The Writing Endeavor

How TWE is changing.

2009-07-07T15:49:00.003-04:00

On the forum we have been discussing some options to make TWE different. This is what I have concluded will happen:

For the next six-ish months, those of you who want to keep up with the original tasks can, then the rest of you I urge to just scrap those plans and see what you are led to write.

I haven't been around too much or participating actively in The Writing Endeavor and that will stay the same, but I am praying for you all and hope you continue strong with this program!

In Him,

Laura

Changes.

2009-07-06T20:45:00.001-04:00

Well, there's going to be some changes going through TWE within the next week. They have been pending for some time now, and due to my busy schedule they keep getting pushed aside, but I really do need to let you all know what's going on, especially those who aren't on the forum.

Thanks for your patience and keep it up because it may take a couple more days to sort everything out!

In Him,

Laura

Summer is almost here!

2009-05-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Endeavorists!

I've been meaning to get this post out since... oh I don't know, a couple weeks ago? But you know how that goes.

So one of our newer writers made a comment on the forum that really got me thinking. In TWE, we've really been concentrating on quantity, and not really caring what gets us to the suggested word count. This summer, I encourage you to challenge yourselves to focus more on quality. We have been given a talent and we should use it to glorify God, which was my original purpose in starting this.

I'm sorry it's been much slower and not as involved as I hoped it to be, but I hope you all are having fun with it, and have a good three months! You can find the guidelines for the next three tasks on the "Tasks" page of the blog, just in case I forget to post them in the midst of busy summer.

Happy writing everyone!

His,

Laura

2009-04-28T15:23:00.000-04:00

So, there's a few changes in the tasks for the next few months.

I'm making May, June, July, and August fiction AND non-fiction months, that way anyone who writes non-fiction will have a chance to participate. When I say non-fiction I mean that the words you write in blogs, poetry, or journals will count in addition to the regular fiction stories.

And for statistics (which I am dreadfully behind on) what I'm going to have you do is keep track of every single challenge you do and all the words you've written for the whole year on your own, and then at the end of the year I'll add them all up and put them on the blog.

Enjoy May's task everyone and don't forget to count the non-fiction as well!

His,

Laura

2009-04-26T18:57:00.000-04:00

Sorry these guidelines for May are a little bit late... I was away for part of the weekend and didn't have time to post them before I left or while I was gone.

Basically the target word count goal (WCG) is 15,500 by the end of the month, which would be 500 words per day. It has to be fiction, though the genre is unspecified unlike the current month. The challenge is to try to stick to the target WCG exactly... no more, no less.

Get ready Endeavorists!!!

His,

Laura

...

2009-04-15T21:32:00.000-04:00

...WHAT?!

We're halfway through April ALREADY?!

Just thought I'd let you all know...

How many...?

2009-04-06T00:14:00.000-04:00

Just wondering... but how many of you actually believed the April Fool's joke? The one about TWE shutting down that is ;)

In case you DIDN'T realize that it was a joke, it is totally untrue and TWE will carry on as planned :D

Yes, I am sneaky.

2009-04-01T17:33:00.000-04:00

Due to some unexpected circumstances, TWE will be shutting down.

Sorry everyone.

If you fell for that then... HAPPY APRIL (FOOL'S DAY)!!!

2009-03-23T19:57:00.000-04:00

It's about time to post guidelines for April isn't it?!

Yikes O_o

During the four weeks (a week meaning every seven days) of April write 4,444 words every week, which would be about 635 words every day. By the end of the month you should have around 17,800 words. Or if you have a busy schedule, just write 4,444 words for the entire month. You chose, but challenge yourself if you can. Genres prefered fantasy, futuristic, science fiction, and fan-fiction. Again, we're going with fiction. Try to stay on top of the WC goal for the week and stick to the listed genres even if you're unfamiliar with it.

That's about it! So get ready :D

Already?!

2009-03-14T22:30:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I'm writing this.

We are halfway through March!

Crazy, huh?

Things have been fairly quiet again, so I assume you're all writing like mad... I know that's what I'm going to be doing tonight in order to uh... catch up ;) That reminds me how badly I need to get the numbers for February straightened out and posted.

