Category: Writing Challenges

Challenges found on the Internet, or elsewhere

5 year writing project: get a novel published

I started writing during NaNoWriMo in November 2011. The words just flew onto the page. 50,000 in a month. Easy! But come December, I had lost my steam.

Should you ever abandon a novel?

editing novel - Ruth LivingstoneI have been writing a novel for 3 years. It is a great story. I know the characters well. The finished product is clear in my mind.

I started writing during NaNoWriMo in November 2011. The words just flew onto the page. 50,000 in a month. Easy!

But come December, I had lost my steam. I started going back and fiddling. Now some of the early chapters looked pretty good. But I lost my forward momentum. And I got finally bogged down about two-thirds of the way through. I guess I hit what is often known as the “soggy middle”.

Now, all the standard advice goes like this: just finish it. It doesn’t matter what sort of mess you have written, you can knock it into shape during the editing stage. Continue reading “5 year writing project: get a novel published”

A Five Year Writing Project

Being a writer without goals is a bit like setting off on a car journey without a clear destination in mind. You might have an interesting journey, but when you get to your final destination, was this really where you wanted to be?

do you have goals

Should you have long-term writing goal?

Yes. Of course. When writing, as in any other task, it seems blindingly obvious that a long-term goal is a jolly good idea. One reason to have a goal is this: if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re unlikely to ever get there.

It’s a bit like setting off on a car journey without a clear destination in mind. Which way would you turn at the crossroads? Which lane would you move into? You might have an interesting journey, but when you get to your final destination, was this really where you wanted to be?

So, the assumption is that if you have a clear goal – with a clear end in sight –  you will know how to find the right path. And, once on the right path, Continue reading “A Five Year Writing Project”

15K in May: final day of writing

15K in May writing challenge is completed! Yes. I have tapped out fifteen thousand words on my computer during the 31 days that make up the month of May.

Ruth Livingstone, drinking coffeeThe final day of the 15K in May writing challenge. I’ve done it! Just.

Yes. I have tapped out fifteen thousand words on my computer during the 31 days that make up the month of May. This does not include work related documents – only the creative writing projects that I have voluntarily embarked on. Continue reading “15K in May: final day of writing”

15K in May: Four writing days left.

Will I complete the writing challenge of 15k in May? My total word count so far comes as a surprise. I didn’t realise I was doing so well.

15K in May LogoWhere has this month gone? With four days left, I am struggling to complete my 15 thousand words by the end of May.

A long, glorious, bank holiday weekend interrupted the flow. I went down to Cornwall and continued my epic walk around the coast of the UK.

Today I have added another 1,150 words Continue reading “15K in May: Four writing days left.”

15K in May: word count, 2/3 of the way in.

I realise I am on track to achieve the 15K in May writing challenge. But I’m pondering a question. What am I hoping to achieve?

Ruth Livingstone's PC

Words written in May

  1. Crime fiction (Birkbeck assignment) = 999 words, after editing.
  2. Ruthless Scribbling blog posts = 819 words
  3. Ruthless Reading blog post = 467 words
  4. Ruth’s Coastal Walk blog posts = 7,564 words
  5. Historic fiction (Birkbeck assignment) = 993 words, so far

Total = 10,842 words Continue reading “15K in May: word count, 2/3 of the way in.”