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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.

44 comments:

  1. 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. :)

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

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    2. True dat. Congrats on hitting your 20 pages yesterday!

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

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

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  3. 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. :)

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

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  4. Whew! 20 pages down, 260 to go!

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  5. ZOWIE! Sounds like a grueling kind of fun!

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

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

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

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

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  8. Replies
    1. Right ON! You are so flippin' inspiring!

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  9. And still rockin', yay for you!

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

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

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

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

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  13. 20 pages for Day 7 and so far I'm on page 8 for today!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  16. 41 pages for yesterday and today. But I'm so not finished with my rough draft!

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

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