Tag Archives: SheNoWriMo

Shenandoah Writers Hosting a Write-In Saturday, May 15

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For any writers in the Harrisonburg, Va., area who are interested, I am hosting a write-in at my humble abode this Saturday, May 15, from 11 A.M. – 5 P.M.

THE GIST

Because this profession has the propensity to be such a solitary one, I find I sometimes need that extra boost that camaraderie provides (hence Shenandoah Writers, Shenandoah Writers Online, SheNoWriMo, etc.).  While the act of writing is individual, I think it might be neat to feed off the energy of others.  That’s why I think, although I would have done SheNoWriMo myself if I’d had to, I have been staying on top of my word count (for the most part).  It makes one accountable.

It has worked for some of my favorite authors (John Green, Maureen Johnson, E. Lockhart), so perhaps it will work for us as well!
I have never been to a write-in or writers’ retreat before, but I envision this as a way to force oneself to get the writing done.  We all have crazy things going on in our lives, I’m sure, and we don’t always make as much time to write as we intend – so this is kind of an organized way of taking that time and being accountable to others – butt in chair and WRITE, as they say, the whole time.  

We will each be working on our OWN projects.  It will likely be a largely quiet day.

WHAT WE’LL HAVE

We have plenty of comfortable spaces to set up little “Internet cafes” as well as places to get a little bit of distance—no need for anyone to bring card tables or chairs, like we discussed at the meeting.  As well, we have outlets all over the place as well as two power strips, so we should be set in terms of power, no matter where people set up camp.

In addition, we recently acquired a 30-cup coffee pot, so we will have plenty of fuel to keep us going!

WHAT TO BRING

  • Laptops
  • Power cords for your laptops
  • Pens/Notebooks if you think you’ll be writing/outlining by hand
  • Your favorite writing snacks – we intend to do dinner at 5PM with anyone who wants to go, but if you’d like to snack throughout the day, pack yourself a little somethin’ somethin’ 🙂

RSVP

Please let me know if you can make it. Even if you’ve never been to a Shenandoah Writers (IRL) meeting, but you’re in the area and interested, we’d love to have you—I just need to be able to plan for it, so it would be nice if you’d let me know.

As well, if you aren’t sure you can commit to the whole time, that’s totally fine.  You can certainly come and go as you please.

Please contact me for directions.

FINALLY

I think it will be a neat experience.  And hey—if it doesn’t work out or we hate it or something, that’s okay, too.  We’ll find out!

If you have any questions between now and Saturday, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail.

Looking forward to it!

SheNoWriMo & Sheena Easton

Posted in Writing by

No “blogosphere” post today, as I am preparing for SheNoWriMo, my online writing group’s writing challenge for the month of May.

SHENOWRIMO

For SheNoWriMo, we’re going to be more flexible than traditional NaNoWriMo—you make your own rules.

Just set a goal for your daily word count and stick to it.  For instance, if you think your schedule will only allow you to comfortably write 500 words/day, fine.  That’s your goal.  Write one continuous piece or a lot of smaller pieces—or, heck—even just do writing prompts. (If you’re wondering about word count, as a general rule, 250 words=1 page.)

Just write something.  Every day.  For the entire month of May.  For more info on SheNoWriMo, click here.

SHEENA EASTON—WHAT THE . . . ?

My SheNoWriMo goal is to write 1000 words a day of a new young adult manuscript.  In reality, I’m hoping to write 1500 (like real NaNoWriMo), but I figured I’d set the bar at 1000 and, that way, if I go over, I’ll be thrilled; if I just meet my daily goal, I’ll still be happy.

For your eyes only!

I’m calling the work-in-progress “Sheena Easton” at the moment, but that’s only because the dream I had that gave me the idea for the book had Sheena Easton in it.  P.S.—The ’80s pop star is not in the book or associated with the story at all, other than the initial dream.  Don’t worry!

Anyway, that’s all I want to divulge about the book at the moment.  I’m keeping this baby under wraps!

Have a great weekend—and if you’d like to participate in SheNoWriMo, let me know.  If I get enough solid participants, I am going to give away a prize.

This Week’s SWO Live Chat, SheNoWriMo and Write-In

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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.