Category: Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

There is no better day to start writing your novel than today.

Mandy Webster
Writing table of Marie-Antoinette by Riesener ...
It’s time to sit down at that desk and get some writing done! | Writing table of Marie-Antoinette by Riesener (1783), Petit appartement de la reine, Palace of Versailles. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

June 21st was the first day of summer and officially the first day of the Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge. I meant to do a big kickoff on the 21st, but as I mentioned in my last post, life kinda got in the way. I’ve spent the past few days since I returned from my disappointing journey unpacking and trying to put my life back together. I still have a bit of unpacking and organizing to do, but I have decided today is the day I need to get back to writing. If I don’t do it now, I’ll just keep putting it off, and summer will be over before I know it.

I doubt I’m the only person who got sidetracked and didn’t jump right into my novel on the first day of summer. I’m here to tell you it’s okay if you haven’t started yet. Just because you missed the first several days of the challenge, that doesn’t mean you now have to wait until next year. But you should force yourself to sit down and start as soon as possible. How does today work for you? Continue reading “There is no better day to start writing your novel than today.” →

Novel Writing, Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Sometimes it’s okay to tell a story rather than showing it

Mandy Webster
Staring at a blank page will get you nowhere
It’s true. So stop staring and write something!

Do you ever find yourself staring at an empty page, afraid to put down that first word because you do not know if it is exactly what you want to express in your story? Do you worry about each sentence, afraid you are going to write something that (heaven forbid) tells rather than shows your story?

I know you want to sit down and write a complete and perfect story. We all do. But most of the time it just doesn’t work that way. If you let yourself get bogged down in the details of perfection in the first draft, your first draft will never be complete. Continue reading “Sometimes it’s okay to tell a story rather than showing it” →

Novel Writing, Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Featured Writer Prompt: How do you prep for a new novel writing project?

Mandy Webster
P writing blue
Do you outline first, or just start writing? |writing blue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At Write Your Novel this Summer, we just launched our Featured Writer series where we will feature individual writers who are participating in our summer novel writing challenge. To become a Featured Writer, all you have to do is ‘like’ our Facebook page, look for Featured Writer Prompts, and submit a response to the prompt along with a link to your blog or online writing portfolio. If your submission is chosen, we will feature you and link to your page from our Facebook page (see the Notes section of our Facebook page for more details.)

Yesterday, I posted our first Featured Writers Prompt, but I have yet to receive any submissions. So I thought I would answer the prompt myself to try to get the ball rolling. I want to also encourage my readers to submit. This is a great opportunity to drive readers to your blogs and writing portfolios. It’s also a great way to find out about other writers and learn how they approach the novel writing process. Continue reading “Featured Writer Prompt: How do you prep for a new novel writing project?” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Join the official Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Mandy Webster
novel writing challenge
Join the Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge and write the first draft of your novel between June 21st and September 21st.

I recently wrote a blog post in which I discussed author Stephen King’s view that you should never take more than a season to write a novel. In that post, I posed a challenge to my readers to “write your novel this summer.” I’ve been thinking about this challenge, and I think it might be fun to make it a real “thing.”

How cool would it be if a bunch of us banded together to support each other in knocking out that first draft of the novels we’ve all been meaning to get around to? It could be kind of like NaNoWriMo, only we get an entire season rather than just one month. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to write a novel in one month, November is just about the worst month of the year to do it in! Continue reading “Join the official Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge” →