It is just after 12:00 on Monday morning, September 10th. This is the first day of our Book in a Month Challenge.
Our registered participants are:
Candace, Annette, Traci, Jewel, Cindy, Stephanie, Josi, Mandi, Don, Alison, Heather, Katie, Paulette, Marta, LeeAnn, and Ali. Oh, and me! (Duh!) That gives us 17 -- that's pretty spanky.
So, starting today -- you know what you're working on and you've set your own personal goal. It doesn't matter if you've decided on 25 words or 2500 -- whatever works for you. Whatever will be a stretch, but not so much of a stretch that you're hating life. It needs to be doable.
Josi and Heather will both be editing as they go, and hey, they've both published more books than I have, so I'm not going to interrupt their groove. What I've found, though, is that as we write, we tend to second-guess ourselves, and that second-guessing keeps us from moving forward. This is why, when you're doing the BIAM in the way that ANWA does it, they recommend that you just write and don't edit until the end.
Another thing -- don't worry that what you're writing is rotten. Just plow through it and you can come back later and substitute the word you really were looking for. If you're on a roll and get hung up on a bit of dialogue, just skip it and come back. Don't interrupt the roll.
Now, one more thing -- this is not a competition. I'm not grading each of you on how much you got done. I'm going to cheer you on as you go, but I'm not comparing you to each other. Hence, there is no winner but you, and the prize - a really good start on your book.
Remember, we're not trying to finish the book this month unless you really feel you can do it. The goal is to get as much done as you can, not to hurt yourself or to set up unrealistic expectations for yourself that will only lead to disappointment. You know what your limits are -- exceed them, but don't hurt yourself in the process.
Motivating thought for today: Only you can write your book. If you don't write it, it will never get written, and that would be a shame.
Don't forget to check in tonight and comment on your progress.
Okay -- get off this blog and open your word processing program. Start your engines -- on your mark, get set -- write!
11 comments:
Good luck Everybody! This would be something fun to do!!
Okay. Here I go . . .
Damage from day one:
I took 30 minutes after lunch and started writing. Keeping the internal (infernal?) editor at bay was very difficult, but I did my best.
Word count: 538.
(30 minutes is just not long enough. Sigh.)
I got my 1,000 words in between 10:30 a.m. and noon--while my daughter was at her play group...
Hey Don and Heather,
Thanks for checking in! We're off to a great start.
Here's my count for today: 2,475. I actually was able to sit down and plunk more out than I thought. Okay, my house is now completely trashed (the two-year-old is on the rampage) but I'll take the trade.
Today was a preschool day, so I managed 1350 words. We'll see what tomorrow, a non-preschool day, brings. It was good to just let the fingers fly!
1000 words!
The internal editor is rattling her cage and starting to drool, but I haven't let her out yet...
I did my part! I had a bit of a head start and I forgot to check the word count before I started writing today ... but I *think* I did somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 words. I'm in the groove, baby!
I fell quite short of my goal, only writing 350 words. I am working on a story I outlined and wrote the first chapter to in the spring. It took me a lot longer than I planned on to get back into the story. Thank goodness for weekends when I can play catch up. I'll just have to dream character and plot tonight, so I can really attack it tomorrow.
Only 516 words so far, but I think I know where the story is going. My internal editor seems to have a remote control button and hits pause every time she sees a misspelled word. I have to go back and fix it before she lets me go on. We're trying to work out a compromise with spell checker used at regular intervals. Hmmm, or maybe I could just close my eyes and type.
Oh, hey! I've been offline for a couple of days. Is it too late for me to join in? I could use a challenge like this to get me out of my usual September depression.
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