And, like last year, we're opening up March Madness to readers who want to challenge themselves to read more, bloggers who want to challenge themselves to blog more, and illustrators who want to challenge themselves to illustrate more! Basically, anything to do with books!
And did I mention there will be PRIZES? Prizes will not be awarded based on how much you write, read, draw, or blog, but simply on how involved you are in the Big Accountability Plan. There will be check-in points every day through the month of March. Each time you check in and record your progress, your name will be entered into a draw for some great prizes, including some high demand books, e-books, and even agent critiques! And not only that, but the more you encourage others along the way (in the comments), the more times your name will go into the hat!
Spread the word, and check out http://www.denisejaden.com/Blog.html Wednesday, February 29th, to put your goals officially in writing and find out the locations of the check-in points. If you’re ready to get serious, don’t do it alone…Get serious with us!
Now is the time to be setting your Ambitious Goals for the month of March! (Trust me, you will be able to accomplish much more than normal with the added camaraderie and support, so don't be afraid to set the bar a little higher.) Start meeting up with us on Twitter under the hashtag #wipmadness .
I'll tell you my "official" goals for this March on the 29th, but for now, I'd just like to share a little about my goals from last year's March Madness. Here is what I put in writing last year:
Get up half an hour earlier and write first thing each day. Turn off the Internet for morning writing. Finish my revision of FINDING HOPE (I'm about 10 chapters in right now) and send it off to critique partners. Write a synopsis for the book. Complete my next revision for my editor on APPETITE FOR BEAUTY.
I know as writers, we can tend to think that other writers have an easier time than us. We see people breaking ridiculously high word-count goals, or selling books they seem to have just started writing. But I want to share a little secret: It's hard for all of us. It really is. Some people just hide their difficulties better than others. I'll be sharing my full goals on the 29th, but with that said, I'll admit that I'm working on the exact same book as I did during March Madness last year. I'm scrapping last year's version, working off of a brand new outline, and basically starting from scratch. Whew! I've put it in writing. Now you'll hold me to it, right?
Please spread the word about this Challenge. There will be lots to win throughout the month and the more support we have, the better all of our goals will go this month! Let me just show you a little peek at some of the books I'll be letting you choose from (don't worry if you can't see. I'll have them listed on the 29th), but believe me there will be many more prizes yet to come!
So check back in here February 29th. If you're such a proud participant that you want to let everyone know, grab the March Madness badge from the sidebar (Thanks to Anne Hale for that!) and put it somewhere prominent.
Everyone is welcome and the more the merrier! Let's march into March like the mad group of writers we are!!!
