hey guys, last week I participated in an even called Crazy Writing Week, and though y'all would enjoy hearing about it ... XD




tuesday, may 12. 

when I opened my inbox in the morning I saw I had an email from Brett Harris (I'm subscribed to him) so I skimmed over it. it said something about a "crazy writing challenge" that lasted for week and was totally free.

nice, thanks, I'll think about it, I thought, which was another way of saying, I would forget about it within the next five minutes.

I moved on with the emails and saw one from Kellyn Roth about the same subject, so I took a moment longer to read it. I clicked the link just to see what was going on and the website said,

(although I completely didn't see the prizes part at the time)

they had me at TEAMS COMPETING. I've done Nanowrimo and competed against a word count but never against someone else, and since I'm a rather competitive person, I was sold, and immediately signed up ON PURE WHIM.

did I regret it two minutes later? 

yes I did. I am so busy, what Do I thINk I aM DoINg?

then I remembered some of the things I am busy doing are writing related and would count for the challege, so I didn't regret my desicion for long. 

other things that occured ...

• some people were doing a 13 sentence story challenge but I skipped it because
• it looked difficult
• and I was busy
• met some old friends and some new people and fangirled about Narnia
• somehow convinced Snapper to join

wednesday, may 13. 

when I signed up I was expecting multiple groups of 10 to 15 people, NOT two groups of about 300 members each. with 300 members in one group, you cannot, in any possible way, get to know all your team mates (especially not in a week). it was interesting to see little groups forming within the huge group - people who already knew each other and people who'd just gotten to know each other - banding together and having fun and chatting and sprinting.

speaking of sprinting, here's how the whole contest system works:

• the website is set up like a forum
• when you write, you must log the time and word count in the "sprinting" space (basically, post when you start, and then update when you stop)
• after you've done that, you need to fill in a google form, filling in all the information again, so that the leaders can keep track of things
• you also have to link to the post, because it acts as proof that you did actually write
• the two teams (Lions and Wolves) compete
• there are prizes unlocked with each new level of writing reached (certain word count/hour count)

• coming back to 203 notifications at one point because if you even so much as like a post, you'll be notified of every single comment on it
• and sometime you just happen to like a very popular post
• “I need to stop getting so distracted by all the notifications!” ~ Alex the Mouse Defender
• somehow managing to get a 1600 word short story rewritten as 1300 words - editing it - sending it to two beta readers - going through the beta responses
• changed my profile photo to a lion (#peerpressure)
• “Never has an aggravatingly short story been so fun” ~ Jana, Keeper of the Penguin Waffles
• fought Snapper and lost
• "I feel tired" ~ Terah 
• ok, but same ^^

total amount I wrote: 1,500 words

team leading: LIONS

thursday, may 14

I edited in the morning, and logged science notes about plant classification as words. I squeezed in a full flash fiction in 45 minutes just before dinner time. it was one that I've been meaning to write for a while, called "The Ghost Boy".

Snippet of the day: 

  “What exactly is your ability?”

“I …” Kae cleared her throat, which felt strangely tight. “I feel pain.”

“Are you all right, Miss Ruve?”

“No. I mean, yes. But not like that. It's my ability—I feel pain.”

~ "what pain feels like"

total amount I wrote: 1,700

friday, may 15

a good day for writing! some geniuses in our group started a "official lion's sprint" thread that was updated with new half hour sprint times for eight hours+ straight, and helped centralize writing and encourage other members. because we're stronger together, to quote Trollhunters, my newest obsession. (also, Mr. Strickler is inspiring me to write anti heros, somehow xD).

little things:

• 1,114 words in 30 minutes isn't bad
• yesterday's short story typed up
• science chapter finished
• editing a previous story for future publication
• Snapper turned into a squirrel - one of the noncompeting members who just sprint for the sake of writing, not winning XD

total amount I wrote: 2,200

saturday, may 16

I surprised myself. decided to do almost nothing but write write and write because the weekend is one time when I don't have to do school. so I took a notepad with me into the car when I went out, and when I had to wait, I wrote. plotted my book according to the three act story structure (thanks, Abbie). outlined, rewrote old stories, just smashed those words down.

• wrote a flash fic fanfic about my own unfinished novella ??
• about the characters in the future!!
• called "Like Grim Death"
• it's a treasure hunting jungle adventure
• with a lot of teeth involved

total words I wrote: 5,110
leading team: WOLVES


sunday, may 17

my best writing day of all. I think I barely did anything else useful other than write write write. I was actually aiming for 10k, but that's an awful lot. I actually felt like this was the furthest I'd ever pushed my creative limits ... I actually felt that well of insipiration running dry for the day.

• got a lot of words written thanks to journaling (literally the easiest way to get words down lol)
• also today we finished the Trollhunters final episodes (still recovering from that :'))
• trying to write an assasin story called "Death Sounds Like Silence" but didn't finish it because I got stuck XD
• however, I was stuck on the plot line of another short story and then I had a dream that solved the problem (?) so I quickly wrote that down (it's called "The Taste of Truth")
• also yes, some of these are following Havok themes xD

total words I wrote: 6,730
leading team: WOLVES


monday, may 18

kind of a terrible writing day ... it was a holiday and so I didn't do much school work to count either. however, I deserved the break XD

total words I wrote: 1,338
leading team: IT'S A TIE


tuesday, may 19

LAST DAY. I did my best and churned out 3,660 words - including very random plot ideas, outlines, premises, and super short stories.

• took science notes like crazy
• although the topic of science was slightly weird - how the life functions of invertebrates work
• wrote a mini story called "Picture Perfect" based on an ancient prompt from Jem
• also wrote another story called "The Girl Who Sat Still"  

AND ok the site was so crowded at the time of the winner announcements that the website actually crashed for a few minutes XD sadly, the Wolves won :( but I'm not acutally sad. we still won prizes XDD

total words I wrote: 3,660
winning team: WOLVES