Hope everyone is keeping on top of writing!

His,

Laura

2009-03-01T17:31:00.000-05:00

HAPPY MARCH!!!

ACK!!!

2009-03-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hope you're all just about finished with this month's challenge and are ready for tomorrow!

I know I'm certainly not, and I mean that COMPLETELY seriously!!!

*gulps*

Don't be like me and wait until 9:00 PM to start writing the 1,239 words that need to be written before the day is over.

Get ready, cause March is coming up fast :)

His,

Laura

A week left in February!

2009-02-22T02:00:00.000-05:00

Well this month has passed rather slowly from the way I'm seeing it.

Actually, very slowly.

I hope you all got more writing done than I did and that you are a little more prepared to move onto next month's task!

Speaking of next month's task, I think it's about time to post the guidelines for March. They're a little less technical than February's were, and allow you more independence in your writing.

Basically, set yourself a word count goal that is realistic and manageable, but also challenging for yourself, and make sure what you're working on is fiction... there you have March's task!

Simple, right?

(If you would like to, you can work on a genre that you haven't worked on in a while or one that you have little to no experience with, or pick up a story that you haven't written in lately.)

Have a good week everyone and wrap up your February writings (unless of course you're planning on carrying it over into next month)... I'll be sending out an email on the 28th (this coming Saturday night) asking everyone for final February word counts, so make sure you're ready!

His,

Laura

Two weeks left in February!

2009-02-15T01:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I actually was here this past week, but extremely busy and therefore didn't have time to post on here. Sorry!

We're halfway through February... so how's everyone doing so far?

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day! If you don't have a significant other to spend it with, spend it with your characters... they'll love you for it ;)

His,

Laura

Taking a week...

2009-02-07T17:08:00.000-05:00

Just so you all know, I will not be on the computer at all from the 8th to the 14th of February (I will be returning on the 15th), which means I won't be posting on here, monitoring the forum, or checking emails.

I'll be back though, so keep writing and have a good week!

His,

Laura.

So busy...

2009-02-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted sooner... I have been very occupied with other things lately, in case you hadn't already figured that one out.

Due to my hectic schedule, I won't be sending out a monthly newsletter and there will not be any mini tasks. So all you'll be doing is keeping up with the monthly tasks, which makes it a little easier on all of us I think.

Sorry those two things didn't work out and I'm disappointed that my schedule has gotten so crazy that I have to drop them because they were really good ideas.

Hope you all are settling into February well!

His,

Laura

February is almost here!

2009-01-31T14:40:00.000-05:00

Well folks, in a little more than 12 hours (depending on what time zone you're in) we'll be leaving January behind and moving onto the second month of TWE. This past month flew by faster than I can type or write and it has been insanely busy, but I think that it was a successful start to this endeavor and to 2009.

I thank you all for being so bold to sign up and I hope that you will continue on with the Writing Endeavor throughout the rest of the year!

With that said, here are a few guidelines for February's task:

1) For those of you doing word count, set yourself a goal that is 3 or more digits and contains at least two 2s (i.e. 220, 2002, 22000). Try to aim high, but don't make it so high that it is unattainable.

2) If you want a specific genre to work in, add in or make your story a love story. It can be love as in romance or love as in a true friendship... and it doesn't necessarily have to be with humans either... animals or made up creatures are acceptable as well.

I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

His,

Laura

PS: Just a quick reminder... I will be sending out an email to all you writers tonight asking for your word counts so I can add them up and such. Please respond back as soon as you can to that email because I need to have totals in by tomorrow night at the latest. Thanks everyone!

Just so you know...

2009-01-30T00:29:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, I just wanted to say to anyone who has NOT signed up yet but would like to, please email me! We're just finishing up January's task and there's plenty of time for you to join in with the February crowd.

Hope to see some more new endeavorists this month!

His,

Laura

MiTa4

2009-01-29T23:41:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting here, and I happen to glance at something that for whatever strange reason reminds me that I forgot to do something yesterday.

In the unending whirl of school and writing this week, I forgot to come up with the final mini task for this month.

O_O

How horrible is that?!

