Yes, it's back. Although I kind of swore that I wouldn't do it to myself again, here I am, scheduling another one.
The
2nd Annual Book Fast.
Book Fast is a commitment for me, as a writer, to put reading on the back burner for one week and spend most of my normal leisure reading-time writing. (You can find the initial post of my
First Annual Book Fast
here.) This doesn't mean I don't read at all - reading just becomes the reward for completing a daily word count. When the words are written, I can read all I like. But until they are, I must refrain and buckle down to do the work. (This is a little different from the First Book Fast, where I
wasn't allowed to read at all. That, however, almost killed me, so alterations were made.)
So here's how the 2nd Annual Book Fast works:
- Book Fast will run seven days, Sunday to Saturday, April 7th to 13th. I will only be working two days that week, so I'll have even more writing time!
- My daily word count is 500 words Tues/Thurs/Sat, and 1,000 words Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun. These are word counts I already know from experience that I can easily meet. If I get more words in, sweet, but if I suddenly find myself struggling for time, I can still accomplish what I've allotted. (Special Note: extra words cannot be carried over to the next day. I do not have set overall word goal, but a set daily goal, and each day's goal must be met on that particular day.)
- Once my daily word count is reached, I am allowed to read whatever I like. But before the word count is made, I am only allowed to read research materials for the WIP I am working on.
- The WIP I will be working on is Project P. I know, I know, it's horribly complicated, but I'd really like to finish it despite the controversy right now. So continue it I shall.
It's simple, it's dirty, but hopefully it will finally get me back into writing after a long and rather painful stagnation of late.
Another change this time is that I am giving a little bit more notice so that I can ask if anyone wants to officially join me? It's only one week, and the daily word count is yours to set (I suggest something you can easily accomplish but possibly surpass on a good day). After the week you can go back to your normal life and reading patterns as if nothing happened. But if your writing routine is lacking, or you just need that extra little push to finish a project or reach a word goal, or you just need to put in some serious writing time right now, then Book Fast may be the thing for you!
BOOK BLOGGERS: This might also be a good project for all you book bloggers out there as well! I've chatted with some of you on Twitter about how you never have time to write posts since you're so busy reading. Perhaps you could go on a special Book Fast of your own - delegate, say, one hour a day of reading time instead to blogging. Build up a nice, comfy backlog of pre-scheduled posts, and then after the week you can dig in and read to your heart's content, knowing your blog is already stocked and ready to continue without you for a while. ;)
Be you writer or book blogger, if you decide to join me for the 2nd Annual Book Fast, I would love to know! Comment below with your commitment (daily word count and project), or post about it on your own blog - I'll have an official starting post on April 7th where you can comment the link for others to connect with you as well. And I'll be on Twitter periodically every day that week to tweet about my progress - and chat with and encourage anyone who joins with me in this daunting but doable project.
Whether you join me or not, wish me luck! Considering how much I've been reading lately I may go into a bit of withdrawal, but I know the end result will be worth it. :)
