A Game of Words

So it turns out that Game of Thrones is kind of awesome. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm pretty late to jump on the bandwagon. I haven't even finished the first season yet, but I'm completely hooked. It's exciting, well performed, and I can't deny that I'm happy that George R. R. Martin is both a writer and an executive producer on the show...

What really impresses me is the depth and believability of it all. Fantasy can be tricky to get right. You want to write something original without it sounding stupid, but that's more difficult than it sounds. Between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, you can feel like everything's been done already.

That's the problem I'm now facing.

For some unfathomable reason (and I have a funny feeling I said this in my New Year post), I've decided to write a novel. Again. I couldn't tell you how many pieces of paper full of pointless scribblings I have in my flat. All them covered in good intentions but none of them really coming to anything. Sometimes I feel like tearing my hair out waiting for mystical inspiration to arrive.

But this week, something momentous happened. I began setting deadlines. I have deadlines that I'm really hoping will improve my productivity. I think what will make them still more effective is the fact that beside each date is a column headed: REWARDS. It almost glitters next to everything else. I've filled it with things like a new DVD, a girlie night in and even a bottle of bubbly when it's all finished. So far I've been doing well - nearly six thousand words over the past two days. It's the first time I've ever written so much, so quickly, which bodes well for the months ahead. 

However, I know that I'm very good at procrastinating. So to try and prevent this, I'm going to tell you my first deadline:

By the 14th of April, I'm aiming to have written the first three chapters. Not edited, just written.

There it is in big letters. I can't take it back now. So I'm hoping that this will prove to be the kick in the pants I need to get me through the next few weeks. 

I'll let you know how the plot thickens...