Alright... since I have literally no time to come up with something, how about I just tell you all to try and reach the target word count goal (11,111) by 12:00am on Saturday morning?

Mmm... sounds good to me!

Now WRITE!!!

;)

His,

Laura

One Week Left!!!

2009-01-25T19:36:00.000-05:00

We only have one week left in January!

How is that possible? I mean honestly, it's gone by so fast!

How's everyone doing with their writing?

His,

Laura

It's the END of January ALREADY???!!!

2009-01-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Well, not quite yet... but we're heading into the final days of January.

Isn't that hard to believe?!

As you go through this last week, try to start thinking about what you'll be doing for February. I know that's hard to do since you're still working on January, but you don't want to go into the second month of TWE completely unprepared either. Just make sure you have a general idea of what you're doing so that you won't wake up on February 1st and make a face that looks something like the following: O_O

I hope you all are doing well and are getting lots of writing done!

His,

Laura

MiTa3

2009-01-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

Alright, very quickly I am going to post the third mini task:

If you listen to music while you write, try to find a song that fits your main character that you've been working with this month and list the name of that song and who it's by. It doesn't have to be a whole song, even just a couple of lines or a chorus will do. If you have the time, do it for some of your other characters too!

It's pretty simple really ;)

His,

Laura

Halfway Through January!

2009-01-15T18:00:00.000-05:00

Well, today (or tomorrow) pretty much marks the halfway point for the first month of TWE!!!

Are you all getting into the groove of things? Are you trying to figure out how to balance life and writing? Are you having fun?

For those of you who are doing the word count, you should be around 5,400 by the end of the day, so even if you're really behind, put your mind to it and try to reach that goal!

His,

Laura

MiTa2

2009-01-14T01:18:00.000-05:00

So I was reminded today that I needed to come up with another mini task... like now!

How about you all add a new setting (setting meaning a specific play where a scene takes place) that you haven't worked with before into the story that may not play a big part all at once, but either plays a big part later in the story, or that comes in sporadically throughout the remainder of your story?

I think that sounds good for the next mita

So go ahead... start!

(The next mita is your job, endeavorists!)

His,

Laura

Blogging

2009-01-08T23:23:00.000-05:00

(This is just an idea for any of you who have enough time to do so.)

Most of you are probably familiar with what a blog is... an online journal of sorts that you can make as personal or as general as you want.

This is a blog obviously for The Writing Endeavor, but I'm the only one who posts on it because I am the author of this blog.

If you feel like it, you should start a blog of your own to chart your personal progress during TWE. You could post on it as much or as little as you feel like it, making it only devoted to your writing.

Anyone who does decide to do this and would like for other people to be able to see it, let me know and I will put a blogroll on the side of this one so that you can share it with other endeavorists!

His,

Laura

End of the Week... and MiTa1

2009-01-07T11:32:00.000-05:00

Well, we're pretty close to being done with the first week!

Are we all up to WC so far? I am, but might be a little behind after today since I'm starting a brand new section and don't know how it's going to work... I know I don't want it to end up like the last section though, which turned out horrible.

So last night I told you all that I'd have a MiTa for you to do.

I didn't even know what it was until last night when my brain formed something... thankfully :)

Don't worry, it's not at all hard.

Although it may not be literally the end of the week (saturday) for us, it's the end of our first week of TWE. So what I want you to do is have your character give a reason why he or she likes (or maybe even dislikes) the end of the week. It could be something trivial or something huge (there's free lattes at the coffee shop on Saturday nights, or your character gets a break from work school, etc). Use your imagination, and share what you came up with! I'll be posting something like this on the forum today as well. Since not everyone is going to find out about the MiTas at the same time, you have exactly 24 hours to complete it from the time you found out about it, that way even if you don't check this until the day after I post it, you still can do the MiTa.

Let's raise our lattes to the end of the first week!!!

His,

Laura

Silence...

2009-01-06T23:32:00.000-05:00

I am assuming you're all writing like mad because it's been surprisingly quiet around here for the past couple days. Either that or you all haven't been writing at all and are too ashamed to show your faces.

