#FirstDraft120 DAY 120: WE MADE IT THROUGH!!!! (Timer Tuesday) | #amwriting #1k1hr #2017goals
It’s the last day of January, which means it’s the last day of the FirstDraft120 challenge!
Woohoo! Yippee! Yay! Way to go! Well done!
Pat yourself on the back and celebrate. Because whether or not you finished a first draft, I know you did more in the last 120 days (well, 122 days, technically) than you would have done without the challenge. I know I did!
IT’S (also) TIMER TUESDAY!
Yes, it’s the last day of the challenge. But that doesn’t mean that you should stress yourself out trying to get in more words than you’d usually be able to do in one day. Treat today like any other writing day. And since it’s Tuesday, that means scheduling a one hour/1,000-word writing sprint (or a timed one-hour writing-work sprint if you’re not doing word count).
What time will you be doing your 1k1hr sprint today?
Just because today is the end of the FD120 challenge doesn’t mean it’s the last day you get to write ever again in your life. In fact, you should treat today like a first day.
Make today the first day of your 2017 Writing Goal Challenge.
And I’m even going to set that goal/challenge for you: spend an average of at least one hour per day (seven hours per week) on “writing-related work.” What do I mean by that? Well, for example:
- Brainstorming new story ideas.
- Writing out character sketches for new character ideas.
- Character casting.
- Working on a Story Bible (or several) for new or existing story ideas.
- Writing (yes, actual story writing!).
- Research—settings, locations, time periods, events, other story-related info, etc.
- Creating a story calendar (timeline of events that happen in the story).
- Outlining/plotting a new or existing story idea.
- Organizing/reorganizing your writing-related lists.
- Storyboarding.
- Re-reading what you’ve already written and making notes for revision and for future scenes.
- Writing a synopsis, query letter, proposal, one-sheet/pitch-sheet, or practicing for a face-to-face pitch session at a conference.
What are some other writing-related-work tasks you can think of that you can do for an hour each day, in order to keep your creative pump primed and to give you momentum to actually write your (current/next) manuscript?
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KayeDacus.com 
Thanks to the challenge, I am 600 words or so away from finishing my novel’s first draft. I didn’t start working on it during FirstDraft120, but I’d been struggling to finish it for months and this challenge gave me the push I needed to see it through. I’m thrilled to finish, eager to refine it, ready to tackle submitting it, and excited to write something new. Thanks for the inspiration, the tips, and the positive outlook. This experience was really productive for me!
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