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Monday, May 20, 2013

FAST DRAFTING: Day One!


by Kristen Crowley Held


After reading Julie’s post last week I’m even more excited about the two week investment in my writing that I recently decided to make.

Some of my best adventures in life thus far have been the result of doing something most people thought was crazy.  
Ride my bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles? Sure, why not?

A couple of weeks ago I went in search of a writing adventure and found Candace Havens' Fast Draft Workshop. The objective of the class is to write twenty pages a day for fourteen days. Twenty pages! A day! For fourteen days!

According to the class rules THERE ARE NO EXCUSES IN FAST DRAFT! Unless you’re dead or in a coma, you must write your twenty pages.

Have I mentioned I like challenges?
Flying trapeze, anyone?
Today is DAY ONE.

This morning I’ll be rising before the sun and sending my Internal Editor on a two week vacation. I’ve prepped meals for my family, scheduled hours of entertainment for my kiddos, cleared my desk and set aside at least two and a half hours a day to write.

In order to keep myself accountable I’ll be posting my daily page tally as comments on this blog entry EVERY SINGLE DAY.

My goal is to commit to a story and vomit it on the page fast enough that I don’t have time to talk myself out of writing it. It will not be perfect. It may be total crap. I may put it directly in the bottom of a trunk once I reach 280 pages. BUT I WILL WRITE 280 PAGES!!

It’s only two weeks, right? 

Even if you’re not ready to commit to writing 280 pages in two weeks, or you’re in the middle of revisions or copyedits or whatever, I dare you to challenge yourself today. Pick a goal that seems crazy and, once you’ve decided there are no excuses for not meeting that goal, post it in the comments section to keep yourself accountable. I promise to cheer you on! 

After I finish my twenty pages, of course.

UPDATE: You can read my wrap-up post on my fast drafting experience here.
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44 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 20, 2013 at 11:12 AM

    Yay, Kristen! That's so cool! I'll be checking back on your progress...but notice, I'm not volunteering a challenge of my own. Even thinking of a challenge feels pretty challenging right now. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 21, 2013 at 8:16 AM

      Challenges are much easier to think about when you don't have a one year-old challenge challenging you daily :).

      Delete
    2. AnonymousMay 21, 2013 at 8:34 AM

      True dat. Congrats on hitting your 20 pages yesterday!

      Delete
  2. UnknownMay 20, 2013 at 1:27 PM

    I'll race you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. corinneMay 20, 2013 at 1:55 PM

    Go you!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marilyn HiltonMay 20, 2013 at 8:11 PM

    Go, Kristen! You may surprise yourself at how far you go. I'm cheering you on every page of the way :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 21, 2013 at 8:18 AM

      Thanks, Marilyn! I've got one day under my belt, looking forward to the next thirteen :).

      Delete
  5. UnknownMay 20, 2013 at 10:25 PM

    I love it! What a neat idea! I will still it beginning the day after school ends this year! Can't wait to see what you come up with. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 21, 2013 at 8:24 AM

      Thanks for the reminder of how important it is to invest in our writing! I've got June 30th on my calendar!! :)

      Delete
  6. KC HeldMay 20, 2013 at 10:54 PM

    Whew! 20 pages down, 260 to go!

    ReplyDelete
  7. sunihaliMay 21, 2013 at 8:01 AM

    ZOWIE! Sounds like a grueling kind of fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 21, 2013 at 8:29 AM

      I'd say grueling + fun is a pretty accurate description! We'll see how I feel on day fourteen :).

      Delete
  8. SarahMay 21, 2013 at 6:32 PM

    Kristin! I'm waiting for the day's update! And cheering for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 21, 2013 at 9:29 PM

      Thanks for the support, Sarah! I wrote twenty and A HALF today! Only 239 1/2 to go!

      Delete
  9. sunihaliMay 21, 2013 at 11:13 PM

    Okay, KC, fess up. Quadruple spaced, right?

    ReplyDelete
  10. KC HeldMay 22, 2013 at 9:46 PM

    Day 3: got my 20 pages in!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMay 23, 2013 at 9:18 AM

      Right ON! You are so flippin' inspiring!

      Delete
  11. sunihaliMay 22, 2013 at 11:18 PM

    And still rockin', yay for you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownMay 23, 2013 at 2:53 PM

    About how long is 20 pages taking? Are you giving up food and sleep? ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 23, 2013 at 11:04 PM

      Too long! I am one tired monkey. Twenty more pages down and I'm off to get some sleep!

      Delete
  13. sunihaliMay 23, 2013 at 11:56 PM

    Bravo . . . again!

    ReplyDelete
  14. KC HeldMay 24, 2013 at 11:09 PM

    Have just eked out Day Five's 20 pages.
    Must. Sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  15. StacieMay 25, 2013 at 6:38 AM

    doitdoitdoitdoit!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 26, 2013 at 12:18 AM

      I'm doing it! I'm doing it! Day 6: 20 pages and lots of notes for tomorrow!

      Delete
  16. KC HeldMay 27, 2013 at 1:05 PM

    20 pages for Day 7 and so far I'm on page 8 for today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 27, 2013 at 9:22 PM

      Holy cow! I'm at 22 pages and it's not even midnight!

      Delete
    2. KC HeldMay 28, 2013 at 11:24 PM

      Almost forgot to post today's total: 20 pages!

      Delete
    3. KC HeldMay 29, 2013 at 11:33 PM

      Day 10: 20 more. Posting here is definitely helping to keep me accountable :).

      Delete
  17. sunihaliMay 29, 2013 at 9:19 AM

    Wow. I'm breathless!

    ReplyDelete
  18. AnonymousMay 30, 2013 at 9:00 AM

    So you've got, like, 3/4 of a book written? I am so impressed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KC HeldMay 30, 2013 at 11:49 PM

      Definitely not a "book" yet, but I just added 21 more pages for Day 11.

      Delete
    2. SarahMay 31, 2013 at 11:12 AM

      Wow! So impressed!

      Delete
  19. KC HeldMay 31, 2013 at 10:09 PM

    Thanks, Sarah! 20 1/2 pages for today. Only two more days to go!

    ReplyDelete
  20. SarahJune 2, 2013 at 9:39 PM

    You have so got this! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  21. KC HeldJune 2, 2013 at 9:55 PM

    41 pages for yesterday and today. But I'm so not finished with my rough draft!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJune 2, 2013 at 10:24 PM

      Wait, is it two weeks already? I feel like I've just blinked my eyes & you've written like 280 pages?

      Delete
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