I’m a member of the fantastic 10 Minute Novelists
group on Facebook. And this year, for the second year, they are hosting the
365K challenge. It’s simple: those of us who accept commit to writing daily. We
keep a spreadsheet to tally our numbers publicly and have monthly chats to talk
about writing and award prizes for those who meet goals.
Last year I did not win, although I wrote a lot more
than I would’ve normally. This year, I joined, but there were different levels
offered! I chose the “Hemingway” level, which means my goal was just 250,000
words for the year. That’s less than 1000 words per day, and it seemed
manageable.
In doing the challenge, I learned some things about
myself. I learned that when I don’t write first thing in the day, it’s very
difficult to write later on. I learned that I need to carry a notebook with me
in my purse to make writing daily easier: that way even if I’m away from my
computer, I can still write. I hate writing by hand, but the point of this
challenge is to develop the daily writing habit. I also learned that I don’t
like to write on the weekends. Having a notebook to do handwriting in was
great, because it allowed me to continue writing without having to use my computer,
which is my work computer. Part of my resistance to weekend writing was, of
course, resistance to doing anything that reminds me of work on the weekends!
It’s been a two steps forward, one step back kind of
process, but I’m excited to say that I’m about to reach my halfway mark! Here,
at the end of September. Three quarters of the way through the year.
I’ve done the math, and I CAN complete my goal. I
just have to make the next three months nanowrimos. Nanowrimo is, of course,
the abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month, in November. The goal is to
write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. With 125,000 words left, if
I write a 41,670 word novel each month (October, November, December), I’ll hit
my goal. So hooray! I’m off to the races!
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