I suspect the first more than the second ;)

Tomorrow I'll have a MiTa (mini task) for you all because I figured that we should probably finish out the first week with something special.

Hope you're all keeping track of your word count and the tasks you do (both MoTas and MiTas) so that I can record it!

His,

Laura

Mini Tasks

2009-01-03T12:21:00.000-05:00

So you all are probably wondering when the mini challenges are going to come into play.

Yeah, me too.

I was thinking one or maybe even two (depending on how hard they are) per week in addition to the month's task.

But, I think it's too stressful for me to come up with them, since I already have a lot on my mind.

I'm going to give you the job of coming up with mini challenges each week. Yes, you... the writers are going to have a little say in the tasks!

I thought you'd like that :)

So what we're going to do is this: You guys all think of little tasks, and when you think of them, email them to me and as I get them I'll weed through them and chose the ones that we're going to use. If I get an overabundance of them right away, I may put the other ones in an ideas folder for later use when the wells of your mind have become dry. Also, if you're a member on the forum, I will have a brainstorming topic where you can add your ideas and then I'll weed through them on there and post topics listing them in an orderly fashion (I think I can do that... I'm just not sure how). The mini tasks that me and the crew have decided to use will be posted on both here and the forum.

How does that sound?

One last thing, if you are participating in the January task please let me know so that I can stay on top of who's doing what.

Have a good weekend everyone and write, write, write!

His,

Laura

The Very First Day...

2009-01-02T00:18:00.000-05:00

For most of us, the first day of The Writing Endeavor will be drawing to a close in a handful of hours, for the rest of you, it either already has or you have a little bit more time than the some of us.

So how did the first day go? Was it what you expected or not? Did you get any actual writing done, or did you sit there tapping your pen against a blank page (tapping your fingers against the keyboard and staring at a blank screen for you who write on the computer)? I know there were quite a few of us (myself included) who started very unprepared... to those who had things planned a couple weeks ago, way to go!

Thank you to everyone who is embarking on this quest... it wouldn't be nearly as exciting without you all!

364 days of madness left ;)

His,

Laura

O_o

2008-12-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness.

I can't believe this starts tomorrow!

This past month has gone by so fast, and yet at the same time, at a pleasant pace. I'm finding it hard to imagine that it was only a few weeks ago that this idea began to form, and now here we are less than a day away from starting this writing endeavor. I thank everyone who has taken a part in the work that has allowed this plan to come into fruition, and especially to God for how He has made this project grow.

I know that most of us aren't nearly close to being ready, but it's going to start whether or not we're ready. These last few hours I'm sure will be spent scrambling to get our plot lines organized and our character profiles finished, but even during that little bit of madness, the excitement will be building, the adrenaline will be pumping, and the promise of a year of literary adventures hangs over our head, hopefully in a good way.

I want this year to be amazing for everyone involved. I hope that all of us together can take this to the next level and challenge ourselves, individualize this program, become friends with our fellow writers, share our work, use our talent, and most of all... enjoy it.

Who's with me?

His,

Laura

Guidelines for January

2008-12-29T23:31:00.000-05:00

I know that most of you have probably already seen these if you go on the forum regularly, but for those of you who haven't joined, I figured that I should probably post the basic "rules" that we have for January's task:

1) It has to be fiction; if it's not fiction, it doesn't count. You can write a story in poetry, song, or journal/diary form, but it has to be fiction.

2) If you're going for the word count goal (WC or WCG) of 11,111 words for the whole month, you're going to have to write approximately 360 words per day in order to finish.

3) It has to be a brand new story. I don't care if you start working on character sketches, plot outlines, and other such things now, but you can't actually start writing until 12:00am on January 1st. Anyone who has done Nanowrimo before knows what I'm talking about. And if you have an idea for a story that you don't think will be 11,000 words long, then write it and work on something else that's either new, or something that's already been started (you can do a WIP only after you write a new story).

If anyone has any questions, please email me.

His,

Laura

A Break Before It's Even Begun

2008-12-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

So for most of you, it's only a few hours until Christmas Eve... for those of you in different time zones than me, it may be a little more or less time... or it might already be Christmas Eve!

