Today's giveaway: Go Teen Writers: How to Turn Your First Draft Into a Published Book ebook.
Get entered below!
Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the Ellie Sweet books (Birch House Press). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website including the free novella, Throwing Stones.
Back in June, many of us committed to certain writing goals for the summer. Here are some examples of the goals people sent me:
- I want to spend 50 hours editing my fantasy novel.
- I want to finish my second draft.
- I want to write 2,000 words a week.
- I want to finish my first draft.
- I want to send query letters to agents.
While our summer writing challenge runs through Monday, September 7 (the unofficial last day of summer in the U.S.), one of our community members, Linea, suggested having an end of season celebration of sorts where we can all be working toward our goals and know that other writers around the world are too. Kind of like the word wars we've hosted before. I thought that sounded super fun!
So here's how this will work:
1. You pick what you want to accomplish between now and next Monday. 5,000 words written? 3 college essays? 4 chapters edited? It's totally up to you!
2. Leave a comment sharing with us what you hope to get done. And then periodically check back in and tell us what kind of progress you're making.
That's it! I'll be giving away ebooks daily, so be sure to check back the next day to see if you won!
What are your writing goals for the "Get it done" weekend?
I plan to edit 6 chapters of my book over the weekend, as well as read my novel over.
ReplyDeleteI plan to finish editing three chapters in my fantasy novel - it's been slow going this summer!
ReplyDeleteI've lost count of where I am on my goal thanks to a writing slump, and I'm going to be away for the next two nights, but I'll try to participate on Sunday, at least--I want to finish a chapter of my WIP (yeah, I'm unmotivated....) by Monday.
ReplyDeleteHey... When you're in a writing slump, working to finish a chapter is definitely expressing motivation. :)
DeleteAnd hopefully finishing that chapter will help you get some momentum going :)
DeleteNeed to re-commit to regular routine of writing; re-read several old projects and set realistic goals to polish at least 3 first drafts.
ReplyDelete10k?
ReplyDeleteNah, that's a little too ambitious.
Let'd say 5k or my 1st plot point, whichever comes last.
Make a round of edits on The Caver's Kiss, my short story.
ReplyDeleteYay, I've been looking forward to this . . . well, since I've heard about it.
ReplyDeleteMy goals:
-Edit and send in my Tales of Goldstone Wood fanfiction (actually has to be done today)
-Start editing Once Upon a Dream, one of my two projects this summer.
-Get back to work writing Monster in the Castle, which I hoped to finish this summer but haven't.
Yay! Here's my goals for the weekend:
ReplyDelete-Reach 5,000 words on my WIP (currently at 3,500)
-Finish my compilation of literary agents
Hmm ... finish my first draft of my WIP. Which will probably take about 18k to 20k words. It's awfully ambitious, but I might as well set my goal high, seeing as I have nothing to lose :). ~Savannah P.
ReplyDeleteAmbitious! I'm cheering for you, Savannah :)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEdit chapters 4-7 on my WIP. It'll be a stretch, but I'm really hoping to wrap this WIP by Labor Day.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to have write 5,000 words this weekend and maybe start editing the first draft of a novel I finished earlier this summer. -Miriam
ReplyDeleteMy goal for this weekend is to reach 58k words of my novel. Originally, my goal for the month of August was to reach 60k, but I have slacked off a bit with school starting back and everything. As of now, I have just a little over 53k, so I have some work to do. Good luck everyone!
ReplyDeleteSchool starting back up always takes more energy than I anticipate, so I understand :)
DeleteYay, this sounds like so much fun! Unfortunately, my weekend is pretty packed so I'm not gonna be able to make any big goals... but I think I'll try to actually write a certain chapter that I have been professionally procrastinating. :p Good luck to everyone!
ReplyDeleteAlexa
thessalexa.blogspot.com
verbositybookrevies.wordpress.com
Good for you, Alexa!
DeleteMy goal this weekend is to PLOT my novel. I already have 30k written (most of it probably going to the trash bin :P) even though I planned before I started writing I didn't go in depth enough and now I'm stuck for what happens next. So this weekend I will be plotting my novel well enough that I can start writing again after the weekend.
ReplyDeleteNice, Megan! I'll be doing some plotting too.
