your goal (a TV show, a party, your lunch break)? Did you regret it?
-Did you reward yourself when you met your goal or punish yourself when you didn't? How?
-If you were to do this again, how (if at all) would you change your goal?

To Recap: Choose a specific, consistent goal to work on every day in the month of September. At the end of the month send your partner a calendar page marked with your daily progress AND a letter (one full page typed or two full pages handwritten) about what your goal was and how your month of persistence went.

Please do not rate your partner down if they give up on their goal. Life happens, and setting a bad goal can be a valid learning experience. If your partner has sent a marked calendar page and a letter describing their goal and their experience, then they have fulfilled the requirements of the swap.

This swap is open to all group members in good standing. If there's interest, I would be happy to make this a recurring swap. If you have any questions or suggestions, drop a comment below!