Tuesday, April 19, 2011

ROW80

Have ya'll ever heard of ROW80?


It stands for A Round of Words in 80 Days and it's this really cool writing challenge/supportive network of authors encouraging one another to buckle down and write. Of course I had to join in, so here is my goal: To write a clean first draft of 25k words between now and June 23rd. Simple, huh? It may seem that way, but no.

It took me nearly a year to write Shimmerspell. It shouldn't take that long to write a novella. But see, when I first started on it, I was working on my MSCE in counseling psychology. So I trunked the story until graduation, finished it, rewrote it twice, and then changed the pov which resulted in a whole new story. So yeah, my process sucks and I never want to go through that again. I want to be a working writer and in the self-pub world, that means having an extensive backlist. I'll never be able to have that if I don't learn how to manage my time better. Even now, I'm more focused on promoting Shimmerspell than writing the next book. I have to get it together pronto and ROW80 might just be the best way to do it.

*Edited to add: I've decided to make my goal 22k instead of 25k. I think it makes way more sense to aim for the same word count as Shimmerspell.

9 comments:

  1. ROW80 is fantastic, I hope you enjoy it. :) Accounting for your time really helps figuring out your process and how much you can accomplish. Good luck!

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  2. That is a great idea and I understand the feeling. Even though you love to write, life gets in the way and takes you away from what you really want to do. I know it took me a while to write my first book,In Between Lies. Take school, work, and kids.. and writing?? BUT it can be done.. others have done it.. A fine line to tread, and I for one Kim, will join the challenge with you! :) So, to hold myself accountable, Im putting this out there...I plan to have at least 25K too (or more) for my next book by July.

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  3. Shawna, you are so so right about life getting in the way. It's difficult because I tend to become obsessed with certain things and won't make time to do anything else. I think coming up with a schedule for writing/marketing/etc. will help along with ROW80. I'm glad you're joining the challenge. Now we can keep each other motivated. :)

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  4. That sounds interesting, I didn't know about it. I'm going to check it out! If there's one thing I really need to internalize, is how to keep motivated and productive. Thanks!
    - EEV

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  5. Eev, I also think it would be a good way to get to know more established writers. I tend to be shy even online, so this would be one way to put myself out there while also becoming more productive.

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  6. It's a shame we can't just transfer the amazing ideas in ourr heads to the fully complete book. I find the pacing and wordcounts probably the most challenging parts.

    Good luck with this new Novella!

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  7. So nice to meet you through Goodreads, Kimberly. I also have a counseling psych background :)

    (sometimes I think it did more harm than good...:P)

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