Posted by jbrayweber Jan 26 2011, 10:12 am in Winter Writing Festival, word count, word count tools, writing challenges
Writers know that there is great satisfaction in meeting and exceeding word count goals. It’s an accomplishment, no matter how big or small, that makes us feel good about our progress. Every word is one more word than the last and brings us closer to the manuscript’s final words ‘the end’.
When participating in challenges such as the Rubies’ Winter Writing Festival or NaNoWriMo where word count benchmarks are essential, an author can waste time figuring up how far they’ve come or how far they’ve got to go.
That’s one reason I enjoy using tools that help me keep track of my progress visually. My choice of tracking device is called Write Track, created by fellow writing daredevil, David Gale. The Write Track is a tracking system custom fit to any author’s need. The writer creates a pre-planned schedule based on their current goals, even as those goals fluctuate. This super easy program has a bar graph to show progress and a calendar which breaks up word counts for each day of the schedule.
Let’s use the Winter Writing Festival as an example. I proposed that I would write 500 words everyday of the challenge. That’s 17,500 words total. Each calendar day will show my goal to be set at 500 words. If I write 1000 words instead of the target 500 words, the calendar adjusts my minimum word count goals lower for the remaining days left in the challenge and I watch my graph grow.
But wait! What if I don’t meet my word count goal? Life happens. The washing machine breaks and a whole day is wasted cleaning up and waiting on the plumber. Or a child gets the flu. Or the MIL makes a surprise visit. Poof! The day is gone. The word count is ka-put. No worries, my friend. The Write Track calendar will readjust the minimum word count, spreading it out over the rest of the challenge to meet your targeted goal. How cool is that?
Plus, you can give each day a weight. Say Gerard Butler has asked me to be his date for a fancy-smancy movie premier in Cannes next Saturday. (Shh – Let’s not tell DH.) I’ll not be meeting my word count that day. (A girl can dream, right?) Instead of writing 100% of my word count for Saturday, I can give that day a weight of 0%. If I know in advance certain days will not receive my full attention, I can assign those days a weight of 25%, 50%, 75%, or whatever. The tracker will adjust the word count totals for the rest of the calendar accordingly. This makes managing goals guilt-free when daily goals are not met.
The bottom line? The Write Track can be tailor made for any author. With the Winter Writing Festival, accountability of taking on the challenge, and the encouragement from the Rubies and other writing peers, having a tool that tallies word count progress can make reaching goals easier and more gratifying.
Hop on over to the Write Track website, explore the site, and give it a shot.
Posted by Gwynlyn MacKenzie Jan 17 2011, 12:01 am in craft, Winter Writing Festival, writing tips
When judging contests, you see good stories, poor stories, good stories with poor writing, and poor stories with good–sometimes excellent–writing.
Fixing poor stories, no matter how well written, is beyond a single blog post. Giving writers whose skills need honing a leg up, however, is doable.
Writing mechanics are essential. If yours aren’t up to snuff, get a book on grammar (Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style is a pocket-sized powerhouse) and another on basic English composition (used book stores overflow with freshman English Comp texts.)
Mechanics can’t do the job alone, however. Without craft, mechanics are as useless as a limosine in the Grand Canyon–looks good, runs great, but going anywhere? Not likely.
Posted by Gwynlyn MacKenzie Jan 13 2011, 12:01 am in Winter Writing Festival, writer's advice, writer's health, writer's life
It’s the dead of winter in the northern hemisphere, the armpit of summer in the southern, perfect for being indoors working on our manuscripts. The coffee or tea is ready, hot or iced, and no major holidays loom to distract us.
It’s what my sweetheart and his college buddies called, “The Dark Ages.”
Posted by Gwynlyn MacKenzie Jan 4 2011, 12:01 am in accountability, craft, Winter Writing Festival, writing challenge, writing tips, writing tools
SQUEEEEEE–eek!
I don’t know about you, but I find accountability not only daunting but scary.
The impetus a writing challenge provides is immeasurable, compelling you to work harder, be more disciplined, set goals. However, the whole idea of accountability, of being exposed, is enough to make you forget six weeks of productive writing and dive under the covers until spring. What if you fail? Disappointing yourself is bad enough, but in a public venue? *shudder* Worse, since you’ll set your pace, choose your daily or weekly objectives, there’s no one to blame, no faceless entity who doesn’t understand your life. It’s all on you.
You can always pass.
That insidious voice you’re hearing is the voice of self-doubt. It’ll derail you if it can, stifle every dream, every ambition if you let it.
No one will know.
Posted by admin Dec 20 2010, 12:01 am in Winter Writing Festival
 Craving some serious writing productivity this winter? Need to clean up the mess you left in the second half of your Golden Heart full entry? Want to finally, finally fix that pesky plot hole in your WIP? The Rubies have your back!
Through the bleakest part of winter—January 10, 2011 thru the end of February—the much-anticipated Ruby Winter Writing Festival will be here to keep your creative fires burning, with support, advice, inspiration, frequent live chats, fun prizes for participants, and as much virtual hot-chocolate (or virtual champagne or virtual cookies) as you please. ‘Cause nobody’s Muse can resist a party!
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