Contract for Rewriting

I have been rewriting a novel.  I have not been rewriting this novel alone.  Members of my creative writing group are ALSO rewriting their novels, or writing their novels for the first time whilst keeping an eye on material about rewriting.

Laura Jane Cassidy very kindly wrote this blog post for me. 

Just because I am a little bit crazy, I created a contract for my writing group to sign so that they would work hard over the summer and reach their goals, although so far I am the only one who has signed one.  It's just for a bit of fun, and I thought you might like to look at it, download it, sign it, share it, use it, etc.

How do YOU rewrite?

Merry Christmas and Happy Scribbling.

I, ______________________, writer, being of sound mind and body, pledge to begin a perilous journey of rewriting which will begin on Friday the 2^nd of December, 2011 with the signing of this contract.

By signing, I am also agreeing:

1.  That I will not belittle myself, even in private.

2.  That I will not belittle my novel.  I am banned from referring to it by demeaning nicknames such as the pile of crap.

3.  That I will take my time editing.  It is worth doing, and it is worth doing well.

4.  That I will not go more than a week without at least thinking about my novel and I will not go more than a fortnight without working on it.

5.  That when people ask me what I do, I will not say student or retail assistant or dole bludger, but writer, author or novelist.

6.  That I will carry a notebook with me, and view the world like it has something to offer.  (OR that I will use my skills of observation and amazing memory.)

7.  That I will frequent coffee shops, book stores and other writer friendly places as well as becoming an occasional hermit.

8.  That I will use colours other than red to mark up my manuscript.

9.  That I will work on both hard copy and digital.

10.              That I will rely on my writing circle for support and talk to them before any major deletions or restarts.

Having taken all of this into account, I hereby sign this contract and know that I may give up at any time but will only be letting myself and the future reading public down.

My goal is ________________________________________

Signed___________________________

Dated___________________________

Witnessed ______________________