Last month I connected with a really neat lady named Milli Thornton. She sent me a very nice email after I commented on a blog post. As it turns out, Milli and I have a great deal in common in terms of inspiring writers and helping them to get over their fear of writing. In fact, Milli has a book out called “Fear of Writing: For Writers & Closet Writers
Well, I was immediately intrigued. I was thinking about partaking in the NaNoWriMo last year, but I just wasn’t able to dedicate an entire month at that point in my life. Setting aside a single day for 10k? Now that’s a different story.
I’ve got two partially finished novels and frankly, I need a kick to my backside to get going again. They’re good stories and it kills me that they are left to languish in the nether regions of my Open Office archives.
July 16 is the next 10k Challenge day
I’ve already decided I’m going to take part this month. I’m working everything around that day this month. 10,000 words is roughly twenty pages further along in my novel. I’m excited.
Here are the rules, as listed on her blog:
1. No editing or rewriting.
2. No looking back over what you’ve written during the 10K Day.
3. No rummaging—either in notebooks or in your computer files—for writing you did some other time.
4. No research. Make it up.
5. Don’t fuss about the rules of writing. Just write.
6. Don’t fuss with structure. You can format, add chapter headings (or whatever) some other time.
7. No struggling. (“Allow yourself to be crappy.” — J.R. Turner)
8. Take a 15-minute break every two hours. Use this break to refresh your body, brain and spirit.
9. Report to your writing companions during your break. These “check-ins” should be kept brief.
10. No agonizing over your word count. Yes, the goal is 10,000 words, but not at the cost of your peace of mind. This is not a competition—not even with yourself! Have fun instead.
With those kinds of rules, how could you not participate and have a grand old time?
There is a great support system in place including a forum and a place to post your ongoing wordcounts through the day. Go spend some time poking around at Milli’s and we’ll see you at the challenge!
Tell me: Do you think you will accept the challenge? Why or Why not?
Listen to the Podcast
This sounds like a wonderful challenge. I took part in the NanoWriMo last year but I have to admit I only managed about 5,000 words due to client demands. I know that I could write 10,000 words in one day, I have done it on numerous occassions if you add the total amount of articles completed in a day along with blog posts and emails. I think most freelance writers have probably done the same what with commenting on blogs, answering e-mails, and writing client articles, it’s just different when you are sitting down writing totally from your head and aiming for 10,000 words.
Not sure whether or not I will be able to take part in this one day event but I will be sure to take a look at Milli’s site.
Amanda
.-= Amanda Evans´s last blog ..Finding Freelance Writing Jobs =-.
10,000 words in a day, huh? Sounds intriguing … I will definitely dedicate myself to that … AFTER the summer. Between kids home from school and guests travelling across the country to claim my time, I will be hard driven to write 1,000 per day. Summer’s a bad time for that, or at least it is for me.
.-= Genevieve´s last blog ..Check out my chicas! =-.
Hi George. Absolutely will NOT be doing that one. Why? Rules 1, 2, 5 and 6. I’m a Mutant Grammar Nazi Editor and can’t possibly write anything without worrying about structure, form and that it’s correct. But that doesn’t mean I can’t support other people: I’ll get my pom-poms ready and stand on the sidelines, cheering you others on!
.-= SpikeTheLobster´s last blog ..Aim Higher =-.
No, Script Frenzy was fun once, but 10,000 words? on a Thursday?
.-= Miguel de Luis´s last blog ..Exercise made fun: the Heroes of Leothendrail =-.
Miguel!
Thursday has been scientifically proven to be the best day of the week to go nutso with your writing!
George
Too bad Friday has been scientifically proven to be the best day for you boss to get mad at you
.-= Miguel de Luis Espinosa´s last blog ..Exercise made fun: the Heroes of Leothendrail =-.
These kinds of things always interest me, but I just don’t think my writing methods are compatible. I’m way too (over) meticulous about things and can spend hours over a single paragraph. I have a lot of trouble with the moving on part of these instructions!
Hmm, maybe I should have a go…
.-= Iain Broome´s last blog ..Why bloggers should perform their writing =-.
Iain,
I think that is going to be my problem, too. I’m always way too AR about getting things straight…
We’ll see!
Spike –
Careful… If you’re doing pom-poms I might expect the requisite skirt to go with it. Oh and lots of pics to post around the net.
Cheers!
George
Hi Amanda,
It does seem to be a bit easier to eat this elephant a bite at a time – even if it’s a big bite.
Let me know if you decide to do it!
George
Hey Genevieve,
I sure understand. As it turns out, I’ve got Maddy that week so it should be quite an adventure!
George
Well I am not writing a blog but on many days I write a lot of blog posts and do a ton of blog commenting. I am sure it will get close to 10,000 words in a day. That is one serious challenge for book writers though.
.-= Deneil Merritt´s last blog ..Flashback Monday – New Logo And eBook =-.
Deneil,
Oh yeah, I’m sure it’s going to tear me up. Hey just think – if your typical blog posts are 500 words, you could get twenty posts done in a day and take the rest of the month off!
George
I need a kick to my backside to get going again.
This.^
I’m in. I could probably use one of these once a week to get larger sections done rather than getting stuck obsessing over individual paragraphs so often. Thanks for the info!
.-= Kellie´s last blog ..Fail = win =-.
Hey Kellie,
Right on. I’ll look for you on the update pages and such – Let’s keep each other going!
George
Right on!
