As most of you probably already know, we moved Shenandoah Writers Online from Ning.com to Grou.ps.  Click here for more information about it.

In a lot of ways, this new home is a bit more streamlined than our original place on Ning, and I’m already excited about the increased amount of activity among members so far.  Hooray!

If you’re a member but you haven’t come over to the new place yet—OR, if you’re not a member yet but would be interested in joining this writing community, click here to get started.*

SWO LIVE CHAT TUESDAY, APRIL 27

I’m hosting a live chat this Tuesday, April 27, from 9-10 P.M. EST.  Our chats sometimes run over, if we feel so inclined , but the “official” time for this event is from 9-10.  Even if you can only stop by for a few minutes, it’d be good to have you poke your head in and say hello.**

This month’s topic: Rewriting & Revision: What’s Your Process & How Do You Know When to Stop?

SHENOWRIMO

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, so now it’s official: May is the time for SheNoWriMo.

The rules:  There are no rules.

Well, that’s not entirely true—but, let’s say, you make your own rules.  Just write something.  Every day.  For the month of May.  I want SheNoWriMo to be like NaNoWriMo, but a little more accommodating.  Otherwise, no one’s going to do it!

For traditional NaNoWriMo, folks set out to write 1500 words a day—and then, at the end of the month of November (National Novel Writing Month), they have a 50,000-word first draft of something.  For those of you unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, click here.

For SheNoWriMo, let’s be more flexible.  Just set a goal for your daily word count.  For instance, if you think your schedule will only allow you to comfortably write 500 words/day, fine.  That’s your goal.  Post it on your “wall” and have at it.

You can write one continuous piece or a lot of smaller pieces—or, heck—even just writing prompts.

Repite, por favor?

Just set a goal for yourself and DO THE WRITING.  And keep us posted about it.  Ideally, I’d like all participants to keep a daily record (on their SWO walls) of their progress.

However, I realize there are all kinds of writers out there.  My husband, for instance, won’t be writing fiction—he’ll be pulling stuff out of his (*ahem*) dissertation and creating articles for publication in his field of mathematics education.  God bless him!

So, while he won’t be writing a novel, he could potentially set out a writing goal of 500 words per day—because I’m sure there will be a fair amount of research he’ll have to do and, you know, that whole professor thing getting in the way of his writing . . .

If you’re wondering about word count, as a general rule, 250 words=1 page.  That should help you gauge the amount of words to which you think you can commit.

Don’t be too aggressive; you don’t want to make it impossible to reach your daily goals, or that might discourage you from continuing the whole month.  However, don’t be wimpy either; this is supposed to be a challenge.

Essentially, tailor SheNoWriMo to your lifestyle as well as your writing tastes/purposes.  I do hope a lot of peeps will consider taking part in it.

Because . . . there could potentially be a fabulous priiii-iiiize *if I have enough participants.  I’m looking at said prize right now . . . (and, no, it’s not Molly!)

WRITE-IN

Last, but not least, I am going to be hosting an SWO write-in here at Château Schultz one Saturday in May—I haven’t decided when yet, but details forthcoming.

I know that most of you are not within driving distance of McGaheysville, Va., and therefore won’t be able to make it IRL (in real life), but that is OK.  It would be great to do a “virtual” write-in with us—especially for SheNoWriMo participants.  After all, I have iChat and Skype.  And, at the very least, we can use the “chat” function on SWO to talk to one another.

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*For more information about SWO, click on “Shenandoah Writers” in “Categories” in the right-hand side bar.

**You must be a member of SWO to participate in the chat.  Not a member yet?  E-mail me or click here to get started.