is an informal group of bloggers who have all agreed to write a certain amount of words on our creative writing projects every day and report on what we’ve written each day on our blogs. And to keep everyone honest and motivated, we also check up on one another frequently.
The ground rules
(Invented by Liz, adapted and expanded by Ing, copied by Aestril, and then copied by me ... )
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Write at least 100 words every day on a creative project. Doesn’t matter what genre. Most of us – if not all, at the moment – write fiction, but the Union also covers nonfiction, as long as it’s creative writing. And no “banking.” If you write 1000 words today, you don’t get to take ten days off. It’s a hundred words MINIMUM per day.
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The day’s word count to be posted by midnight Pacific Time. Some of us are in the eastern U.S., some in the West…and at some point (even if temporarily) some of us might be right smack in the middle. You’re welcome to treat midnight, local time, as your own personal deadline. But as a (more or less) official deadline, this gives us the best flexibility for folks across the States.
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No fudging — and new words only. The words don’t have to be polished, but they do have to exist in some form other than our minds (a rough draft is all you need). Just planning a great piece of dialog or a cool scene in your head doesn’t count. We’re all probably great at that already. Words written on blogs don’t count (we’re writing books here). Crits given to other people don’t count. Simply editing doesn’t count. New content added during revision does count, however.
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Doesn’t matter if it sucks. That’s why first attempts are called rough drafts. Editing can come later. It’s getting it from the head and onto the page that’s the real test. Flogging yourself doesn’t count. The idea is to write books, not to gaze lovingly at our navels.
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No excuses! Well, okay. Dying is a reasonable excuse. But being too busy isn’t. Sickness? Only if you wish you were dying.
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If you can’t update daily, say so. Whether you’re going on vacation or just someplace without Internet access (say, prison? The Gobi Desert? A Ukrainian hospital? Southern Utah?) say so before you go…and have the right number of words completed by the time you come home. This is vital, as it will keep you on track and prevent floggings from fellow union members.
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Keep each other honest — be honest — and support your fellow writers. As Word Counters’ Union members, we post our daily progress in a prominent place on our blogs, link to other union members’ blogs, and visit them to keep up on their progress. If you miss your daily goal, your fellow bloggers will know it, and will verbally flog you (either on their blogs or on yours); if someone in your WCU circle misses the writing goal, you can — indeed, are obligated to — flog that person. One last thing. The most important thing. Probably goes without saying because everyone who has joined so far is great, but I can’t resist saying it anyway: be supportive and kind to your fellow writers. When asked, give honest criticism…but always give encouragement too (speaking for myself, I really need it).
Who can join?
Anyone. That’s the simple answer…and the only one, really. You can ask to join an existing group (there’s only one right now) or invite some blogging friends to form a new one. Whatever you want. Just abide by the spirit of the ground rules, that’s all.
How it started (as written by Ing)
“Liz of Real Joined-Up Writing came up with the idea when she got tired of all the whining I did on my blog about how I wished I had the time and motivation to start actually writing the novel that I’ve been contemplating for years. She came up with the idea (partly inspired by the concept behind National Novel Writing Month) that we would all write at least 100 words a day, and anyone who didn’t accomplish that would get publicly flogged on the other members’ blogs (or berated viciously in comments left randomly on his/her most current post).”
Why I'm participating:Because I need the daily accountability (and the occasional kick in the butt) to keep me headed towards my goal of completing a full novel by the end of 2008. AND I love making cool new writing friends!!
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