Are you ready to compete?
Do you want to taste the thrill of victory, and risk the agony of defeat?
It's time for the Pen Olympics!
The Purpose
To push yourself to new heights of writing accomplishment, using the Olympics as inspiration.
The Plan
You will state your team affiliations and goals in the comments to this post. Anyone can play, but please do show your team spirit! Make your goals a stretch! This is an opportunity to aim high and reach far!
The Teams
In the comments, declare which team you'll be playing on:
- Team Fiction will focus on the fiction manuscript of the player's choice.
- Team Nonfiction will focus on nonfiction books, proposals, or articles.
- Team Drama will focus on plays and scripts.
- Team Submissions will focus on queries, synopses, and sending out submissions.
The Events
In the comments, declare your event of choice:
- Pre-writing includes character sketching, plot outlines, scene mapping, and research.
- Drafting is for those who want to bang out new pages.
- Editing is for those who want to make existing pages better.
- Submitting includes writing queries and synopses and sending them out! No excuses!
The Goals
In the comments, in addition to telling us your team(s) and event(s), please set your goals. "For Team Fiction, I'll compete in the Drafting event. I'll write one hundred new pages during the Olympics." Or, "For Team Submissions, I'll write the query letter and synopsis for my completed romantic suspense novel and submit it to five agents and two editors." Your goals will vary, but challenge yourself!
The Timeline
All events start when the Olympic opening ceremonies begin, and close at the end of closing ceremonies.
The Heats
We'll be posting fun exercises and events here on the blog while the Olympics are under way, and "medals" will be awarded. (And that's all we'll reveal about that right now! Stay tuned! Whee!)
The Winners
Everyone who meets their Pen Olympics goals will get a graphic to include on their blogs or websites. Of course, that will be nothing to compare to the satisfaction of bringing home a victory in your event!
Do you want to play? Post your goals in the comment thread before the opening ceremony begins. This should be fun! I can't wait to see what you all will accomplish!
Theresa
Posts
40 comments:
I'll kick things off by announcing my intent to compete on Team Fiction in the Editing event. I'll line edit two novellas and send out, er, three revision letters.
Theresa
I'm in.
I'd like to play for Team Fiction. I'll be competing in the Drafting event Where I plan to pump out 50 pages of a novel.
Love the contest!
I'll compete in Team Fiction in the Drafting event.
I guess I've approximately eight chapters to write to complete the first draft of my fantasy MS. I'll complete my MS and type "the end".
Let the games begin!
I'll play for Team Fiction, in the Drafting Events, and my goal is 20,000 new word on the novel during the Games.
Go Team!
I'm in!
Team non-fiction here and I'll be on board for team submissions - 10 devotionals for my pitch and 2 essays!
Team Submissions - I'll be participating in a Synopsis relay and 100-yard Query dash.
I'm in. Playing for Team Fiction in the Pre-Writing category. My goal is to come up with a theme, map out all the characters and do a plot outline (eep, I suck at outlines).
(Just as a clarification: we're talking about what we're doing for the duration of the Olympics, right? So through Feb 28?)
I'm in for Team Editing. I'll be competing (Uhh...) in the Revisions event, for a Novel. The whole thing. All 98,000 words. I hope. (I might get a jumpstart today and tomorrow, though. Opening ceremonies.)
Count me in - I'll be glad to stand on that podium for Team Fiction in the submission process. By the time my competition comes I'll be ready to submit to 5 agents with my query and the dreaded synopsis.
I'll be competing for Team Fiction
Drafting: 1000 words a day on WIP
Editing: Working on my collection of existing short stories for an anthology
Submitting: Submitting my completed gay literary tragedy to one agent a day throughout the event.
Oh dang. I'm on Team Fiction with an event in Editing—Novel Revision.
And I just found out the deadline for a contest I want to enter is March 1 (two weeks sooner than I thought), so I guess I'll also be competing in Submissions—Contests. Right?
Yes, our Olympics will start with the opening ceremonies and end with the closing ceremonies. 16 days, I think. Feb 12-28.
I think contests can be folded into submissions, but if we have enough contest people, we might want to make it it's own event.
Theresa
I'll play. Bring on the motivation!
On Team Fiction in the Editing event.
Starting with Chapter 4 and going to Chapter 8. There's a great deal of revision going on with a fair smattering of rewriting.
Team Fiction in the Editing event.
Starting with Chapter 15 (cause that's where I stopped) to the end (approx 200 pages). I wanted to get the thing edited by the end of February. This will be good motivation!
I'm declaring myself for Team Fiction, the Drafting Event. I will finish the first three chapters of my romantic suspense rough draft, with a nebulous goal of between 10K-12K words.
