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Winter Writing Challenges - Update


In January I posted about a host of writing challenges I meant to try. To my surprise, I actually managed to complete them all, and then some.

  • RSS's Winter Writing Festival: This writing challenge spans from January 10 - the end of February each year. The goals-posts are flexible, so you can tailor it to whatever best motivates you.  In past years I've set word count goals for this challenge. Since I was working a round of edits (Draft 2 of the most recent Nano MS), this year I set a challenge to myself to write for one hour each day.  To my surprise, I did it. I did not finish the whole draft during this time, but it set me on my way to getting there. 
  • #20Kin5days: This was my first time participating in this challenge. While the benefit of the WWF is to help establish a writing routine, 20Kin5days pushed me in new ways. By the end of this week-long challenge, I had a 15,000 word zero-draft plus another solid 6,000 words towards my Nano draft 2. Before this challenge, I thought that writing for half an hour at a time was the best I could do. Now I know that I can sit and write for one, two, even three hours straight. All I needed was to know that I could. 
  • Author Mentor Match: This one is not a challenge but a competition. I finished my second draft of my Nano WIP and entered. I didn't get a single MS request. That stung, for a couple days. Despite the disappointment, trying for this challenge got me through the second draft of my MS, and lit a fire under me to figure out how to make it something someone would want to read more of.  
  • RevPit: Near the tail end of the AMM entry window, I learned of RevPit, another competition with an entry window a month and change out. After only a couple days of sitting on my AMM grief, I dove in to preparing for this contest. I got feedback from a couple critique partners as well as a couple editors (I have wild luck with raffles) and dove in to draft 3 of my current MS. I managed to wiggle in two whole drafts in the six weeks between the two contest submission windows. I even made an aesthetic! I went in believing that if I could get just one partial request, it would all have been worth it. Between the two contests I learned so much, about voice and tension, and made a host of new writer friends! And yet, though the contest decision period is still technically open, my inbox (and spam!) are heart-achingly empty. I let myself grieve for a weekend before moving on.  I have more to work on, clearly, and I'm not ready to give up. Which brings me on to the the next subject... Spring plans! 
After the whirlwind of writing competitions that occurred between September and April, the summer schedule (at least as far as I can see) looks pretty quiet. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, as summer would be full of travel, weddings, beach days, and barbecues. This year, it looks like we're all going to be spending a lot more time alone than we had planned for.  So, I'm hoping to use the time to continue down my writing path.  
  • In a few short weeks, a new #20kin5days begins.  After pushing myself at a grueling pace through three drafts over 4 months, I'm giving myself a break.  I'm spending the time winding down my non-fiction TBR, and watching silly TV. Giving my brain a chance to relax, and to think.  By the time that May 15 rolls around, I'm hoping to have a new idea to run with. 
  • While zero-drafting whatever catches my fancy in May, I'm planning to shoot my current MS out to a couple beta readers. Hopefully by June I'll have a better idea of what I'm missing in the current draft. With that, I should have plenty of time to polish it up for next fall's round of contests. Who knows, maybe I'll even query! 
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