Like many people, I need to be held accountable for my writing or I won’t finish it. I’ll just sort of think about it for minutes, hours, days, but instead of writing I’ll watch another episode of Bob’s Burgers, eat some cookies, and then take a nap. (Obviously, I’m on my way to a major book deal, fame, and fortune.)

To be honest, this blog only really works because my #1 reader, my dad (hi, Cuff!) harangues me when I haven’t updated it in a while. And when I was writing my textbook (hey, I wrote a textbook!), I had a wonderful editor and a project manager who both kept me on track with gentle email reminders and phone calls. But if I don’t have a deadline or a reader who says, “Um, every time I click on your blog, all I see is that Halloween post, but that was a while ago, and by the way, Happy New Year,” then I won’t write.

So, this summer, in an effort to help myself and my fellow writers stay on track and produce some work, I’m starting an online writing group.

The idea of the group is to join together former students, colleagues, and friends who are all working on writing projects. For eight weeks this summer, we’ll identify goals, track progress, and share our results. I’ll post writing and time management tips, ask for guest-posts from group participants, and share everyone’s status updates.

And I, for one, will be honest about my own procrastination and when I forgo writing to watch Roo sleep.

(It’s super distracting, right??)

The group begins June 1 and runs until July 24. If you’re interested in participating, send me an email or Facebook message, or leave a comment on this post, and I’ll add you to the list!