DeleteI can totally relate! I started my novel a while ago and never really planned it out. I figured I'd just go with it. Now, I'm more than half way done, but I ran into a MAJOR roadblock! I realized the ending doesn't make sense and won't work out how I planned it. I'm afraid I'll have to redo everything leading up to it! Well, good luck with your plotting! Hopefully I'll be able to do some too. :)
DeleteI love this! My goal this weekend would be to outline my novel (which might take me longer than this weekend, but fingers crossed that I'll get a good portion of it done!).
ReplyDeleteSamantha, couragedearheartblog.blogspot.com
Yeah, outlines always seem to move at their own pace. Good luck!
DeleteI want to edit 5 chapters of my novel this weekend. I love this idea!! So motivating.
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to finish (and start) my scene outline of my WIP. i'll also try and revise three chapters of my finished novel, but only if i have time. i wish everyone luck on their goals this weekend!
ReplyDelete~K.A.C.
This is such a great idea! Thank you for doing this. My goal for the weekend is to finally complete outlining and pre-writing my latest WIP. I'm almost done outlining, and I need to finish pre-writing the whole mess. :)
ReplyDeleteHere's to hoping everyone reaches their goals this weekend!
Finishing my Sleeping Beauty novella! I'm about two chapters from the end, and haven't a clue what will happen to my villainess. (I've been mostly pantsing this story--quite an experience.)
ReplyDeleteI believe it! Endings are always the slowest part for me.
DeleteHaha, this one was a mix of fast and slow. Once I figured out where I was going, it went great. :)
DeleteI want to finish 4 chapters of my novel. I've been stuck in a rut for the longest time. :-/ It's time to get out of it!
ReplyDelete~Lydia~ <3
It's so fun reading all your goals for the weekend! I'll be writing this weekend too. I've maybe gone as far as I can with plotting my new book for now, and I think I'll need to write a chapter or two before I can figure out where the story will end up.
ReplyDeleteI plan to write one college essay, half a chapter in WIP2, and edit 1-2 chapters in WIP1.
ReplyDeleteI want to finish the chapter i am working on and get at least a thousand words in. Maybe work on that scene I had to skip. Hopefully this will put my motivation back into writing :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds awesome! I plan to plot out my next story, either a short or a novella.
ReplyDelete*emerges from the dust* *brushes self off* I haven't been on Go Teen Writers in a while, but it's just as amazing as before, and I'm glad to be reading the blog posts here again. This is a great challenge. I'll make my two goals to finish the novella I'm writing and also to write a research paper. Oh, and to survive the first few days of school! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm homeschooled so:
ReplyDeleteFinish ninth grade grammar
Finish history timeline
Finish my Daniel Bible Study
Finish Module #5 of physical science
Write a paper on The odyssey
Write my life message
These may not seem writing related but if I ever want to have time for writing I have to get those things done :)
HEY! I recognize all these! My Father's World, right? :) I did that for ninth grade. :) That Daniel Bible study was good.
DeleteHey Amanda! You're the one from the ChriTeNos thread, right? Yep My Father's World! That's awesome that you did that too :D
DeleteOh, you use My Father's World? I just started high school (this week, actually), and we use My Father's World too. ~Savannah P.
DeleteI've used my father's world since kindergarten and I really like it :) I'm finishing ninth grade now and should be startong 10th grade soon.
DeleteI'm going to finish my first draft by Monday.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote 102 words! 5,000 here I come!
ReplyDeleteNice work!
DeleteI hope I can finish the first draft of my Sleeping Beauty re-telling this weekend. So, approximately 5,000 words or so. I was supposed to finish it during the week, but we got busy. I'm also hoping to push a friend to finish her first draft before school starts... so, we'll see how that goes.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete(Sorry, that was me, accidentally commenting under my mom's name again)
DeleteMy WIP is a Sleeping Beauty re-telling too! It's neat that we're both doing the same thing :). ~Savannah P.
I, too, am working on a Sleeping Beauty retelling. Are both of you doing this for the Five Magic Spindles contest? I am, and I know a lot of other GTWers are. Also, Esther from The Pen of a Ready Writer (commandedwriter.blogspot.com) has been posting a ton of updates on the contest, and I think they're a lot of fun to read and a great encouragement for us other writers entering the contest. Good luck!
DeleteWow, lots of fairy tale re-tellings. My 1st WIP that i'm revising is a retelling of Cinderella from the stepsisters POV and the sequel (currently in plotting) is the same with Rumpelstiltskin. its not sleeping beauty, buy its cool that we're all doing re-tellings.