Due to the obvious hustle of the next handful of days, I won't be posting on the blog until the start of next week.

During this little break from my posting, continue to think about what you're going to write once the new year starts, because the next time I'll be posting, it will be to list the details and guidelines for January's task O_o

Yes, I know, you're probably panicking, especially those of you who are just getting into writing fiction.

So am I.

But you're also excited.

I am too.

;)

Merry Christmas to you all!

His,

Laura

It's all set...

2008-12-20T17:57:00.000-05:00

After working for a tremendous amount of time from this past Wednesday until now, we are ecstatic to say that the private forum is ready.

Well, as ready as it could ever be.

*sighs with relief*

I am amazed at how God is letting this all come together, and how much He is blessing everyone involved, even this early on in the project.

My gratitude to Him and everyone who is going to be or is already a part of this is unfathomable.

To anyone who has already registered on the forum, go play on it! Your accounts should be activated. To anyone who hasn't, but is already on the writers list, you should have an email in your inbox asking you if you'd like to join the forum... reply to me with a "Yes" if you want to! To anyone who isn't on the writer's list but would like to be added as a writer, please email me and once you're all signed up for TWE, you will gain access to the forum. And to anyone who isn't on the writer's list and doesn't really care to join the group but wants access to the forum... well, tough... it's endeavorists only ;)

Enjoy!

His,

Laura

Attention

2008-12-19T12:03:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have NOT signed up yet but have been thinking about it excessively and can't seem to decide, I'll speed up the thinking process for you a little...

Email me already!!!

The time is running out if you want to be added to the crew who will get to experience the beforehand prep and building excitement if you don't hurry up and tell me whether or not you want to do it. If you want to be part of the starting group of writers (the ones who will be starting at the beginning in January) please, please, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible!

You can jump in later on in the year, that's not a problem. But right now I'm just trying to get all the people who are interested and who know that they want to do it together so that you can experience TWE to the fullest!

The only hint that I will give you as to how things are coming together on my end (technical things, registration, forum, etc) is that God is blessing this project more than I can fathom, and I thank Him so greatly for that!

I think that you all (including me) will be surprised at how amazing this is turning out to be!

His,

Laura

Oops... again!

2008-12-18T17:13:00.000-05:00

Due to the accumulation of fine details (i.e. finishing the story that I am currently working on so that I can actually do January's task, getting the forum all set... a huge job in itself, thinking about what I'm going to post on here, making and keeping everything and I mean everything organized and completely neat so that I don't lose my mind, etc.) in my reservoir of things to do before officially launching this project, the start mental preparation has been postponed until Sunday, December 21st.

*blushes with humiliation*

I knew there was a reason that there was a red light going off in the back of my head when I decided to start the mental preparation early yesterday!

Just look at it this way: I actually gave you an extra day than I had originally!

His,

Laura

Alright, alright!!!

2008-12-18T16:28:00.000-05:00

Give yourself a round of applause, you all cornered me.

After 14 different people commented unanimously that they would like a forum, I decided against my better judgement to go way in over my head and create one.

Yes, way over my head.

With my lack of knowledge in the forum administrator department, it's not going quite as smoothly as I had thought it would, but it IS coming together... slowly, extremely slowly. Thankfully, God has provided me with wonderful people who are willing to help and a great deal more computer savvy than I am.

I would like to have the forum all ready and it's kinks sorted out by midday on Saturday (this Saturday, the 20th) that way all of you who are ready can become members and then it will be open for use by Sunday morning.

I would suggest praying for a miracle ;)

His,

Laura

A Writer's Forum...

2008-12-17T18:09:00.000-05:00

So, there is a slight possibility that we might launch a private forum for the endeavorists to communicate on...

If we did end up making one, how many of you would utilize it?

Oops...

2008-12-17T17:01:00.000-05:00

...I lied.

We're going to start the preparation of mind for TWE now.

Yes, now.

Go ahead and call me mean for springing this on you last minute.

I'm too excited to wait until the 20th, even though that's only a few days away.

Who's with me?

