When I first started writing all I had was a story, one that didn’t even know it wanted to be a novel, much less that I would have to be the one to write it. Like many newbie writers, I turned to the internet for guidance in my quest to get it written. Fortunately for me, I landed on a blog called Write a Book with Me and there, in the company of writers of all levels, moderated by the witty and passionate Holly Lisle, I managed to land my novel safely on the runway of my finished first draft.
The central concept behind Write a Book with Me was that writing a smallish amount of words consistently over time produces big results. A novel is a huge project, but when broken down into smaller parts-a few hundred words here, a scene there-it can be completed in a timely fashion. Holly Lisle did her writing in five hundred word increments each day, writing five days a week, and suggested this pace to intermediate writers. Beginning writers could jump in at two hundred and fifty words a day and still expect results. But regardless of which goal they chose, participants would report their word counts daily on the blog and add a few notes about the what they wrote – perhaps what kind of mood they were in when they wrote, and any breakthroughs or milestones along the way.
We finished novels this way, lots of them. As each writer crossed the finish line the rest of us cheered. It was a great group to be involved with.
I am proud and a bit nervous to announce that I have taken the helm of this project, which was one of the seminal events in my very new writing endeavor. I certainly can’t claim to have gained enough wisdom at this point to give the kind of advice Holly Lisle did in her version of this project, but what I can do is try to round up writers so that we can keep each other company on our novel writing adventures. I’m hopeful that it may become the kind of experience for others as it was for me, where I saw writers confront obstacles and overcome them, learning from their mistakes, as they might learn from mine.
So, if you’re reading this, and you’re a writer, take a peek at Write a Book with Me and see what we’re up to over there!
(Image courtesy of Felipe Wiecheteck @ stock.xchng)
One thought on “Write a Book with Me”
Comments are closed.