#FirstDraft60 2016 starts 10/02/16 — A Writing Challenge!
Starting Sunday, October 2, I’m challenging myself—and y’all—to an audacious project: to plan, prep, and write a first draft in 60 days. A few of you followed along when I tried this last year (and we all fizzled out there at the end). This year, however, I have a little more motivation to get this done—I told my agent I’d have a completed manuscript draft to him by the end of the year so he can start shopping it around in 2017. This year, unlike last year, I’ll be working on an existing idea, breaking it down, tearing it apart, and rebuilding/rewriting it. So, hopefully having that head start will give me the impetus I need in order to be successful this go-round.
In case you missed it last year, here’s what the FirstDraft60 challenge is all about:
Let’s Complete a First Draft Together in 60 Days
For those who have completed National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo/NaNo) in the past, this is old hat for you. But there are so many of us who think about it, maybe try for a few days, and then give up. Usually because we haven’t adequately planned ahead of time, not just for the story, but for everything that life can throw at us in the course of a month of marathon writing.
So I’ve decided to take a systematic approach, inspired in part by the book Book in a Month by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. To that end, I have planned out my blogging/writing calendar for the entire 60 days (click the image to the right to open the .pdf version of the tentative calendar for 2016).
You may have already done some/most of the prep work we’ll be working on for the month of October—you may have even started writing your story already. And that’s okay. This will give you a chance to review all of it and make some tweaks and revisions to your characters, story idea, setting, etc., in order to get ready for our writing marathon in November. Or there may be that one story you’ve always wanted to try writing, but just have’t yet taken the time. Now would be a great opportunity. What’s sixty days in the grand scheme of things?
Yes, I know that NaNo is coming up in November. I won’t be officially participating, but I did plan this to coincide with it. If you plan to participate in NaNo, feel free do your prep work along with us in October but then switch over to the NaNo site on November 1. Or stick around with us. Or do both. It’s up to you.
I hope you’ll not only follow along, but jump in with your responses, examples of your work, questions, ideas, suggestions, and tips in the comments every day. If you need help brainstorming an idea or figuring out a plot point, please post. Yes, the comments here are public, but I moderate them closely to keep this a safe and encouraging place for writers to communicate with each other.
So what do you say? Are you in?
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KayeDacus.com 
So excited about this!!!
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I’m in! I work long days, so hopefully I can keep up, but I really need the challenge to get my next novel underway.
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