The Lull Before the Lunacy

2008-12-11T17:56:00.000-05:00

So now that I've gotten word out there and I know that there are a lot of you out there who are either interested in finding out what TWE is about and have been put on the mailing list, are going to actually try the project just to see if you like it or not, or have told me enthusiastically that you WILL do it, you all are probably wondering, "Well what happens next?"

You have 9 days before the preparation for TWE gets into full swing on the 20th.

Yes, 9 days of silence in the writing realm.

Well not for me because... well never mind, that's a long story :P I will be working on finishing up the fine details for this project so it will all be ready for when it actually launches, and attempting to finish a story that isn't quite as short as I thought it would be.

Nine days to think about whether or not you really want to do this, to prepare yourself for the preparation that will take place a handful of days before Christmas, to do, well... probably anything but writing, considering that you'll be a slave to your characters and your wild ideas for the next 12 months.

Savor your last moments of sanity, because I can guarantee you that once the 20th hits, you will start to develop into a person who is the farthest thing from stable.

Your mind will begin to contort itself into that of a writer's.

Yes, I know, it's a very scary thought... but if you think what I just said is scary, just wait until 12:00AM on January 1st when you actually do go mad, when your characters start to take over and become a part of you by haunting your every thought, when you feel like you're living the plots that you're jotting down, when you actually experience the strange phenomenon of morphing into a writer.

For those of you who have never experienced this before, I truly pity you for you are missing out on something wonderful, despite the fact that I've probably horrified you out of your wits by giving you a hint of what you are in for.

And everyone who knows the exact feeling I am talking about, you're smiling deviously and whispering "Let's get this started."

Personally, I can't wait for the lunacy to begin ;)

His,

Laura

Contact Information

2008-12-10T18:14:00.000-05:00

I know I put how to get a hold of me at the bottom of the blog, but not everyone looks at the bottom of the blog... SO I'm listing it here at the top of the blog as well so that I can be sure that people are able to find the information they need without having to scroll all the way down the page ;)

If you have any questions, suggestions, or anything else that could concern TWE, please email me (Laura) at: thewritingendeavor@gmail.com or you can just leave a comment on here. Forgive me if I don't respond to emails right away, there's a lot to do and my forgetful brain can't remember it all ;)

His,

Laura

The Writing Endeavor Forum

2008-12-07T00:27:00.000-05:00

The following link is for the private forum that has been created for TWE participants:

http://thewritingendeavor.forumotion.net/index.htm

Since it is private, you have to register in order to view the forum. Please do not register unless you have already signed up for The Writing Endeavor, because I won't let the accounts be activated unless I recognize the name and email address of the potential members; only those who are on the list of writers will be let into the website. If you are interested in becoming an endeavorist, please email me at the address that is listed in the "Contact" page. We are trying to keep this as safe and real as possible, so please use your real age, name, and gender when you register.

If you are a part of TWE already, I encourage you to join the forum if you can.

Thanks.

His,

Laura

About the Writing Endeavor

2008-12-03T23:53:00.000-05:00

So the reason why you’re reading this or are even on this blog in the first place is because you want to find out what this seemingly terrifying thing is that I'm calling the Writing Endeavor.

Am I right?

I thought so :) I enjoy being right.

Well since that’s the case, why don’t you grab a cozy chair to sit in along with whatever else makes you happy, that way you can be comfortable while I ramble on and on.

Are you ready?

Here we go...

Okay, I’ll answer the questions in the basic 'five W's and an H' format which is also known as "who, what, when, where, why, how" to those of you who are unfamiliar with that term.

WHAT is the writing endeavor? The writing endeavor is a year long "program" of sorts that I’m challenging myself and my fellow writers to. We’ll write as much as we can in as many different ways as possible. It will mostly consist of fiction stories, but we’ll throw in some journaling, blogging, songwriting, poetry, etc... That way we can be sure of broadening our gift of putting words onto paper. We'll keep track of those words so we can look back at the end of the year and be proud that we really used that God-given gift that we call writing. Each of the 12 months will have one big challenge that will last for that month, along with smaller tasks that will change from week to week or even daily.

