Hello, writers. Many thanks to mettle fatigue and strawbale for their fine diaries the last two weeks. Here’s the upcoming roster for hosting Write On! I’m expecting to be mostly-offline till the end of March so plenty more opportunities to host will offer themselves...
Jan. 5 James Wells
Jan. 12 mettlefatigue
Jan. 19 dconrad
Jan. 26. strawbale
February 2
February 9 SensibleShoes
February 16
Sunday, by the way, will be Write On!’s eighth birthday. It is old enough to join the Brownies. (Or the Cub Scouts. Not sure which.) It began on New Year’s Day, 2009 as a one-off diary about how if you’ve always wanted to write a book, January 1st was a great day to begin.
And now, this year, January 1st is a great day to begin the first annual
DailyKosWritingMonth
Unlike NaNoWriMo, DaKoWriMo involves a self-selected goal. You can aim to write x number of words, if you want. Or you can choose some other writing-related project that you’ve been putting off, like
- revising something you’ve already drafted
- organizing past fragments and deciding which ones to work on next
- research
- outlining
- submitting work for publication
- whatever else you have in mind
I have four goals I want to work toward this month, but realistically, they’re not all going to happen, so I’ve narrowed it down to two.
Below are the goals people have stated so far. Please let us know about your goal in the comments, and I’ll add you to the list.
AjaxFortune— finish 1st draft of a story
annieli— outlining new book project
bonetti— revising heavily more parts of Camp NaNoWriMo work
Crimson Quillfeather— 30k words on novel revision.
Deejay Lyn— final check of a rewritten novel, and revision of a 2nd novel
dconrad— 25,000 words
Eihenetu— revise 2 essays & submit for publication, & complete 2 chapters of memoir
mettle fatigue— will settle for accomplishing anything
MT Spaces— finish writing a review of Memoirs on Mime for All Time
not a lamb— 10k of science, 10k of fiction
quarkstomper— get back to writing “Ones You Didn’t Hear In Sunday School” series; finish the scene-in-progress in Dune project
Richard Cranium— write anything over 1000 words
RiveroftheWest— historical research, create an outline, revise current 39,355 words & write 25,000 more
SensibleShoes— add 35k words to work in progress and revise old manuscript
shaso— outline/worldbuild a fantasy novel
strawbale— finish the rewrite on first two sections
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker— revising unfinished sections of novel-in-short-stories
terry pinder— Reach 30k words in work-in-progress
traceycox— organizing unfinished work & writing 28 lines split between 2 sonnets.
Wee Mama- finish the science half of The Garden of the Soul
Please keep us updated on your progress toward these goals in the comment section over the course of the month. (Also, if the hosts could copy the above box, and then add progress updates in bold or italics after each person’s goal, that’d be great.)
Two Things I’ve Learned About Meeting Writing Goals
The first is perhaps rather obvious; you have to set out a clear time each day that you’re going to work toward the goal.
The second is that you need interim rewards. The rewards of writing, tangible or other, can be so far removed in time from the act of writing that it really helps to give yourself something to shoot for that’s a little closer at hand. At various times in the past I’ve reward myself every time I wrote 10k words, or every time I spent 40 hours revising. Some possible rewards:
- going out to lunch
- a chocolate eclair
- playing video games
- a trip to the library
I’d suggest picking something that seems like an affordable indulgence to you, and decide at what progress point(s) during the month you’re going to get the reward.
It really helps.
And now, tonight’s challenge is, of course
Tell us your goal for DaKoWriMo.
Write On! will be a regular Thursday night feature until it isn’t. Before signing a contract with any agent or publisher, please be sure to check them out on Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write and/or Writer Beware.