Feet to the Fire...

It's a funny thing when a challenge is thrown down. I just can't resist. I think it's my competitive nature - not against other people but against myself. Last week the RWAPro loop, or at least a few of the  members, created what we're calling the 50K challenge. Basically the challenge is to have a manuscript ready for pitching at the RWA National Conference in Nashville this summer. Some of us are in revisions, some starting from scratch, some in the middle. Me?

I decided to join in - and do a full 50,000 words. Yeah, a little bit crazy since there are (basically) 110 days til conference. But I created a spreadsheet, did a little math and realized that to hit my 50K goal I need to write about 500 words each day. Now, that doesn't include rewrites or revisions or getting chapters to my CPs, but really is 500 words a day so hard? Some days I'm sure it will be. Some days not so much. I have a basic outline already for the wip. I've set aside time very day for writing, revising and sending off to the CPs (not that they've seen anything yet because I want to get just a little bit farther into the ms before I send them something that may totally change if it doesn't work.

Where am I so far? Actually ahead of schedule. I'm hit 3,000 words yesterday, about 750 words ahead of my schedule. I like being ahead. Yesterday I even did a little 'process' stuff - created my music playlist (something I'd put off doing for this wip til now) - did a little more plotting, added in a couple of twists that (I'm hoping) will really put some oompf into the book.

It's fun, this challenge. I want to win...not to beat the other writers, who are in it. I want to beat my own goals and deadlines. And it's fun knowing I'm not the only one pushing for a really hard goal.

What about you guys? Do you like having deadlines? Being in competition? Or do deadlines (even self-imposed) and competitions shut you down?

Comments

  1. Congrats on taking up the challenge, Kristi. Imposing deadlines on ourselves definitely helps. I have a Scottish proverb taped to my computer: "What may be done at any time will be done at no time." Scheduling daily writing time and setting goals for finishing is important. I know this but fail to do it much of the time. Life just gets in the way a lot. And no one except other writers understands our urgency to write. If we had a publisher waiting with check in hand, it would be a different story. Unpubbed writers get no respect. We have to respect ourselves and keep our noses to the grindstones.

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  2. deadlines work for me. a challenge, a deadline and a bag of orville redenbachers, and there's no stopping me! =)

    best of luck and looking forward to the story!

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  3. I love a word challenge, so easy to do nowadays with Twitter. Really gets my fingers focussing on the job when I know someone else is typing away.

    It fires my competitive spirit, I don't want to 'lose'!

    Looking forward to reading your new work :-)

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  4. Go get'em Kristi. I'd love to do this, but I bog down--as per a previous post by one of our own--at Chapter 6 regardless of what I try to do. Keep us up on how it's going.

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  5. You go, girl!
    I always do better with a challenge!
    You do, too!

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  7. thanks, y'all! I'm having fun with it and doing some 'other' stuff, too -- like the music playlists and some free-plotting (my cross between free writing and actual plotting -- which, let's face it, usually makes me jump around with the heebie-jeebies)...jut trying to keep everything fresh and new. If that makes any sense at all. :)

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  8. Self-imposed deadlines to nothing for me, because I'll be the only that knows I didn't meet it. If someone else challenges me, that's another ball of wax. That's when I buckle down.

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