Delete~K.A.C.
Yes, I am entering in the Five Magic Spindles contest :). I'll have to check out Esther's blog, it sounds pretty neat! ~Savannah P.
DeleteYeah, I'm entering the Five Magic Spindles contest. That's pretty cool that we're all entering the same contest. :) My friend is doing the same thing.
DeleteI'm working on a retelling for the contest too ;)
DeleteMy college classes started up so my goal is to finish my novella!
ReplyDeleteMy goals are to finish outlining the characters for my WIP and start thinking about/outling the essays I have to write for the missionary program I'm applying to do next year.
ReplyDeleteJust to make myself write my word count every day until then. I will do it :)
ReplyDeleteMy weekend goals are to work more on my first draft (so far at 43,000 words :D) and to plot out my second book.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna shoot for finishing this chapter I'm working on and at least start my next one. So, that'll probably be about 3,000 words at least. :) Heheh, I think this is gonna be really good for me....
ReplyDeleteWell, I've been really lazy writing-wise lately, so I'll set my goal high (high for me, not for all you overachievers out there): 5k words written by the end of the weekend. Hopefully I'll make myself get it done and not read too much... although reading good books is never a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteRight now my "get it done" goal has nothing to do with my summer goal, but it does have to do with writing, so here goes ;) My goal is to plan out at least weeks 1-4 of the writing class I'm teaching at my homeschool co-op this year. I'm actually diving into planning right now, so we'll see how much I can get done in about half an hour. I'll check back in when I'm done. :)
ReplyDeleteGo everyone! I see lots of great goals up there!
I'm writing my second draft right now, and I hope to make steady progress over the school year.
ReplyDeleteI've been in the development stages of my novel, focusing on world building. I've developed my social classes, myths, and a little history of one of the races in my story. I've been struggling with a unifying culture or system. I feel like I'm on the cusp of figuring it out and I hope to accomplish this by the end of the weekend.
ReplyDelete(I'm not going to enter the contest b/c I'm not a teen. :) But I really enjoy this site and the advice you and Jill give.)
Found a couple more literary agents to add to my list. :) I also organized some of my storage folders and took pictures of butterflies that came by our flower garden. I feel very successful today. :)
ReplyDeleteI just finished my list of literary agents. Yay for completing one of my goals!
DeleteI want to choose the next five agents to query for VENGEANCE JONES and write at least 2,500 more words of the sequel.
ReplyDeleteI'll set myself a somewhat small goal and aim to complete my outline for my novel. I find that for me it's more difficult to write, or even to know WHAT to write, without an outline, so I think if I can manage to finish that I'll be well on the road to finishing the overall story. :)
ReplyDeleteI've wanted to reach 19k words on my novel, and I'm at 14k. There's still hope!
ReplyDeleteI am going to try and reach 15k on my novel, and I'm at 11k.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to get to 72k words in my WIP and write two chapters. Currently I'm at 66k. I've been stuck on one part for a while, but having finished that now, I'm hoping to have the whole book written by the end of the summer and to have added to my outline for the sequel.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to be able to finish two chapters of my first draft. May seem like a bit of an underachievement, but I haven't really put time into my novel this summer, so it will be great to get started up again!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to get rolling with my new story. I just finished my old one and am still suffering from departure lag and missing my old characters. So maybe... reaching 5K?
ReplyDeleteI am going to try to edit 3 or 4 more chapters.
ReplyDeleteI want to add another page to my story each day.
ReplyDeleteI want to catch up on my writing goal. I'm trying to write 500 words a day, but I missed a day or two, so I want to catch up and maybe get ahead a bit since I know I'll be busier during the week with school.
ReplyDeleteI will finish my first draft. I am very close!
ReplyDeleteLuke and I will finish edits on Tinker this weekend so that we can typeset the ebook and paperback.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently at about twenty five thousand words on my WIP, I'm having some trouble revealing to the reader and several other characters a decent sized amount of information (my first thought was to have it all explained by one of my characters, but he's the really impatient type so I doubt that would work). It can be summarized in a couple paragraphs, but I don't want to bore the reader or make the speaker appear out of character. In the coming week, I want to write at least five thousand words, and, of course, get past the information issue.
ReplyDelete