A bunch of us have books under contract with deadlines right around the same time. Some members of that bunch are suffering from…ummm, let’s call them motivational issues. Summer has a habit of doing that sort of thing. So…
I’ve teamed up with Larissa Ione, Stephanie Tyler, Jo Leigh and Alison Kent to issue a challenge. It’s called Seventy Days of Sweat. The challenge begins on Sunday, July 8 and runs through Thursday, September 20.
I will now shamelessly plagarize Alison’s blog to tell you all about it:
The rules are simple. You agree to write 4 - 6 pages a day (depending on the length of your book) every day between the dates listed above. If you need to take off a day, you make up the pages another. If you don’t like to write 7 days a week, too bad. This challenge lasts for only 10 weeks, and if you have to get up early on the weekends to get the pages done, you do it. (Hey, we all do it! You can, too!)
You don’t have to have a blog to participate, but we do want you to sign up below so everyone involved can get to know one another. And if you do have a blog, you can post the information there. Going public with your commitment is about owning it. As far as reporting your progress, you’ll come back here each Wednesday and Sunday and post your total word count. (We’ll expect the first reports at LEAST by the 18th, the Wednesday following conference, though for those of you not attending, your first report is due on the 11th!) And those of us sponsoring the challenge will be dropping by your blog (if you have one) and egging you on! AND, we may be adding more sponsors!
The challenge is open to anyone writing in any genre, published and aspiring authors both. Oh, and did we mention there will be prizes? Yes, there will be prizes. Critiques, RT subscriptions, memberships to RWA, gift certificates to B&N - who knows WHAT we’ll come up with! More info on the prizes to come. We’ll also be providing a logo if you’d like to put one on your blog. For now, let’s see a show of hands.
Now, I do want to address one comment I keep seeing. This is the “I don’t really have time” argument. Wrong. You do have the time. Honestly, if you want it - deep down in your bones want it - you will make the time. Larissa lost her house, pretty much everything she owned and her sense of security thanks to Hurricane Katrina. She kept writing. She found the time and has about a million book deals now. And, she isn’t the only one writing through adversity. There are authors out there who write while dealing with stressful jobs, serious family issues, health issues, significant kid issues or whatever. They do it. You can do it. Don’t let lack of time be the excuse. Get off your butt and sign up. You could win prizes and you could finish a book. There is no downside here. Go, go, go.
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I have 90 minutes a day to write…I don’t have as many contracts as Larissa, but I’m happy with it. My kids are little, and active, so my time to concentrate is limited. I do a lot of pre-writing…by the time I get them down for a nap or to bed the words pour out because I built them up while hiking-splashing-chasing-etc….
Everyone has time, as long as they make the time.
by Jenna Bayley-Burke July 7th, 2007 at 8:47 pmSign me up. I recently had back surgery (ten days ago) and now am on the mend and I have a lot of work to catch up on. I actually pitched my first book (that is not completely done) to an editor and she requested the full manuscript. Needless to say panic is now setting in. So again, sign me up. I need all of the support that I can get.
by Patty L July 8th, 2007 at 1:10 pmGod luck with the challenge
by Terra Kent July 8th, 2007 at 4:58 pmYou are right - if people have the time to blog (even a few minutes a day!) then they have time to write instead. I hope this challenge is successful to those who’ve been wanting to write for a long time. Readers always finding new authors.
by Stacy ~ July 9th, 2007 at 2:44 amNow if that last paragraph isn’t a kick up the ass I don’t know what is! I’ve just stumbled onto the blogs of you, Alison and the rest of your group. I’m loving your stories and hearing about how you make time to write and just do it! Thanks.
by Kerryn July 9th, 2007 at 1:54 pmMy daughter told me about this - she says she was insane enough to enter. I hope it works out for her as she seems to need deadlines to make her writing flow better.
by Ilona July 11th, 2007 at 10:01 amAll the best of luck to the challenge!
by Rita from South Africa July 12th, 2007 at 11:01 am