100 Days of Accountability To Come

For the past year, I’ve been mired in the misery of editing my book, or as the Twitter community likes to say, I #amediting. To break out of the miasma of editing despair, I decided to change tactics and Story Grid editing methodology to instead try out the 100 Days of “X” challenge, with my X = writing (ooh, author algebra!).

I now report back to you that the #100DaysofWriting challenge is working.

For real.

Yesterday, as I posted my 20/100 tweet, I realized that I am a fifth of the way through the challenge. In the past twenty days, I’ve read and made notes on three-quarters of my book (for more math, there are 60 chapters in total) and have begun writing the third draft of my book. As of this post, I’ve rewritten the first seven chapters.

For extra credit: If a writer leaves the train station with seven of sixty chapters rewritten…

Unlike Draft 2, Draft 3 is not a polish; it is a major rewrite. I have cut almost 40 scenes and two subplots. I’m also changing the Point of View (POV) of the story. And guess what? The book is better for it.

Most goals people set are not achieved because they are not held accountable for them. When goals are made in private they tend to fall off because people stop being motivated, stop focusing and stop prioritizing.                                     –Bola Onada Sokunbi

I have 80 days left in this challenge. At my present rate, I’ll not only finish this draft, but I’ll also have time to do another read through and polish before sending the book out to beta readers.  And if you’ve read this post, I’ve provided you with “story problems” to play with (pun intended).

Have you tried the #100DaysofWriting challenge? How do you hold yourself accountable?

Photo by HENCE THE BOOM