writing challenge -

29Nov 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

Writing a marathon

Nanowrimo pep talks have often compared the challenge to a marathon, and it makes a lot of sense. Writing a book in a month is about both writing quickly and having the energy to write every day or as close to every day as possible for an entire month. That's a long time when you've just begun your writer's path, and even for someone who's been writing for years it can be hard to stay productive all month long. But now the last 48 hours have hit, and it's time for a different kind of marathon, the one where instead of writing every day for a month you write as much as possible in one day. If you've got the day off and an unfinished novel, can you finish your…

10K in 4 Hours?

Nanowrimo, Novels, Workshops, Writing, Writing, Writing: The Process

At my best, when I took this challenge, I reached the 10K easily. The first two or three times I did it, I wrote a little over 12K in the four hours I had been assigned. This Saturday, I devoted four hours as fully to writing as I was able--and I wrote 8.9K. I'd already been feeling slow this year, but this challenge really brought it home for me. I just can't keep the pace I used to. So what changed? It's not that I became a slower writer. I still type just as quickly as I did then. My story is falling from my fingertips as easily as any novel ever has--maybe even more easily at times. What changed is not my typing speed or my level of inspiration.…

Growth is Only Accomplished Through Challenge

Blog Stuff, Goal setting, Writing

I've long believed that a good writer entertains and teaches others, but a great writer is always learning and growing themselves. For those who simply want to get a book published to share their story or just to see their name bound on a book, it's all right to stop learning after the first novel's finished. For those of us who want to be career writers, it's essential to keep learning and developing our craft throughout our lifetimes. A writer who stops growing and learning stagnates. Their novels become stiff and dull and lacking in surprises. People stop getting excited about their next novel, if it even gets published. When you accept that you've reached a good place in your writing and you feel satisfied with that, you stop achieving…