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October 6th, 2009
Teen Author Challenge, Week 12 – Be Realistic
Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’… keep those pages rollin’! Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week
Teen Author Challenge, Week 12 Now that you’re getting into the swing of things with our productivity challenge, you may be having a reality check of sorts. You may have bitten off more than you can chew with your weekly goal or, on the opposite extreme, you may find that your weekly goal isn’t large enough to keep your momentum going. (Or you may find out you’re like Goldilocks and your goal is “just right”.) If your goal needs adjusting, it’s okay to make that adjustment now. Better to belly up to the writing bar with more realistic expectations than have your progress go belly up because you give up in frustration (or fizzle out because you never gain the momentum you need to make writing regularly a habit). The big thing to remember is to be realistic. Take into account the craziness that you may encounter from school projects, work projects, travel, etc. Make your goal something you can still achieve even when those things interfere with your best laid plans. Or if you think your goal isn’t big enough yet, go ahead and bump it up a notch… BUT make sure to keep a healthy dose of realism handy. Achievability is key! Buzz Tip of the Week If you’ve never seen the Writer’s Digest “101 Best Web Sites for Writers” list, it’s a terrific directory of online resources that can benefit writers at every stage of their careers. It’s updated every year with the best of the best and, for your convenience, is divided into eight categories: – Agent blogs Check out the full list here: Your Weekly Challenge How did you do on your writing last week? Comment below with your weekly results from last Tuesday through today so we can cheer your progress! If you’re going to take advantage of this opportunity to tweak your goal, post about that below and let us know how it’s changing. Up, down, sideways… whatever will make the best approach for you to reach your goals and still have fun in the process. Because writing may not always be fun. But if it’s never fun, that’s a problem that needs a’fixin pronto!
Go forth and be creative!
Entry Filed under: Paying It Forward,Teen Author Challenge |
Project FMGM proposalCOMPLETE! 
A 16 year old outsider gets tapped to join a secret society of good populars dedicated to defeating the mean girls of the world.
On shelves now! IndieBound   I’m the author of teen fiction that I wish was based on my real life. My debut novel    
 #1 – GOOD GRIEF by Lolly Winston #2 – THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins #3 – CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins #4 – THE NAUGHTY LIST by Suzanne Young #5 – THE MAGICIAN’S ELEPHANT by Kate DiCamillo #6 – WINGS by Aprilynne Pike #7 – EIGHTH GRADE SUPERZERO by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich #8 – THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE by Kate DiCamillo #9 – HOW TO TRAIN A DRAGON by Cressida Cowell #10 – THE SEASON by Sarah MacLean #11 – THE SEVEN RAYS by Jessica Bendinger #12 – WHISPER by Phoebe Kitanidis #13 – SHADOW HILLS by Anastasia Hopcus #14 – NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer #15 – MOLLY MOON’S INCREDIBLE BOOK OF HYPNOTISM by Georgia Byng #16 – GRACELING by Kristin Cashore (This is a second reading which is super rare for me. One of my all-time faves!) #17 – FIRE by Kristin Cashore #18 – THE REPLACEMENT by Brenna Yovanoff #19 – HEIST SOCIETY by Ally Carter #20 – NEED by Carrie Jones #21 – BRIGHTLY WOVEN by Alexandra Bracken #22 – CAPTIVATE by Carrie Jones #23 – PROPHECY OF DAYS by Christy Raedeke #24 – THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN by Susan Beth Pfeffer #25 – THE LOST SYMBOL by Dan Brown #26 – PLAIN KATE by Erin Bow #27 – THE OVERTON WINDOW – by Glenn Beck #28 – THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner #29 – PARANORMALCY by Kiersten White #30 – THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger #31 – MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins #32 – ONLY THE GOOD SPY YOUNG by Ally Carter #33 – THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB by Elizabeth Eulberg |
To help you along, here’s our weekly dose of inspiration…
I definitely need to change up my goal from 3 pages a day to….5 pages a week, haha. I barely wrote five pages this week (sooo tired….) but I’ve liked where I’m going, so I’ll keep trying and see how much I get this week and maybe next week I can bump it up a bit.
3 pages a day for a week is 21 pages, so if I did 5 pages last week, and continue to do so, then I’d get 80 pages by the end of the 4 month challenge, and that’s a heck of a lot more then I’ve ever written in one story.
So I’ll be working on that and hopefully continue to bump up my goal.
Sounds like a great plan, Kelsey! If last week was a fairly typical one for you in terms of juggling all your many responsibilities, using your productivity level for last week as a benchmark may be a really smart approach. Can’t wait to hear how you do this week!
I am going to get back on track this next week – my mom just downloaded word onto my computer today -so I’ve had no way to type. But I’ve been thinking a lot on how to improve what I had lost and where to go next, and I’ve got a lot of great ideas.
And I had never heard of the 101 Best Sites – that’s really neat! I’ll definately be using that!
Congratulations on getting Word back! Great to hear that the story has been gelling in your mind so you’re ready to bounce back on the keyboard this week. That’s a great way to hit the ground running. And so glad the 101 Best Web Sites was a hit with you!
This week has been much better than last week. I’m writing more frequently even if I’m not always writing on the novel. There are parts that probably need to be re-plotted.
It’s so true that life (projects, assignments) gets in the way sometimes! I’m trying, though.
Good luck everyone!
Yay! Good for you for building your productivity last week, Cari.
That’s the way to build momentum!
Well, I think I’m gonna adjust my goal of writing once in a while to write at least 2 pages a day, LOL.
Thanks for the great advice, Kay!