Most writers will kick off their week with good intentions, feeling productive and ready to write thousands of words. By the end of the week, it’s a different scenario. Their hair will be ruffled, why-am-I-doing-this thoughts reign high, and the mounting pile of rejections brings a whole new meaning to the word depression. Don’t worry; it happens to the best of us.

But there’s a way out: goal-setting. At the beginning of each week or each workday, set targets for yourself that you simply have to meet. If you don’t do what you’re supposed to, you have to do overtime just like you did when you worked a regular job. If you’ve assigned yourself the task of getting a query letter in the mail by six in the evening, make sure that by the time six in the evening arrives, you’re done with your work. Glue your butt to the chair, tape a “Do NOT Disturb… Unless You Have Cash” sign on the office door, turn off the e-mail software and stop being lured by daytime television. You’re a professional and you have work to do.

One way that worked for me during some lean times was to keep a weekly tab, instead of a daily one. I knew I needed to kick out five query letters by the end of the week, so I’d start the week by sending out two, and then finish off the remaining ones by Wednesday or Thursday, sometimes leaving me with several days of no work, which meant that I was free to either work or just take a break, no guilt attached. As long as I was done with my work for the week, I was doing okay. That way, if I was busy on another project, or was feeling completely deprived of energy one day, I didn’t have to beat myself up about it. Just as long as I was making up for it by the end of the week.

You might have other ways to motivate yourself or set and accomplish goals. But however you choose to do it, keep yourself accountable.