What more insiration than success

Cross-posted from my own blog. Sorry for the replication - but I think there is nothing more inspriring that seeing one of our own's success.

Fellow 50K participant, Anna Hackett, has her debut Silhouette Nocturne Bites out in a few days time.

I'm very excited read this story and have already pre-ordered my copy.


Description

They call him the Savage Dragon: Rordan Sarkany, knight of the Order of the Dragon, charged with tracking and destroying those who let their dragon blood turn them into beasts. In the wilds of Hungary, Rordan hunts one such creature—along with fellow warrior Kira Bethlen.

Both Rordan and his inner dragon desire Kira...and she can't resist Rordan's dangerous allure. But even if she succumbs to their attraction, can she ever forgive him for slaying her beloved brother?

Buy your copy of July 1 release of Savage Dragon here. Read more about Anna at www.annahackettbooks.com/

Day 26/30

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.

By Richard Bach, author of Jonathon Livingstone Seagull.

This is what you need to remember right now. Don’t quit!

There are still 4 more days after today to get as many words down as you can. And two of them are the weekend. You can do it. Look at your goal posts. Work out what needs doing and go for it.

In the hope of keeping you motivated, I’ve listed some quotes that I like. Maybe there will be something in there to inspire you…

If you only do what you know you can do – you never do very much.

Try and fail. But don’t fail to try.

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.

Always look on the bright side of life.

Don’t wait – the time will never be ‘just right’.

The most painful thing to experience is not defeat but regret.

What is your favourite saying?

To finish, I’d like to leave you with a quote from the movie Galaxy Quest:

Never give up! Never surrender!

The light at the end of the tunnel...

It appears many of us started the challenge with a bang, but hit a few health or personal hurdles midway through. From the posts below, you can see viruses and injury were rife amongst the participants.

I'm guessing most of us are now back on track, and can see the light at the end of the dark, winding, 30-day-long tunnel. Here's a treat for those of you who can see the light... he's waiting for you at the end!



*Drool*. I digress... How's the brain going? Body doing okay? Characters well formed (like the hottie above)? Storyline makes sense? Or is it a train wreck, and you'll just keep ploughing on to reach the magical word count figure you're targetting? Let us know if your morale is low, high, or somewhere in the middle.

I know my word counts won't be that hot, but my editing is going great guns. I realise I have A LOT of work to do, but it's something I WILL achieve. I'm determined to edit as much as I can over the next six days so I can reach my target, and if my word count improves, that's fabulous. The fact I'm taking the challenge with other like-minded people is enough to give me that extra boost.

So keep plugging away, and keep working towards the light. We'll have a little celebration at the end, and I promise to bring Angel-o (as I've know called him) to help celebrate our achievements.

May your words fly like the wings of an angel, and your characters soar to the heavens (soooo cheesy, but it gives me a laugh!).

Have a great day,
:-) Mon

I've only got a week?

Right, we've talked about pushing yourself through, we've talked about cheating your way to the end, now let's talk about your writing.
It's not a Hugo Award winner right now is it?
Can I tell you a secret?
Even Hugo award winners first drafts are crap, with the exception of probably a couple of geniuses. Every writer will tell you their first draft is really them sorting out where the story is going, who's in it and what big things happen. It's not until the first or second draft that they start liking what they've written.
So here's the deal. Turn off your inner editor. I know you've got one, sitting on your shoulder every time you write telling you that that word is spelled wrong, you're splicing that comma, who in the world would say that?
It happens to every writer. The successful ones don't listen to it, they just keep the words flowing out, and if they get stuck they put a little asterix or something saying that "XX happens here" and then skip that section and work on the next. If there's a fact you need to look up, don't. Instead just leave yourself a comment (and you can do this in word by going up to Insert on the toolbar, then scroll down to comment, and it will insert a comment right there. You can then say "find out who the heck developed the carbon/lithium battery" and go back to getting your story down.
The crux of the matter is, you need to get down the skeleton of your story, you can add embellishments galore when you edit, but for now, get it down.
TURN OFF your Inner Editor, write like the wind Bullseye!

The Struggle to The End

Here we are, the final leg of the challenge has begun, I know a lot of us are struggling to reach our goals. If I’ve learnt anything this year during the challenge, that would be, that being an author/writer is bloody hard work. Okay, I knew that before, but this challenge has really tested me this year. I’ve had times during other challenges where life has stepped in and tried to take over my writing time, but this year it stepped in and brought it all to a stop a couple of times. SO we have a chose, we can sit back and think where the hell has the time gone? Or we can think, there is still time to get there. I refuse to give up. We have eight days left and I will do all in my power to push as much writing as I can in those eight days.


If it means writing right up until 11.59pm on June 30 I will! It’s been done before, just ask Diane. If you want inspiration on how to tackle a challenge, look to our own Diane Curran. I remember the first year we did NaNoWriMo together, she wrote long into the night. We had a cheer squad cheering her on with each milestone she made until she reached the 50ks. And you know what? Not once did I hear her say, “I can’t do this.”

I’m not saying you fail if you don’t reach your target, no one fails as far as I’m concerned, but at least give it a go. At least continue to believe in yourself and in what you are capable of doing.

So remember it’s not over until the clock strikes 12am on July 1.

Have a great week and happy writing.
Sandie

Don't leave the week unwritten...

I've been seeing emails today from 50/30 participants to say they've written zero words this week. Life has got in the way, people have been sick.

These are all valid excuses not to write. If you so choose. Because it is still a choice.

I am challenging each and every one of you NOT to end the week with zero words. Take half an hour, take ten minutes and write.

Add to your word count.

Don't look at that huge word goal that is looming in front of you, and give up now. Just write.
A chapter. A page. A paragraph. A sentence.

Move forward.

You will feel better for it. You will have achieved something for the week. Not your daily goal. Not your weekly goal. But something.

You need to show your life that you are in charge. That you still choose to be a writer. That you still choose to write. No matter what it throws at you.

At a conference a couple of years ago, Anna Jacobs said 'Nobody gives you the time to write. You have to steal it.'

Steal it now.

The week is not yet over. Don't leave the week unwritten... Write!