The annual Labour Day weekend three-day novel-writing challenge is fast approaching.
It seems daunting. Crazy even.
But I did it one year, and it's a great way to demystify the whole process of writing a novel. You have an idea, and you write, about 1,000 words per hour, allowing time for sleeping and eating. By midnight Monday, you have a novel.
Not a great one, in my case. But it was a fine experience. It's freeing to be faced with a deadline and know you have to write your way through the inevitable doubts and dead ends. While everyone else is taking advantage of the summer's last long weekend, you're hunched over a computer, pacing around, making a story. It's a good feeling.
And it's a reminder that life is mostly about deciding to do something, showing up and giving your best effort.
The details about the challenge, sponsored by Anvil Press, are here.
And CBC Books has gathered some useful tips from past participants.
It seems daunting. Crazy even.
But I did it one year, and it's a great way to demystify the whole process of writing a novel. You have an idea, and you write, about 1,000 words per hour, allowing time for sleeping and eating. By midnight Monday, you have a novel.
Not a great one, in my case. But it was a fine experience. It's freeing to be faced with a deadline and know you have to write your way through the inevitable doubts and dead ends. While everyone else is taking advantage of the summer's last long weekend, you're hunched over a computer, pacing around, making a story. It's a good feeling.
And it's a reminder that life is mostly about deciding to do something, showing up and giving your best effort.
The details about the challenge, sponsored by Anvil Press, are here.
And CBC Books has gathered some useful tips from past participants.