3-day novel contest here i come
in 2004, i did National Novel Writing Month and ended up with a draft ms for a novel. a decade later i revised it and self-published it as A World of Yes (DevilHouse, 2015). AWOY was about a woman who falls asleep during her 35th birthday party and misses an orgy. She spends the rest of the novel trying to figure out the details, and who was involved, and in the process, ends up being exposed to a variety of sexual activity and relationship styles. i did NaNoWriMO then to prove to myself that i could write a long form prose work. it was about 55,000 words. But that was a month, this is going to be 3 days!
Have I taken leave of my senses? Probably, but I’m going to do this. I haven’t yet come up with an outline and am hoping to do so before the 3rd. I’ll be returning to a book that helped me for NaNoWriMo: No Plot, No Problem by Chris Baty. I love writing characters but don’t care much for plot. We’ll see what happens.
Why do a time-sensitive group writing challenge like this?
To force writing upon myself. I’m always yacking it up about writing a novel, and I have one on the backburner, in the proverbial drawer or wherever. This is not going to be that, but something less research-required and less structure-required. I love writing fiction because I love reading fiction. I want to write what I like to read, which is stories I can get lost in, characters I care about.
Group writing challenges are community-oriented. They make writers who participate in them feel like they aren’t alone. As I embark upon this foolish, foolish idea, stare at the blank screen and guzzle gallons of water, I’ll know that other writers are sweating the small screen along with me. Solidarity in foolishness.
End Goal?
To write a 100-page double-spaced manuscript of a novel in three days. To submit it for consideration for publication by Anvil Press.
Let’s hope I get there. . . .