More advice to myself, during which we pass the half-way point of this not quite endless list:

Chocolate.

(sounds of throat clearing) Try that again, please.

Rewards.

Much better.

Yes, yes, we’ve all heard that writing is hard work. Anything can be hard work if there’s something else I’d rather be doing. When it comes to writing, sometimes I’d even rather be cleaning house. But that doesn’t get the writing done (see Part 1 of this series).

So, to encourage the reluctant me to sit down and do the hard work, I need to have something else to look forward to. Ironing out a difficult turning point in the plot is rarely its own reward. Yes, I may feel like a genius when I succeed at this (until I reread it and realize it’s all worthless tripe), but pats on the back administered by self are very unsatisfactory. Rewards, tangible and tasty, are for me the embodiment of the metaphorical carrot.

Although chocolate ranks high on my list of carrots, there are other options: take-out delivered from one of my local restaurants (Mexican, Thai, Indian, Italian — NYC is the greatest!), homemade chicken soup, toast, even gorp (my recipe: roasted salted cashews, roasted unsalted sunflower seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted pecans, dried cherries).

And there’s my shopping list to replenish my pantry in preparation for next month. Chocolate, of course, will top the list.

Final word: Click the links for the health benefits of chocolate, cherries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and nuts like cashews and pecans. Rewards that feed the body as well as the soul!