NaNoWriMo Alternative Challenge: A Month in Reflection

Today marks the last day of November and the last day of my NaNoWriMo alternative challenge. My original goal was to complete 15,000 words on a work in progress novella called Fahrenheit, as well as to keep up with my two blogs and other writing. I also had a side challenge to write everyday and read everyday, something I had not been doing like I should the last several months. Did I reach my goals? Did I reach my goal of 15,000 words. Yes and No.

NaNoWriMo Challenge Success!

It's a week into November and the NaNoWriMo contest, or in my case the NaNoWriMo alternative challenge. Last week I was all ready to start writing and get the ball rolling, except when I actually sat down to write, I couldn't come up with two coherent words to put together. This puzzled me for a bit, because I had done NaNo (the official contest) and other unofficial NaNo challenges with no problem. After a few hours of no progress, I hung up my spurs and decided to get something out of the day and spent a much needed time with the Hubbie. The rest of the week I reflected on why I had trouble and came to the conclusion that I had been so focused on other things that I was incapable of doing the challenge, so I had to make the decision of whether I would bail on the contest or continue.

NaNoWriMo Alternative Challenge Fumble

It's November 1st are you ready to write? Apparently, I'm not. My big kick off has yielded a big fat ZERO. I sat down this morning to start writing on a story that I set aside the beginning of the Summer and realized why I set it aside in the first place. It has great characters, inner conflicts, but the setting is off and I can't seem to nail it down. So what does that mean for my story Fahrenheit, and the November challenge? Well, it has taught me I shouldn't wait to the day of a challenge to tackle a shelved story. I should have dusted it off last week or even a few days ago.

NaNoWriMo: An Alternative Challenge

It's almost that time again. November is just around the corner, which means it's NaNoWriMo again. Are you ready to pump out 50,000 words in 30 days? It's a great way to work on that novel or novella you've been putting off. It's a great challenge to see what you are made of and how far you can push yourself. I did the challenge in 2009 and managed to complete 50,000 words with two days to spare! It was fun, exciting, as well as, an eye-opener of my limitations and capabilities as a writer (when I started it, I really didn't think I would be able to make the 50,000 word goal, but I pushed through anyways). It taught me how to write without the inner editor, the creative benefits of writing everyday, how to organize my life so that I could write everyday and that I could push myself to reach any goal if I wanted it bad enough. It also taught me how exhausting writing 50,000 words in a month is and that I really don't need to do that again any time soon. One time was enough, but I highly recommend the challenge if you have not tried it before. If you want to learn more about the official NaNoWriMo check it out here.

Writing Challenge: A Challenge for All

Writing is something that I truly love to do, but even that love can falter by my personal shortcomings, so I find that in challenging myself to be better I can plow through some of my procrastination and self doubt. Every once in a while I like to come up with challenges for myself that gets me motivated, drives me forward, and expands my experience that much more.

Right now my challenge to myself is to write 50 articles for www.associatedcontent.com by the end of April. I started at the beginning of March and so far I have 12 articles and have a multitude of others in the works as well as a notebook full of ideas. I'm not sure if I'll reach my magical number of 50, but I've enjoyed the challenge so far. It will not only help me work on a deadline, but it will give me a library of articles to use to help promote my writing abilities, and with every word I write I become better at my craft. If you wish you help support my efforts go to my contributor page to check out a listing of articles.

I also want to throw out a challenge for all fellow writer's everywhere to actively challenge yourself to be better in your craft. You can only become better by doing. Whether it be submitting for a writing contest, writing articles for an online site, or some other self imposed challenge, it is important to constantly try to find ways to motivate yourself to be better. I implore you to take up a torch and let it shine!

Writing Tips for the New Year

In the last few months, I have dedicated a portion of my time to reading more about writing and looking at different things I can do to be a better writer. The following are things I found that have made a big impression on me on my journey of discovery, and wanted to share them with any who might share the same love of writing that I do. Enjoy!

Read, read, read

Reading is the fastest and best way for a writer to become better at his or her craft. I once heard somewhere that a truly avid writer is always in the middle of reading a book and will never be caught saying, “Um… well, I’m between books right now.” Read everything and anything, but mostly read books that are written by writers for writers. Below are a list of books that I have recently acquired that I have found to be treasure troves of information.