Tristi Pinkston is hosting a July writing challenge! For the month of July, we’re setting goals for what we’d like to accomplish in our writing projects, whether that’s words written, pages edited or even research done.
July is set to be a pretty busy month for me—festivities for the Fourth of July (seriously; my husband just called and said he got us tickets to four different events next week), my family here for most of the month, two family reunions, a road trip. . . . I think I’m getting a little ambitious. But we’ll try, anyway!
- Edit 350 pages of my MS:
- Go through my writing partner’s notes on the last ten chapters
- Go through the second half of the book again to make all my planned changes, add two scenes and cut out the parts people skip
- Get as many chapters to my critique partners as they can stand. 😉
- Read my library books:
- Cover Her Face (PD James—the literary edge of the mystery genre. Or so I’ve heard.)
- Bedford Square (Anne Perry comes very highly recommended—and this counts for the Summer Reading Thing.)
- Never Street (An actual PI likes Estelman’s PI portrayal.)
- Death in Holy Orders (Ten guesses why.)
- Farewell, My Lovely (Obviously I’m on a bit of a classic mystery authors bent.)
- The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life (I haven’t found a lot of Noah Lukeman’s stuff helpful, but I’m giving him another shot.)
- Read at least one book off my Summer Reading Thing list.
- Continue to mull over the exact plot, premise and motifs for my next WIP. (If I’m feeling really ambitious—or, y’know, stuck on a long road trip—even outline one book or the full story arc.)
- Stay current on critique partners’ edits.
This is a great way to help us reach our goals. By writing them down, we have something concrete to work toward. And part of the challenge is checking regularly at Tristi’s challenge blog, where you get accountability and encouragement. And at the end of the month, we report to Tristi for our final dose of accountability. All of these things can help us achieve our goals.
So what are your writing goals for the next month (well, five weeks—my goals start from today for me)? Share them in the comments or on your blog to participate in the challenge!
Photo credit: Richard Dudley
