Writing Wednesday (4) - Q1 goals

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Welcome to Writing Wednesday, my weekly feature where I discuss my works in progress, project ideas, editing struggles, or anything else related to the world of writing. Feel free to grab my button and post your own thoughts on writing! Leave a link to your post in the comments and I'll stop by.

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After seeing nothing but reading challenges, I finally stumbled across a writing challenge! Hosted by ShadowKissed, it was designed for folks who can't fit NaNoWriMo in their busy schedules. Instead the goal is to write 10,000 words per month, every month in 2011, for a final manuscript of 120,000 words. Here's their official blurb:

Ever heard of NaNoWriMo? Did you sign up, get really enthusiastic about it, then fall flat on your face half way through realising there was no way you could cough up 50,000 words in a month? I know I have.

I still really love the idea behind that though, but know it is really hard for me to juggle with my real life commitments. So Mandy and I came up with the awesome year to spread it out over a year… and make it 120,000 words, rather than 50,000. The goal is to clock in at 10,000 words written per month.

Now, we are starting a little late on this, so if you want to join up, you’ve got until the 20th of Jan 2011 to let us know you’re going to join us on our quest to complete a 120,000 manuscript in 12 months. It can be any genre, any writing style – just let your imagination run wild. It’s more about getting a finished story, because that is the hardest part of writing.

To officially sign up, just email me (Katie) — admin@shadowkissed.net before the 20th of Jan to let us know you’re participating. We’re starting up a thread on the forum where you will be able to find support and suggestions and other cool stuff.

I look forward to you joining us on our 2011 writing adventure, and good luck!

I need challenges like this to keep me motivated. If I don't have a deadline looming, I will never complete anything. So I think it's time I set some concrete goals for this year.

The official NaNoEdMo starts in March, so I think I will do a warm-up and set a goal to log 20 hours of editing in February. NaNoEdMo requires 50 hours in March, which seems like more hours than I will have time for, but I will give it the old college try. I need to quit ignoring my manuscript and do something with it.

To recap:

January 2011 - Write 10,000 words.
February 2011 - Write 10,000 words. Edit manuscript for at least 20 hours.
March 2011 - Write 10,000 words. Complete NaNoEdMo.

I'll evaluate my progress and set some new goals for the second quarter of 2011 later on. Until then, I'd best get writing!