Contracts are the business of publishing, a milestone of achievement in a writer’s development. Contracts can also be useful to aspiring writers - even those picking up a pen for the first time with no plans to get published.

The writer’s agreement

American fiction writer Aimee Bender talks about the writer’s contract in her article ‘Why the best way to get creative is to make some rules’. The idea behind the contract is for a writer to formalise their commitment to writing and have it co-signed by a mentor who will enforce the agreement. She includes an example of the contract here.

“As Writer, Contractor shall write one hour per day five days per week.”

Aimee believes that if someone wants to write, it’s worth finding a way to do it. Her approach to writing is a lot like that of Eviatar Zerubavel. She sees the contract as a “fighting gesture against the ever-present idea that writers walk around with alchemy boiling in their fingertips.” Aimee trashes the idea that writers are dreamy wanderers who have elegant sentences available on call. Instead she reckons that most find their voice “through routine, through ordinariness, through some kind of method of working.” In short – they find their writing mojo through rather boring hard graft.

Incentives

Contract theory relies on incentives which motivate signatories to take appropriate actions. In an earlier blog I talked about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Many writers are intrinsically motivated by enjoyment in the task of writing – they write for pleasure. Yet they might fail to complete a project, which is where extrinsic motivation or someone else holding you to account can help. The writer agreement is a great example of this, especially if you have a friend take on the role of mentor, one who “will acknowledge what you are doing, and know that it is hard, and that it is important. Someone who will call you on it if you stop.”

Writing groups

Many writers have informal agreements, or psychological contracts, with their writing groups. Even when they’re tired, fed up and in no mood for writing, they will make sure they fulfil their commitment to others in their group – by turning up, writing an extract to share, or feeding back on someone else’s work.

Why not formalise your commitment to writing by typing it out and putting in on a wall, or telling a friend, drawing up a contract, or joining a writing group? Find you own extrinsic motivator and make it work for you.

Thanks to Liz Flanagan for sharing Aimee Bender’s article with me. You can read Aimee’s original article on Oprah.com . Aimee’s latest book is the Color Master.