A New Goal! Time to Join the Challenge!

Ahh, peer pressure. Not so awesome when you're a teenager, but it seems to be an effective tool when it comes to my writing. Hmm...nope, that doesn't make a bit of sense to me either. Let me explain.

Distractions are everywhere. That's not exactly new information, so other than locking yourself in closet, putting on those 'ocean sounds' headphones that make you look a bit like the Great Gazoo, and pulling the plug on your internet connection, how do you fight back?


My answer? Great writer-friends and a CHALLENGE! So, here is your mission if you choose to accept it.


By July 31, 2011, you will have a completed manuscript ready for a read-through (with feedback) by at least one of your writer-friends.


That gives every one of us fifty one days of good, old-fashioned LIFE to writeWriteWRITE or editEditEDIT, and guess what? It's possible! Let's boil it down to numbers (hello, accountant!). If you're shooting for 60,000 words, you're looking at 1,177 per day, rounded. That's, give or take, five pages assuming a bit of dialogue.


This exercise is a lot like, well, exercise. :) Put it on your schedule like it's an appointment or a job, because, let's be honest, it is a job. We're writers. We write. Someday, there will be money involved. But back to my example. I roll out of bed (literally) around 4:30 in the morning, sleepwalk to my 'workout room' by 5:00am, and pop in a TurboFire DVD. Six days a week. It's as much a part of my day as brushing my teeth, flossing, driving to work, or any of the other hundred things I do without thinking (well, I think a little when I drive to work). Why is writing any different? By 6:00pm, I need to be in front of my laptop with at least two hours ahead of me.


Discipline, drive, dedication, desire. And the results? Well, that's up to you.


Will you take the challenge? Talk to your writer-friends, get a group together, set your goal, and go write! You will NOT regret it! :)


-Marie