WHEN is it going to happen? The writing endeavor will cover a time span of a year and will be held during the 365 days of 2009, starting at 12:00am on January 1st, and ending on December 31st at 11:59pm. I know that any of you who have done any sort of writing challenge like this are thinking "Oh great, it's a long term NaNoWriMo." But unlike nanowrimo, we are not going to neglect our lives for the whole of 2009 like we do once a year during November. We WILL pay attention to our lives still while doing a lot of writing... or at least, attempt to keep on top of things outside of TWE. Also, you don’t have to do every task, you can pick and chose the ones that suit your schedule best, but I highly recommend doing as many as you can.

WHO does it involve? Hopefully, you who are reading this! Anyone who loves to write and wants to use that talent to the fullest is called to unite and write... sorry, that was cheesy, but it rhymed so I couldn't resist :) Even if you haven't had much experience writing, you are welcome to join in the fun! It's all ages, doesn't matter where you live, what you believe, or who you are :)

WHERE is this taking place? Well, I’m putting this out there for people anywhere! It doesn't matter where you're from because most of it will take place on your computer… actually close to all of it will be on the computer, unless you’re old fashioned like me and like to do your writing in notebooks, despite the fact that it is definitely more tedious that way. I myself am thinking about investing in one of those little word processor things, considering that they're much more reasonable than a laptop. My brain is pleading with me not to give up my notebooks though, so we'll see who wins ;)

WHY is this happening? Well, great writers love to expand their skills, right? And please don’t use the excuse: "Well I’m not a great writer!" because believe me, even if you aren’t, you will become one by the end of this! So this series of tasks is to get us writing anything and everything, to get us to really love that wonderful process of coming up with wild ideas and daring to put them down onto paper for others to see… oh, and if you have a fear of letting others read your work, well, we’re going to fix that!

So now that I’ve probably scared you away with the basics, I’m sure you're just dying to ask the question: "Well HOW do I get involved?" It’s pretty easy actually... okay so I think it’s a piece of cake because I made it up, but really it is! Just email me, Laura, at: thewritingendeavor@gmail.com and I’ll help you get started! After you’ve gone against all of your better judgement and taken the leap into preperation for TWE, you will be pounded with suggestions and details from me and everyone else who is helping me carry out this complicated scheme. During that time you’ll probably start to get a little scared, and think about backing out, but we won’t let you *laughs evilly* You’re stuck with us for the rest of the year!!! Hehe… don’t worry, if you decide it’s not your thing or your life gets too busy, you can drop out, but I really encourage you to stick it out and suffer with the rest of us!

There, those are the basics… I hope now that you know what this is all about and that I’ve horrified you with this lengthy section of information, I hope that you’ll consider joining my friends and I on this journey of literary craziness. I won’t use any adjectives to describe it yet because I don’t know what it will be like! That would be your job… it’s called feedback.

Anyway, mull over all this and let me know if you're interested or want to know more by December 20th so me and my crew will know how many people to expect participating, and so all of us can start getting ready and counting down the days until launch time!

His,

Laura.

The Particulars of The Writing Endeavor

2008-12-03T23:37:00.000-05:00

The fine details of this program will change from month to month, week to week, and maybe even day to day... I will explain them as they change in my blog posts.

Okay, so I gave up on trying to avoid writing particulars, and have thought of a few things that I could probably clarify or at least explain a little more.

You can write in any way you want, whether it be that bulky, old and slow computer at the library, your grandparents' finicky computer, your sleek laptop, your portable word processor, or your trusty notebook, you get to chose!

For the assignments, you can do whichever ones you want! Do the ones that fit into your schedule so that you don't end up dropping your life to spend all your time on writing. Maybe chose just the word count (WC) goal for that month, then the next month write in the suggested genre, do both, if you don't have a lot of time, just do the daily/weekly challenges, or just the monthly challenges, or all of them, etc. Mix it up a little, get creative with how you schedule your own personal writing endeavor and let me know what you come up with! Keep track of which tasks (monthly, weekly, and daily) you do over the course of the year so you I know which ones people used the most!

