Nanowrimo and the Ksenia Anske Three Month Challenge
I’ve been participating in Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) for the past four years or so, though I do so unofficially. I don’t actually submit anything for Nanowrimo, I just use it as an excuse to get myself to write more for that month than I would normally. It works well, but only one of those years I’ve managed to get the 50,000 words done, which is about half a novel for me. It was two years ago that this happened and since then my writing has been rather slow, at least when it comes to novels. I’ve been sitting on two novels that are quite literally half written. And even more novels that are a few chapters in. And that’s not even counting the number of novellas and short stories I’ve been producing for the past year.
The problem is, I’m not finishing any of this work. I start it, then I start something else. Then I come back to it, and touch it a little, and then I just don’t get anything done. And when I don’t have anything done, I have nothing to show for it. I have no complete works, and the last thing I want to do is show people my incomplete work. I’ll show whole chapters from some of my novels but that’s as far as I go, and even those are just one of the many rough drafts I go through.
Regardless, it was over the past month that I finally realized. I’m in one of those unique positions. I’m a writer, who actually does have a job that leaves me with an insane amount of hours each day to get writing and reading done, and yet I’m not always doing it. I’m playing games, or I’m watching videos on youtube (which I realize has replaced what I used to do with Television). I’ll find almost anything just to not write my novels, or short stories or anything. Heck, I’ve been resorting to writing my card game up just to do something because I’m bored but I won’t focus on just writing my novels.
It’s not that I’m even bored of writing my novels. I love them. And I love writing down new scenes for it. And I love talking about what I’m writing, and what scenes I’m working on, or what scenes are in my books that are already written! The problem isn’t boredom, or even lack of muse or inspiration, or having writer’s block. It all just has to do with rhythm. I am probably one of the worst people you could ever meet when it comes to setting and keeping to a schedule. I’m awful at it. I just get tired at one point while starting the schedule and then I say, well one day won’t hurt not to do it, and then two days and then before long I’m not even following my schedule anymore.
However. Along the way, I did notice something about myself. I stop keeping to a schedule roughly around 3-4 months after I set it. It’s almost consistent every time I set a schedule, it is 3-4 months and then it changes. I do something else, or I give up on the schedule, even if it had been working.
So then comes along a Ksenia Anske post in which she gathers up some of the things she said in a rant on twitter. Much like large collections of advice from anyone, not all of it is gold, but there are some gems in there, especially for freelance and self-published writers to take advantage of. It wasn’t until she mentioned that to succeed as a self-published author you need to write 4 books a year that it really hit me. 3 months. That’s it. 3 months is actually generous when it comes to writing a novel. But accounting for obtaining a cover and all the publishing aspects, it is reasonable to say 3 months at maximum for one book.
So, what if I set a schedule to follow for each three months. During that time I set my entire schedule up on what I’m going to do. Then I’ll stick to it for those three months, and that means, finish the novel and get it published. Then I can start another three-month schedule, different from the last, and follow that.
It was this little nugget of information that made me realize I don’t need to set a schedule that I have to follow for the REST OF MY ENTIRE LIFE. Just 3 months.
So I’m calling it the Ksenia Anske Three Month Challenge. It’s a bit like Nanowrimo, in that you have to write an entire novel within the three months. But, its more professional than Nanowrimo. You have to write, edit, and publish an entire novel within three months. Everything. Sure, you can have help, but the key is that you get it all done within a three month period. That’s it. That’s all it takes. Simple right?
You’d think so. But there is a level of dedication you do have to commit, just like nanowrimo. Nano may be extreme in asking for a 50k novel in 30 days, but this is roughly going to be 100k word novels every 90 days. That means essentially, going by nano levels, spending two months writing the novel. And one month for the editing and publishing process. And that’s only if you write at the nano level of writing for that long, which I might add is not too difficult, it’s just about setting your schedule!
So this is my schedule. And it’s going to start on Monday, September 22nd and last until Saturday, November 22nd.
Monday:
8am – Wake up. Lay in bed and read a book. At least until 9am
9am – Shower, eat, and social media.
10am – Write a blog post to be published on Tuesday.
11am – Check social media then travel to local coffee shop
Noon – Start writing on novel.Type anything up that was written on paper, before writing anything new on paper. (For first day this will just be writing on paper). At least one chapter to be completed so long as that chapter is around 3,000 words, otherwise more than one.
3pm – Free-time and break from writing, check social media, play a game, research topics, or read a book.
4pm – Continue writing on novel with writing on paper. Finish a single chapter if 3,000+ words, otherwise more than one chapter.