I'll jump in! Team Fiction, Drafting. Just the boot in the pants I need.
Team Fiction, two events:
Drafting - the last 3 to 6 scenes of my WIP (however many are left to go as of the beginning of the games).
Editing - first pass of chapters 1 through 12. (Already got some high-powered help on chapter 1 and first scene of chapter 2 - thanks, Theresa!)
I am so in.
I'll be on Team Fiction, Drafting, going for the "1,000 words for every day of the Games" event.
I'll give it a go on team Fiction in the Editing category. I want to get the first run though of my novel finished during the 16 days. Finally a motivation to work on it instead of just carrying it back and forth to work.
Call me Team Fiction, Editing style. I hope to get major amplitude on this current WIP. Fifty pages ought to be easy, given that I like to edit with the TV on.
Anyone that knows me, knows that I am an over-achieving perfectionist. So it should come as no surprise that I'll be playing for multiple teams and events. :)
Team Fiction:
- Editing Event (finishing revisions of chapters 4-21 for overused words and sentences ending with prepositions - luckily, I don't have very many of those!)
- Drafting Event (writing down some ideas for eventual website articles)
Team Submissions:
- Query Event (polishing query - again - in preparation to send out round one of queries)
Jami G.
(word verification: zingless - what I feel like my query is suffering from... *sigh*)
Team Fiction-Editing
I just bought Alicia's POV book and plan to edit my novel as I read the book (using the exercises in the book). My goal is to have the first quarter of my manuscript revised by the end of the Olympics.
I'm in for Team Fiction. For Draughting I'll finish three more chapters.
Just in the nick of time--I have a project due April 1!
I'll be joining Team Fiction in the Drafting event. Goal is 150 first-draft pages (10 pgs/day).
I've been reading for a while now, and this looks really fun! I'll join Team Fiction, and am aiming to draft at least three chapters.
I'm in with Team Fiction.
Events:
1. Pre-writing. Goal: Complete chapter outline.
2. Drafting. Goal: Write at least 20K words.
This should be fun!
This is a great idea!
I'm joining Team Fiction in the Drafting Event. My goal is to write 15,000 words.
I'm joining Team Fiction in the Editing Event.
I will edit Chapters 1-10 of my novel. Includes some extensive rewriting and new scenes.
Fun stuff.
I'll join Team Fiction in the drafting half-marathon. I will finish pounding out the second half of my novel.
Great idea!
Team Fiction
Drafting -- 5 chapters
Editing -- 3 chapters revised and submitted to critique group
Sign me up! Team submission here - and I’m not talking about the fun nocturnal kind, either. ;) Nope. This is hardcore...well, I guess the other kind could be considered that too, but, um, anyway, I’m talking about nailing that elusive synopsis. You guys know the one I mean, right? It’s when you take your completed MS of 350 pages and summarize it into a mere 5 page masterpiece that dazzles, enamors, and convinces someone who’s never met you - to take that leap of faith and trust you anyway. Easy peezy! (Insert me dodging lightening strikes) Okay, okay - it’s not easy. Freaking hell, it’s freakin’ hell! Every time I think I’ve done it - I realize I’ve included text that is more relevant to an outline than a synopsis. Crapatola!
Murphy - who’s beginning to get a Lizzy Borden complex. Man, my literary axe is swinging all day long!
I'll play for Team Fiction, in the Drafting Events, and my goal is 17,000 new words on the novel during the Games. :D
Signing up for Team Fiction for the Drafting event, to write fifty new pages in my main WIP.
Also signing up for Team Submissions, event of same name, to submit my query to ten agents.
Murphy............team submission???? Funny. You are a delight.
I will be joining Team Fiction for the Drafting event. I need to finish my WIP...and soon.
I would love to be on the submissions team. I have two finished novels I am trying to market.
Elizabeth H.
For Team Fiction, I will compete in the Editing event. I will flesh out and layering to characters and plot, and make sure all sentences/paragraphs/scenes work properly.
Margay
Team Non-Fiction here if I'm not too late! I tend to catch up on the blog once a week but I'll be sure to stop in daily during the event!
This is a stretch but doable if I stay focused!
Drafting: 12,000 new words
Editing: 6,000 old words to be revisited and revise
Submitting: one article culled from the edited text
Ah, Murphy, you are inimitable! LOL
@ Jami: Over-achieving Perfectionist? Now, that's a freaking understatement!
@ Wes: Hey! It's about time you showed up - where have you been????
@ Dave: Geez, I was nearly insulted until I looked that up. ;) Thanks!
Murphy
Post a Comment