Monday, January 31, 2011

Book in 3 Month Challenge!

MOOD STATUS: "Relieved". Made great plotting progress Friday!

RECENT IPOD DOWNLOAD: "I'm Your Boogieman" by KC & the Sunshine Band


As stated above in my "mood status", I did make some awesome progress with my plotting on Friday. (Sorry if I wasn't around much then. I was under major pressure to finish)


WHY? Because some of my critique partners have decided to join in for a little BOOK IN THREE MONTH CHALLENGE. (Like the name suggests, you write a book in 3 months) So I was really sweating my plotting because we all agreed we would start Feb 1st. TOMORROW!

Sheesh, whose idea was that anyway? Oh wait. MINE!
But you see it all has to do with my New Year's Goals. And one of those goals was to finish writing two books this year.

I feel I'm up for the challenge now. I've calculated it out and (since I don't write on the weekends) I have to write a daily word count of 833 words to make my 50K goal book.


Actually, when you break it down to word count like that, it seems like a walk in the park. :)


And I figured if I'm sticking to my P90X regime for 3 months straight, I can easily stick to a writing schedule like that, too. So if all goes well with both, I'll have a toned body AND a manuscript before RWA Nationals.


Go, me!


How are you doing with your New Year's goals/resolutions? Have you stuck to them so far? Have you made any changes to achieve your goals?

29 comments:

Katie Ganshert said...

Go Jennifer! I'm writing a rough draft right now. My goal is to have it finished by the end of May so I can revise it over the summer and get another plotted.

Tabitha Bird said...

oh that is such a great idea. a book in three months. Can I join in at all or is it just for your group? I'd love to play along. I need some pushing to get this next book finished.

Joanne said...

Wow, that's quite a marathon! At least you've got the warm-up (plotting) done, and are ready to hit your stride ... Happy writing :)

Kerry Ann @Vinobaby's Voice said...

What an ambitious challenge--good for you!

I simply cannot imagine writing an entire book in three months. I would just love to finish the book I've been writing in that time...and survive my first boot camp class at my gym this morning.

A healthy body and a healthy mind--you can't ask for more than that. Good luck!

Laura Pauling said...

What a great challenge. And 833 words a day is totally doable! Good luck!

Wendy Paine Miller said...

I usually get a rough out in 4 months. I hope you nail this challenge!

Oh man, I knew you'd ask about resolutions. I haven't done well drinking more water. Haven't done well at all. But Feb. is my month to get back on track.
~ Wendy

Jennifer Shirk said...

YOu can do it, Wendy. I'll send a case of bottle water to your house. LOL

Rula Sinara said...

I promised myself I'd drink more water, but it takes leaving a 2L bottle out on the counter or I forget. I have no problem when it's hot out and I crave water, but in the winter I tend to forget.

I like setting daily word counts. It really does make it seem more manageable. Right now, I'm doing some final revisions before submitting and then I need to dive into plotting my next book.

Jessica R. Patch said...

Ah, P90x...I hate it, but I love it! Sometimes, I think I cannot do this Groucho Marx walk one more time! :)
I've been sticking to my goals. Some days are easier than others.

Sarah Forgrave said...

What a great idea to do a challenge with your CPs. Love it!

I'm debating whether I can push to get an entry done for the Genesis contest. I've been stuck in the plotting stage for a while now, and family is taking the #1 spot in my calendar right now. Maybe if I calculate out a word goal per day, it wouldn't be as bad as I think.

Diane said...

I didn't get past "I'm your Boogieman"...... Cool dude!!! :O)

Terri Tiffany said...

I love KC!!
And yes I am sticking to my plans to take it slow and easy with my current WIP. Hoping to finish revisions by June.

Carol Kilgore said...

Good going - and good luck! So far I've stuck to all my writing goals and they're still working. I will finish my current draft this week.

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Sounds like a great challenge. Right now I'm focused on finishing a manuscript and organizing various places around the house. We have to make more room by this summer!

BK Mattingly said...

I've done pretty well with my resolutions so far :) Good luck with yours!

Susan R. Mills said...

I'm doing okay with my goals for the new year. I have had to make some changes to accomplish what I want to accomplish, but things seem to be falling nicely into place. Good luck with the 3 month thing. You can do it!

Caryn said...

What a great idea! NaNoWriMo is too intimidating - all that writing in one month?!? - but somehow three months seems totally doable.

Good luck!

Kara said...

I did this with a couple of friends a long time ago and it really pushed me to write! Happy writing!

Unknown said...

We've got faith in you!!! You can do this! I love it when I create an idea and then all the sudden start feeling the pressure.

I always pull through but the beginning always messes with me!

WritingNut said...

Ooh.. this is a really neat idea. Good luck!! :)

Liz Mays said...

Wow, I'd buckle under the pressure in an hour. Good luck!!! You'll excel at this!

Carolyn V. said...

Wow! That is so so cool! Good luck!!! You can totally do it! =D

Walt Mussell said...

Jennifer, good luck with that. I'm trying to stay up on a 500 word per day goal.

Karen Lange said...

Yay! Cheering you on! Wish you all the best. Looking forward to seeing how it's going.
Blessings,
Karen :)

Anonymous said...

Good luck! Good for you :O)

Patti Lacy said...

Jennifer, I'm so proud of you.
Go, girl!

Um, no New Year's resolutions here.

Sometimes treading water counts as a victory!

Blessings,
Patti

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

that song brings back memories :)

Lindsey Edwards said...

WoW! Good luck, that sounds like quite a challenge! But you’re right about how easy a certain word count goal can seem when you break it down. I do that myself so it doesn’t seem so overwhelming and totally impossible and I try and stick to the goal. I write five to six days a week and aim for about a thousand each active day. I get really happy when things are going well and I beat my goal and on the days that it doesn’t quite work like that, I remind myself that I’ve made up those slow days during those ultra-productive days. :-)

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