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.

Mark Fishman on Warpcast

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!

Farcaster

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 :)