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The Attitude of a Challenge
A Lot Like What Is Needed To Write A Novel… Since I have been talking about the challenges the last two nights, and I got some great letters today from a few brave souls who are interested, I thought I would go over in general the attitude it takes to do a challenge like these. First off, you can never consider the writing “work” in any regard. Writing is play, what you come home from work to do. So part of the attitude about these challenges (or just writing in general) is take the word “work” away from it. You do the best you can and release and move on.…
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Some More Challenge Details
A Few More Details… For those interested in the challenges I announced last night, here are a few more details about them. Still lots of room in both challenges. First I want to stress the point of this is to help writers and have fun and get some novels and stories done. I also function as a form of cheerleader along the way to help you keep going. — For the novel challenge, you can start writing in September as long as you have no more than 50% of the novel done before October. — Short story challenge only goes two months, but the novel challenge goes to January 15th…
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New Story and Novel Challenge For You
I Am That Crazy… I am going to do it again. I am offering to be a first reader for some of you. I am basically done with all the reading from the summer challenges I did. Those challenges were simple and turned out to be fun for me. And the writers who participated said it challenged them to get writing done they might not have gotten done. And they all got the workshops. That was the idea. Push the writing and get me reading your work and also get workshops out of it. So I looked at my schedule for the next year and realized the only chance I…
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Time of Great Forgetting
Almost Over… We are almost at that moment when new writer’s wake up and sort of wonder what happened to all those great goals they had early in the year. What happened was family, gardens, summer vacations, travel, sports, and so on and so on. I had some fine writers who powered through the Time of Great Forgetting because of a challenge with me. I’m finishing up reading everything this coming week and it has been great fun to watch the writers return their focus back to writing after vacations, after life took them away. It was a honor to watch them all get through the challenges and everyone was…
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Store and Auction
PLUS WORKSHOPS… I spent my entire afternoon and evening at the south store and at the auction that happens in the same small mall as our south store once a month. Wonderful fun and I got some stunning stuff. Stunning meaning I paid little and will be able to sell for a lot of money. (grin). Made it home by 9 p.m. to cook dinner and then do e-mail, some reading, some introductions I needed to do for a project, and then workshop stuff. And speaking of workshop stuff… If you are signed up for the August online workshops, you should have gotten a letter from me tonight. And if…
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Novel Four: Finished. Challenge Made!
FOUR NOVELS IN ONE MONTH… Burn Card: A Cold Poker Gang Novel is printed and sitting on Kris’s spot for her to read when she gets time. I wrote four novels in one month while working a day job, getting rest, having a life, and so on. The only reason I could do this was because I have all the myths of writing that were jammed down my throat by non-writers out of my mind. I have always admired the old pulp writers, so over the years I have studied what they did, how they did it, and slowly incorporated what I learned into my own writing. I try to…
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Novel Four: Day Five
ONE DAY LEFT… (As a reminder, the overall monthly challenge is to write four novels. I also had an exercise goal that lasted for three quarters of the month and dropped away this last week.) One more day to finish this last book. Baring unforeseen crap, I think it will happen. We shall see. I can see the end now. The Day Went Like This… Got up at 1:30 p.m., did just a slight bit of e-mail and made it to the writer’s meeting only about forty-five minutes late. Stayed there in the meeting and then in my office doing workshop stuff until 7:30 p.m. Then the grocery store and…
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Novel Four: Day Four
TWO DAYS LEFT… (As a reminder, the overall monthly challenge is to write four novels. I also had an exercise goal that lasted for three quarters of the month and dropped away this last week.) Two more days after today to finish this last book. As I have saying all along, all I have to do is give this one the hours and I will be fine. So tonight I listened to myself and gave it the hours, from 11 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. Got some progress. (grin) And even more frightening, the book fits the cover. Yow, just noticed that. I love the subconscious. The Day Went Like This……
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Novel Four: Day Three
THREE DAYS LEFT (AND YES, COUNTING)… (As a reminder, the overall monthly challenge is to write four novels and gain distance every week on my step count, starting the first week at an average of 11,000 steps per day.) Three more days after today to finish this last book. If I give it the hours, I will get it done, no issue. But again tonight got distracted. No more distractions until Tuesday night. (grin) The Day Went Like This… Got up at 2:30 p.m., did an hour of e-mail and got to WMG around 4:30 p.m. just like yesterday. Then headed out to the south store and ended up working…
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Novel Four: Day Two
DISTRACTIONS, BUT STILL A GOOD DAY… (As a reminder, the overall monthly challenge is to write four novels and gain distance every week on my step count, starting the first week at an average of 11,000 steps per day.) Want to Hear Me Talk About Being Prolific? I know some of you come by here to watch this crazy challenge. But if interested, a great guy and writer by the name of Ryan Pelton does a blog about being prolific. And he was crazy enough to get me on his program. And, well, you know me, I’m blunt. So if you are interested in a fun bit of time with…