Sunday, December 01, 2013

The Decemberists Writing Challenge

So, I saw Mur Lafferty's podcast about the end of NaNoWriMo:  http://murverse.com/nanowrimo-podcast-day-30-the-end/

She didn't make the required number of words, but she (rightfully) didn't feel like a giant loser, either.  This got me thinking how I had blown off the 100 Day Writer Challenge on Twitter, and maybe I could STILL do some thing writerly for the end of the year, that I didn't have to spend the remaining days of 2013 in writing challenge Palookaville.

In a "pouring it on in the last moments" kind of way, I've devised my own kind of writing challenge, one for "wannabe" writers like me, who look at the people doing NaNoWriMo, and think, "Man, I wish I could do that!  Wish I had the time/skill/discipline/whatever that it takes."

I am one of those "scramble at the last moments" kind of people-- something always seems to get in the way.  But in the spirit of not feeling like a loser about it, this time, here is the challenge:  if, like me, you're a wannabe NaNoWriMo-er, but you feel it's too intimidating, how could you write that many words in a month, excuse dejour, etc, you can write in the last month of the year. 

And you get to set your own goal.  It could be so many words a day, it could be so many pages by the the end of the month--you are the one who knows how much time you have and how much writing you have in you.  But your comitment will be to writing something, it doesn't matter how little, every day of the month of December.

And I knew that The Decemberists have a song with lyrics that go, "I am a writer, writer of fictions/ I am the heart that you call home/And I've written pages upon pages/Trying to rid you from my bones."  So it seemed appropriate to name this The Decemberists Writing Challenge.  Hope they don't mind that I used their name.  Here's a video of the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4FErEVRlIU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Anybody wanna join me?  This is designed to be a no-pressure kinda thing.

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