Yes, I know this is March, but hear me out.
January seems to be my down month. The most I get done is
organizing for a new year of writing. Other than that, the lethargy from a busy
year previous sets in.
The best part about January, is looking forward to February.
February you say? Are you nuts? The coldest, dreariest month of the year. What
do you have to look forward to. Yeah, yeah…there is Valentine Day. And as a
romance writer that should be exciting. And yes, it is. I love valentine
chocolates in red heart-shaped boxes. And I love to write romantic stories.
But… The reason I LOVE and look forward to February… Or more
specifically—the end of February is…
Every year, since 2016, I have participated in the New
Jersey Romance Writers’ February 30K writing challenge. Thirty thousand words
in twenty-eight days—what was I thinking? Or one may edit. Instead of counting new written words, one may count every
three edited words as one written word. Something for everyone who wants to
participate. By the time you read this I will have completed the 2023
challenge, My head will be spinning, and my energy depleted. But the excitement
will carry me through until February of 2024
The first two years I worked full time at a job seventy-five
miles away, so my time was extremely limited. I opted to challenge myself to
ten thousand words that year and fifteen thousand the following year. Both
years I exceeded that goal by a little bit. And…I was so proud of myself.
Emboldened in the third year, I went for the gold. And for
the last five years I have exceeded my thirty-thousand words incrementally.
The fun part of this is the participants are not in competition with each
other. We all cheer each other on each day. Whether we have a good or bad day
of writing…or with life itself. As writers, we all know there are days, weeks,
even years when life seems to get in the way of our passion to write.
There are basically no rules, except to report in daily (if
you can) and the “never say the word ONLY” rule. As in, I ONLY wrote fifty
words today, because my kid was sick, the dog escaped, the laundry needed
doing, or whatever other excuse or life’s daily needs get in our way of our
precious writing time. Every single word is to be celebrated, whether or not we
meet the daily goal of 1072 words. If you write one word, it isn’t “I ONLY
wrote…” It is call a friend or report on the loop - “YAY, I wrote one word today!”
If you take a day off or write fewer words, there is always
time to make up the word count. I might not be in competition with others, but
I am VERY competitive with myself. So, when I set a goal, I do everything
possible to exceed my own expectations.
So, for a dreary, short, dark month of the year…I am always
excited to see February role around. And YES, I always prep my spreadsheet with
daily word count calculations, so it is ready to fill in on the first of
February…on your mark, get set, GO WRITE! And I love the interaction and common
goals of those who make up the group of writers, whose heads are down, brains
and imagination are engaged, and fingers are flying during the month of
February.
This year, with more than sixty writers participating, we totaled collectively 2.2 million words in twenty-eight days - WOW!
Sure, everyone is tired, but also exhilarated. We cheered each other on, we encouraged everyone, no matter their personal goals of 30K or lass or more, and we CELEBRATED together! And that counts for a lot, when normally writing is a lonely business.
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Moonlighting-Serenity-Harbor-Novella-Starlight-ebook/dp/B075TK7KYS/
Books2Read
~ cottages to
cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~
Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and
spicy romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the
shores of Maine.
Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/delsoraloweauthor/community/
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
Instagram:
#delsoralowe
/ https://www.instagram.com/delsoralowe/
Photo Credits:
Bringing the New Year: Free New Year Clip Art Pictures
- Cli
partix
Phone: free
clip art for phone - Google Search Gold Medal: Free Medal Cliparts,
Download Free Medal Cliparts png images, Free ClipArts on Clipart Library
(clipart-library.com)
Calendar: February
2023 Calendar Printable (calendar-to-print.com)
Heart: free
hearts images - Google Search
February
with Boy: Free
February Cliparts, Download Free February Cliparts png images, Free ClipArts on
Clipart Library (clipart-library.com)
Goals- New Year: Man with ladder and goal Illustrations and Clipart. 805 Man with ladder and goal royalty free illustrations, drawings and graphics available to search from thousands of vector EPS clip art providers. (canstockphoto.com)
Desk: Table
clip art - Office clip art images free (clipproject.info)
Celebrate: Search
by word celebrate clip art - Clip Art Library (clipart-library.com)
10 comments:
Deb, after reading your post I better understand why you look forward to the New Jersey 30K challenge. I like that editing is included. I've done NaNo and have always finished it and then gone on to finish the book in December although one year it took until January.
So let me make sure I understand the editing math. If I edited 900 words in a story, I would claim 300 towards the challenge? If you then wrote a 1500 word new chapter, would that then count separately?
Wow, Deb! You are a terrific writer and the February challenger sounds like an exciting way to add lots, ans lots of words!
I liked your blog post and your pictures!
Judith - you are correct, The editing and writing words are counted separately - writing word for word and editing 3 to 1. And we report in daily. We have weekly cheerleaders assigned to cheer us on and help celebrate each day. Lots of fun and communication throughout the month.
Diana - it is hard BUT really fun too. And no matter what we each accomplish- we move forward at our own pace.
Wow, Deb! February really works for you! I can see why you like that month.
I love May. But for different reasons. Nothing to do with writing. Everything to do with the new greens of spring and all the flowers blooming. It means I've weathered another winter. And winter is always hard on me. I like to be warm.
May you parlay your February gains into a productive year!
I LOVE FALL! Especially October with the beautiful colors. The holidays are approaching, the air is clean and crisp, and when my kids were young, there were band competitions which were lots of fun. I also loved that I had more time to write that time of year.
Congrats on participating in JeRoWriMo--I've loved it in the past when I did. Love February, too, since it's my birthday month.
Barbara - I, too love May and April, when the first buds appear in the trees and spring flowers grow and finally bloom. And I can put plants out to adorn my deck. Glad you could stop by and say hello!
Jennifer - so glad you could stop in and say hello. And happy belated birthday! We do get a lot done, both individually and collectively, during the February challenge.
Hello Anonymous,
I love February for the JERO, but it's not my favorite month, weatherwise. Like you, FALL is my absolute favorite. Not only because my birthday is in September and both my children were born in the later fall, but because of the weather and the magnificent color. Like you said, the air is crisp, the colors, even as perennials die off, offer a beautiful study in contrast, different from the colorful flowers of summer, but equally as captivating (at least to me.) And as fall moves into winter, the color of the sky darkens to a heavier blue. At night the constellations are vivid - and ones that only show as fall creeps into winter. And as you mentioned, kid's activities. Soccer is one of my favorite sports, so fall brings being outdoors, now watching my grandson play soccer.
Thanks so much for stopping by and telling us why you love fall.
Post a Comment