Preparing for "The Challenge"

Okay, now that Kir has made a public statement she's up for the National Novel Writing Month challenge (writing a rough draft of a novel of 50,000 words in 30 days) I begin "boot camp" and preparations for the battle!

I've done the math - 50,000 words in 30 months is the equivalent of:
1,667 words/day (2,500 words/day if I take weekends off, but that's too scary!)
178 pages of manuscript, double-spaced, 12 pt type
Two 30-minute sessions of "rapid writing" per day
10 extra pounds at the end of it all
30 minutes extra on the elliptical or at the gym to erase the added 10

I'm collecting my arsenal - a new folder in my documents to hold the draft, fruit gushers to ease the anxiety, the text number for a highly recommended shrink, and speed dial to all my closest family and friends who already think I'm nuts for doing this.

I've got the idea -- check! I've got to visit Kir's recommended link and start thinking through the story more.

The question remains...can she do this? Can she find 50,000 words in a month to tell her story?

Time will tell.

Are YOU up to the challenge? Can YOU write 50,000 words in 30 days?

Anne

Thanks to Kir's post below, I decided to put something else up about National Novel Writing Month since my original post is about to go into blog archive heaven.

Just a little more than a month to go! Kir makes a good point -- it may be difficult to do something like this in a genre you already write in. We all have our processes we use to tackle our work, so this is a good opportunity to try something you never have before to see what happens! Who knows?

For example, I am writing a middle school novel/chapter book as my one-month, 50,000 word challenge. The idea for the book came to me a couple of months ago. I haven't had much time to do anything about it, so the idea is fresh. I'm going to use Kir's guide to think it through just before the November 1st kickoff. And then, I am just going to write and see what happens.

Let me know if anyone else is interested. This is something fun and challenging, and who knows -- you may produce a really great draft that can become one of your best publishable works!

Anne

Novel in a month challenge

Hi everyone,

Thanks, Anne, for posting so many times to the alumni blog, even when none of the rest of us seem to be alive. We're here, and I read your challenge with interest. I'll admit, though, that when I told my family about it at dinner (and said that I intend to take up the challenge), everyone but Jared groaned.
Since then, I've been thinking about writing topics, because I don't think I want to write a historical novel in a month, especially one that I haven't begun to research yet. Then one of my students posted this link on a blog we put together for our Creative Writing Club. It outlines a plan for sketching out a novel in 30 minutes. Anyone who's game for the challenge might want to check it out.
Happy writing!

Encouraging Future Writers

When I ventured out on my own this year, I thought a lot about how I would give back. This has always been very important to me, and for the last fifteen years I've worked for companies that gave me lots of opportunity to do good things in the community. Now, on my own, I wanted to make a commitment to keep up the practice.

I am focused on sharing the joys (and hardships) of writing with young people. This practice started when I began volunteering in my children's classrooms and conducting writers' workshops.

Today I visited the classroom of my WestConn MFA colleague, Maeve, and spoke to her students about writing and what it's like to be a writer. I shared with them how important writing skills were in advancing my career, how I decided to go back to school and get an M.F.A., and some examples of the types of writing I've done, from promotional games on the back of cereal boxes to magazine articles and ezines. The experience was wonderful for me, and I hope for the kids too.

One message I deliver is that writing skills are something that will help differentiate you in life, no matter what you choose to do for a living. The other is that writing gives you a voice and a way to express yourself that can be powerful and empowering.

I've written before that there's many ways to stretch ourselves with our writing that goes beyond publishing. Getting out and encouraging young people to write the best they can is one.

Anne

TravelingMom.com

News on the publishing front. My essay, Ah Wilderness, which you may remember from my thesis, has been posted in 3 parts on TravelingMom.com, an ezine designed to help make life's travels a little easier. Along with the article check out the sidebar, Hints for Camping With Another Family, written at the request of the editor.

I've also been invited to become the 'resident sanity expert' on TMOM. I'll be writing the weekly Sanity section of the ezine, starting the week of September 29.

Finally, my essay, BabyMaking 101, which I read at the Literary Festival has been accepted for the literary journal, MotherVerse, November issue. The editor has also asked me to write an essay for an upcoming anthology, which I'll be squeezing out in the next couple of weeks!

Apologies for the double posting (in the regular blog and this one) but not sure who reads what and when.

Anne

Authonomy, from Harper Collins

The following form Springwise newsletter, Sept 18 (http://www.springwise.com/weekly/2008-09-18.htm)

Authonomy is a new community that invites unpublished and self-published authors to post at least 10,000 words of a fiction or non-fiction manuscript for visitors to read online.

Visitors can review and recommend books, and can showcase their five favourite submissions on a virtual bookshelf that's viewable from their profile page. Authonomy keeps track of the number of recommendations a book receives and ranks writers accordingly. Readers are also ranked, based on how good they've been at spotting books that make it to the top of Authonomy's charts. To help authors make it from computer screen to printed book, once a month the top five books are delivered to the desks of an editorial board made up of international HarperCollins commissioning editors.

The website is free to use both for readers and writers, and HarperCollins hopes the wisdom of the crowds will help them unsource potential hits that individual editors or agents might otherwise miss, or just don't have the time to read. Needless to say, the site could also prove to be a good marketing tool once manuscripts are actually published, since authors won't have to build a fan base from scratch.


http://www.authonomy.com/about.aspx

Podcast Interviews

I recently discovered how fun it is to conduct and create podcast interviews! While my first interview with Lindsey Pollak (about Gen Y's role in the new economy and the importance of internships in today's job market) is not yet 'live', I am already looking for new interviewees.
I conduct the interviews by phone, so it doesn't matter where they live.

Any ideas on who I might interview next? Who or what would you like to hear more about?
I have my own list of folks, but would love your feedback as well.

Hope you are well and happy. Are you? Let's get an update grads! What have you been up to?

In Need of Blog Viagra?

Hi everyone - is it me or is this alumni blog in need of a "lift?" I've just noticed that there's not a lot of activity here. I'm wondering if there's a way to make this something value-added for all of us...or maybe everyone is just happy with the way it is?

Curious as to your thoughts.
Anne