7pm- Gaming with Friends. Role-playing games, computer games, etc. This is in person.
10pm – Relax and eat.
11pm – Lay in bed and read a book. At least until midnight or whenever I fall asleep.
Tuesday:
8am – Wake up. Lay in bed and read a book. At least until 9am
9am – Shower, eat, and social media.
10am – Work on Freelance writing jobs til around 3pm or whenever finished.
3pm – Free-time and break. Check social media, play a game, read a book.
5pm – Continue writing on novel. Type anything up that was written the day before on paper.
10pm – Relax and eat.
11pm – Lay in bed and write on paper, at least until midnight or whenever I fall asleep.
Wednesday:
8am – Wake up. Lay in bed and read a book. At least until 9am
9am – Shower, eat, and social media.
10am – Write a blog post/short story to be published on SECRET SITE.
11am – Check social media then travel to local coffee shop
Noon – Start writing on novel.Type anything up that was written on paper, before writing anything new on paper. At least one chapter to be completed so long as that chapter is around 3,000 words, otherwise more than one.
3pm – Free-time and break from writing, check social media, play a game, research topics, or read a book.
4pm – Continue writing on novel with writing on paper. Finish a single chapter if 3,000+ words, otherwise more than one chapter.
7pm- Gaming with Friends. Role-playing games, computer games, etc. This is in person.
10pm – Relax and eat.
11pm – Lay in bed and read a book. At least until midnight or whenever I fall asleep.
Thursday:
8am – Wake up, Lay in bed and read a book. At least until 9am.
9am – Shower, eat, and social media.
10am – Work on Freelance writing jobs until about 3pm or whenever finished.
3pm – Free time and break. Check social media. Play a game, read a book, research things.
5pm – Continue writing on novel. Type anything up that was written the day before on paper.
10pm – Relax and eat.
11pm – Lay in bed and write on paper. At least until midnight or whenever I fall asleep.
Friday:
8am – Wake up, Lay in bed and read a book. At least until 9am.
9am – Shower, eat, and social media.
10am – Write a blog post to be published on Saturday.
11am – Start writing on novel. Typing up any work that was written on paper the day before.
2pm – Free time and break. Check social media. Play a game, read a book, research something.
5pm – Write or continue writing a short story. Finish 2-3k words for a short story or novella.
8pm – Free time and break. Spend time with loved ones. Eat.
11pm – Writing on novel. Write on paper. At least until midnight or whenever I fall asleep.
Saturday:
8am – Wake up, Lay in bed and read a book. At least until 9am.
9am – Shower, eat, and social media.
10am – Start writing on novel. Typing up any work that was written on paper the day before.
1pm – Free time and break. Check social media. Play a game, read a book, etc.
2pm – Continue writing on novel.
5pm – Gaming with friends. Role-playing games, and other board games in person.
1am – Lay in bed, reading a book until falling asleep.
Sunday:
9am – Wake up, lay in bed and read a book. At least until 10am.
10am – Shower, eat, social media.
11am – Freelance writing jobs until 4pm or whenever finished.
4pm – Free time and break. Spend time with loved ones. Eat.
7pm – Writing on novel. Typing up any work that was written on paper the day before.
10pm – Free time and break. Can include eating if not done earlier.
11pm – Writing on novel on paper until falling asleep.
That will be my schedule til November 22nd. And yes, I know, you are wondering, that’s only two months! Well that’s because after the two months. The last month will having any area that was marked with Writing on novel, be replaced with editing novel/working and fixing novel/obtaining cover art/more blog posts and guest posts to promote the book/anything else I’m missing from publishing a book. Otherwise the schedule will be about the same until December 22nd when I will release the book.
The first book I’m doing this with? It’s one I have a few chapters of a headstart in, but otherwise I need to put in a lot of work. It is the second book of my novel series Beyond Ever After, called ‘A Faerie in a Purple Dress’.
If you’d like to join me on the Ksenia Anske Three month challenge, I encourage you to post the schedule you will stick to so that you can get a book out in three months! THEN KEEP TO IT!
Now how am I going to keep to it? Well I posted in my schedule that I’ll be connected with social media. You are the people who will keep me to it. I’ve already seen so many people ask me when I would have the second novel out for my series, and I need to hold onto that. That there are actually people who want to read my writing and enjoy it. So I’m gonna give updates, I’m gonna mention when I’m working on something. Maybe even give cool lines from my novel I like while writing it. Anything.
So… let’s have fun!
