Me!!!!!!!!!!
Now, don’t get too excited, this post isn’t about the PNWA contest. Although I didn’t place in the top two, I’m still stoked to be among the top eight finalists.
This is about a gruelling race against an author friend to see which of us could finish our novels first. The contest arose when Aimee Laine, known in our little writing group to be a machine when it comes to pumping out novels, posted the word count for her current work in progress, Surrender, on Facebook.
I’d been dawdling to finish Shadowborn, the second in the Lila Gray trilogy, and thought … huh … a little motivation and fun might be just what I needed to push me to the end. So I challenged Aimee to a race, which she eagerly accepted.
Aimee’s word goal: 90k. Mine: 95k and I had a one day delay to start. Which was fair, because my current word count was higher.
What are the spoils you ask? She who doesn’t win must send the winner chocolate AND sing her praises on a blog post. Mmmm, chocolate. That alone is motivation enough, right?
Our good friend, J. A. Belfield, stepped in to be our judge of the final products. Judge Julie, to be exact. Check out her announcement here.
Both Aimee and I set to work heckling one another over Twitter while our fingers pounded the keyboard. It wasn’t pretty, but hell, it was a lot of fun.
In the end, we both came out as winners. We both came away with first draft novels in a much shorter time than we would have otherwise. So yeah, the editing process might take a wee bit longer (speaking for myself only, of course, as Ms. Laine is a master, after all :D) due to the speed at which I pumped out the words, but I still have a skeleton I can now apply some dressing to make it into a living, breathing work of art.
Check out the “official” results here, at J. A. Belfield’s blog
Check out Aimee Laine’s blog to get her take on the big race.
What do you do to motivate yourself to write?
Jocelyn Adams 
Hehe. Congratulations!
I’m currently avoiding writing the end of my new novel by checking out blogs I follow instead, but I should have a first draft finished fairly soon 🙂 I usually set a word count that I must reach for the day. I find telling my lovely beta reader that I’ll have a chapter to her by a certain date is great motivation – I can’t break my word on it, so I always get it done.
Chocolate would probably work too 😀
Ooh, I’d totally be a beta reader for you. I enjoy your stories 🙂
Myself and another writer friend also compare word counts. I like posting mine on Twitter and Facebook each time I finish a chapter. It’s a little less depressing than posting a daily word count. When writing my first book, I was easily managing 2,000 words a day. But on the current one, it’s a lot less.
I think that’s because we put more pressure on ourselves the longer we’ve been writing because we know we can do better if we only try harder–proven by the improvement from very 1st draft ever written to current WiP’s. 🙂
Yeah. I think we forget that each new book is just as much work as the one before it, if not more so. This is, I think, especially true of a series, where the expectation is that each book will be longer and more detailed than the last.
I declare you a WORTHY WINNER!!!! Because I am The Law! Ha! 😉
Oh, yeah! Muahahahaha! 😀
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You win. Somehow, someway, somewhere, I will get my own back. 😉 (hehehehehe : said with evil grin). Next time, my editor muse will NOT take over my writer muse and *I* will persevere! 😉 And there will be a next time. I guarantee it. And that chocolate will be miiiiiiiiiiiiine. 🙂 (‘cuz that’s really all I care about anyway). 😉 LOL
Oh yes, Ms. Laine, we will race again and I will be cursing your speedy fingers the entire time. Again. 🙂 Maybe when I pick up Road to Salvation? Have anything you’re 30k into? 😉
Congrats to you both — though I can understand Aimee being a little sad about the chocolate. It is chocolate, afterall.
Thanks. Hmm, maybe I’ll post some pictures of me eating said chocolate. ::taps chin thoughtfully:: Muahahaha. 😀
Okay, dismiss the previous comments i made on the other blogs. The prize waas chocolate? That’s a bribe worthy of accepting a challenge. 😀
Congrats, you silly people. I’ve got a short to spit shine before I send it off.