Deadlines, outlines, and no lines at all

Reading through some posts over at The office of Letters and Light, has kicked me into gear today. One post in particular, why deadlines are every writers secret weapon, got me thinking of my own changing attitude towards deadlines and structuring in my writing process.

For years I hated the idea of planning before I started writing, even doing papers in school I tended to skip the outline stage and sorted out everything after I'd written it. In my 'expert' opinion outlines were stifling and deadlines only cased stress. I never thought of myself as rebellious as a teen but I am beginning to see that I was, at least in some ways. I thought I knew better than my teachers, better then the authors of dozens of writing books. I did alright with my way but I have to wonder how much better I could have done if I'd listed more.

I'm not sure exactly what started changing my opinions, maybe all the writing books started to get through to me I don't know, but I have begun revising my opinion on a few things. I'm starting to find that I like a certain amount of preplanning before I start writing. I don't go through my story scene by scene but I like to know where its going and what needs to happen to get there. This means that it'll take me longer to start some stories but hopefully when I do I'll actually manage to get through them.

The problem with this is that I'm lazy. If I don't have a burst of inspiration, (like I did today when I started this post) I'm not likely to get much done. Which leads nicely into the topic of deadlines and accountability. I find that I desperately need both. I don't mean consequences if I fail, just something to remind my so I don't let myself down. I discovered exactly what I needed when I did NaNoWriMo last November (click here for my post on that.) I did the camp version in April and plan on doing it again in July.

I love doing NaNo, it keeps me writing the whole month long and I love that. The problem comes in between times, after the month long writing marathon is over I 'take a break.' If you look at my blogging history you'll notice that its rather sporadic, it reflex well the rest of my writing habits. Without a tangible sense of accountability I'm more likely to read then write. Its fun and easy but not nearly as rewarding.

 I suppose I'm asking for advice more than giving it here, (see thats proof that I've matured, I'm asking for advice!) What do you do to keep yourself on track? I'd love
any tips or ideas.

P.S. Will I see you at Camp? Or maybe in November?