Hi George,
Your article and all the comments are super. It’s also interesting to see the reasons why some would hesitate to take up the challenge.
I was definitely once in that camp. I felt *creativity* was more relevant than *productivity.* But, because a dear friend asked me to try it, I decided to take the plunge. To my surprise, I found that the liberation that comes with all that productivity is what really matters. It unleashes some kind of permission within the subconscious mind that transcends all our usual “reasons” why we can’t get more writing done. Plus the warm and fuzzy side of it (doing it with companions, as we all cheer one another on) really massages that part of the mind as well.
@Kellie – I agree about the once a week. After getting that wonderful kick up the rear end a few times, I ended up adapting the 10K Day and adding it to my weekly routine. I now set aside almost every Wednesday — I write for most of the day without doing the word count thing.
@Deneil Merritt – Yes! I used part of the June 10K Day to write a bunch of blog posts for a new blog I had just started. It felt great to be so far ahead!
Looking forward to whoever can join us on July 16. George, thanks for broadcasting the event!
.-= Milli´s last blog ..Spiritual Short Stories – A Heartfelt Conversation with Chris Cade =-.
@Kellie – I agree about the once a week. After getting that wonderful kick up the rear end a few times, I ended up adapting the 10K Day and adding it to my weekly routine. I now set aside almost every Wednesday — I write for most of the day without doing the word count thing.
Excellent. Thanks, Milli. Very glad to hear that it has worked for you. I find that my creativity is often choked by my lack of productivity, so hopefully focusing on the latter will help get the former moving as well. (Productivity: the fiber of creativity.)
.-= Kellie´s last blog ..Fail = win =-.
Hi George,
I’m in. I didn’t make the word count last time, but devoting an entire day to fiction was worth it.
Look forward to seeing you on Milli’s blog that day!
Write On!
Patti
.-= Patti Stafford´s last blog ..Are You Afraid? Let us Know. =-.
Hi Milli!
So glad you dropped by. I appreciate your additions to the conversation, I hope lots of folks join us for this. I’m very excited!
George
Patti,
Yay! It’s going to be tons o’fun for sure!
I look forward to sweatin’ it out with you.
Cheers
George
You know, I might but modify it so that it’s not towards a novel, but my own general kind of writing. That would be about 10 blog posts.
Heh, actually I had an idea for a free ebook I wanted to give away…this might be perfect time to do it.
In any case, I won’t commit because who knows what the 16th will be like for me. When you have 5 kids you learn to pencil everything in because the kids are the universe’s way of teaching you to be flexible!
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..My two favorite emotions are lucky and enthusiastic =-.
Hi Tracy,
Point well taken about kid scheds. You could pick a date a little further out that works for you and then coordinates with the household to get a Mommy day. It would be great to see your ebook get born!
George
I NEED to do this. This challenge is right up my alley but my kids are psychotic so I’d have to do the challenge on my own and on a day when I don’t have them. I’ll ship them off to their dad and have a big writing fest. I love that we can allow ourselves to be crappy too!
.-= Cassie´s last blog ..Adding a Tweet This graphic to WordPress =-.
Hi Cassie!
Yeah, I know it’s going to be liberating for me to just write, write, write for a day and not be concerned about crappy. What fun!
Let’s support each other on the 16th, eh?
Cheers!
George
Hey George!
wow.
initially i thought the idea of a 10k word challenge would be torture.
…but i love the rules. excited to give it a whurl actually
man. no deleting. no looking back. no research.
love the sound of that!!
thanks for making me smile and inspired
stumbled!!
keep well and in touch
alex – unleashreality
Alex,
So glad you came by. This should be fun.
Folks, you need to go over to the site Alex has built. He’s got some great content and the layout of his site is very unique and cool.
Cheers!
George
Hi George, I came across this page through Alex’s stumble
I conducted a simple challenge for writing better recently. I didn’t take a 10k challenge but I would like to try it in the future. Thank you so much for the idea.
Oscar
.-= Oscar – freestyle mind´s last blog ..The time management matrix =-.
Hi Oscar!
Thanks for dropping by. There is another one coming up in August – I’m going to try again.
What simple challenge did you do?
George
I simply decided to write at least for half an hour every in english (which is not my primary language). Eventually I found that half an hour is way too little to express ideas, and now I write for at least one hour a day.
.-= Oscar´s last blog ..How to Build a Successful Project =-.
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A schedule change is probably going to mess up my 10k tomorrow, George, but I intend to make up for it on either Friday or Monday.
Good luck tomorrow, all!
.-= Kellie´s last blog ..Writing blind: Rough drafts, glasses, and a pair of lazy eyes =-.
Hi Kellie,
Ugh. My whole day went south. I got some done, but not much. Marking August 13 on me calendar.
George
Hey, at least you tried, and you’re already scheduling a hop back on the horse. Kudos!
.-= Kellie´s last blog ..Writing blind: Rough drafts, glasses, and a pair of lazy eyes =-.
Hey Kellie, Thanks! I’m getting geared up for August!
George
Hi Everybody,
The check-in page for July 16′s 10K Day is available for all of today’s participants at this link:
http://millithornton.blogspot.com/2009/07/10k-day-live-while-its-happening.html
Hey, Tumblemoose, can’t wait for you to join us!
.-= Milli´s last blog ..10K Day: Live, While It’s Happening! – July 16 =-.
Oscar,
Well, let me just say, “Congrats”! Your writing is better than a lot of folks. Good for you.
George