Keep track of how many words you write and which assignments you do. I don't think I can stress that one enough. Hopefully I'll remember to email you all at the end of every week (saturday night probably) and you can tell me how many words you wrote that week so that I can add it to the growing word count on the main TWE site for everyone to see how much the endeavorists (ssshhh... yes, I know that isn't a real word but it sounds cool!) have written so far!

Let's see... what else could I write about on this post...

*wrinkles nose*

I can't think of any more particulars, so I think that's it! At least for now ;) I'm sure I'll come up with more by the time we really start preparing!

His,

Laura

The Main Tasks

2008-12-03T23:29:00.002-05:00

So I mentioned that each month of the year has a main task that will run through the course of the 28-31 days, then there will be little tasks that will change on a daily basis and I will post what they are as we are going through that month, considering that I don't even know what they are as of yet! The 12 tasks are pretty much set for good at this point, so I will give the ideas of them to you so you can be thinking about them ahead of time.

Here they are:

JANUARY

WC: 11,111 by the end of the month.

GENRES: all

TYPE: fiction

TASK: Try to use a story that you haven't worked on before the start of the month.

FEBRUARY

WC: must contain at least two 2s in it (i.e. 220, 2022, etc.)

GENRES: all

TYPE: fiction

TASK: Try to either write a separate romance or love story, or somehow incorporate one into a story you are already working on.

MARCH

WC: self-set goal that is challenging but realistic.

GENRES: all

TYPE: fiction

TASK: Try to work on a genre or story that you haven't worked on for awhile; if it is a story, try to finish it up this month. Or you can try to work on writing in a genre that you've had little to no experience with.

APRIL

WC: during the four weeks (a week meaning every seven days) of this month write 4,444 words every week, which would be about 635 words every day. By the end of the month you should have around 17,800 words. Or if you have a busy schedule, just write 4,444 words for the entire month. You chose, but challenge yourself if you can.

GENRES: fantasy, futuristic, science fiction, and fan-fiction

TYPE: fiction

TASK: Try to stay on top of the WC goal for the week and stick to the listed genres even if you're unfamiliar with it.

MAY

WC: 15,500 by the end of the month (500 words per day)

GENRES: all

TYPE: fiction and NON-FICTION.

TASK: Try to stick with the exact WC goal... no more, no less.

JUNE

WC: write every day of the month with the WC accruing in increments of 100 every day (i.e. 100 words on the 1st, 200 on the 2nd, 300 on the 3rd, etc.) until you have about 43,000 words by the end of the month or you can start counting over every ten days if the goal is too much for your schedule (i.e. write 100 words on the 1st, 200 on the 2nd... 1,ooo on the 10th, then start over by writing 100 on the 11th; this way you'll have about 16,500 words at the end of the month). I know that sounded confusing, so email if you have any questions!

GENRES: all

TYPE: fiction and NON-FICTION.

TASK: Try to complete one of the two WC goals suggested.

JULY

WC: no word count goal for this month, but keep track of how many words you write if you want them to count.

GENRES: -

TYPE: Fiction and non-fiction.

AUGUST

WC: No word count goal for this month, but if you do end up writing, keep track of how many words you wrote.

GENRES: -

TYPE: Non-fiction and fiction.

TASK: This month, work on making any of your characters come to life! Draw costumes or portraits, make profiles, do character sketches, etc. Try some role-playing with your friends. If you're one of our non-fiction writers, this is a month when your words will count, so do some writing!

SEPTEMBER

WC: between 6,000 and 7,000 words by the end of the month.

GENRES: all

TYPE: fiction

TASK: Write a story (or stories) based off of the lyrics to a song or incorporate the lyrics to a song into a scene of a story you're already working on.

OCTOBER

WC: 10,000 words by the end of the month.

GENRES: horror, thriller, mystery.

TYPE: fiction

TASK: Complete the word count goal by writing something in the suggested genre.

NOVEMBER NaNoWriMo! (see the link for more information on that task).

DECEMBER

WC: no word count goal, but keep track of the words that you do write!

GENRES: -

TYPE: fiction and non-fiction.

TASK: Try to finish up between two and three stories that you've already started; work on editing already completed works from this year! Again, non-fiction writers, do some writing!

If you have any questions or suggestions, email me please!

His,

Laura