It's that time of year, folks. The 2009 Golden Coffee Cup held from Nov 1 to Nov 30 will be awarded for a month of goal setting and achievement.
Win your very own Golden Coffee Cup.
Let's bring some excellence into that creation!!!!!
Here are the Motivational Coffee Cups. Feel the power pouring into you!
Want to be featured in the 2009 Annual Golden Coffee Cup? Send me (molly@mollyblaisdell.com) a digital picture that expresses your "High Five", a link to your blog, website or book, and up to three sentences of inspiration. This opportunity is open to children's writers and illustrators only. You do not need to be published. I will fit in as many as I can.
SO WHAT IS THE GOLDEN COFFEE CUP?
In honor of National Novel Writing Month, I have a little event on my blog for anyone one who needs an extra boost of motivation to get their current project rolling. If you don't know about Nanowrmo, National Novel Writing Month, this is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. This is a kamikaze approach to writing, it's about quantity and not quality.
The Golden Coffee Cup is a different kind of motivational thingy. This coveted award (an awesome picture of a coffee cup emailed to you that you may display it with pride) will be given to the successful November goal setters.
EXTRA, EXTRA INCENTIVE!!!!! Four lucky winners will receive a card good for a real paper cup of genuine coffee. Winners will need to send me(molly@mollyblaisdell.com)their address to receive their card.
This is my answer to that "interesting concept" (cough, cough) of requiring writers to churn out 50,000 incomprehensible words in one month. I do the judging and it is wholly subjective. You do not have to be my friend to win, really, honestly, cross my heart hope to die stick a needle in my eye.
THE RULES:
1. Post your November creative goals on my by blog by Nov 1. I'll make sure they are all moved to the November 1st post. That is the deadline, folks.
2. Come back weekly for general cheering and wild ruckus, celebrating your successes. We'll do some holy snappin'. For extra motivation, celebrity guests will be on hand to offer high fives for your achievements!
3. If you reach your goal from Nov 23 to Nov 30, and post on blog, you will be recieve your Golden Coffee Cup picture. There is no verification process, I believe you. Send in your email address to molly.blaisdell@verizon.net and your Golden Coffee Cup picture will be emailed to you. Display it proudly as wallpaper, post it on your blog, print it out and tack it on your bulletin board for year-long motivation. Write a great post and you might win the real coffee!
GOAL GUIDELINES:
The Golden Coffee Cup is about making a goal and keeping it.
If you are a novel writer, you can write something new with a realistic word count goal, keeping your life in mind. Your goal might also be making your first novel submission (think Delacorte Contest) or a revision of a novel you've already written. You can do this!
If you are a picture book writer or artist, hey, picture books are harder to write than they look. I don't really care about the word count because if your project is over 500 words that might be a problem. Picture book artists tell stories too. You might be an artist making a dummy and a dummy is certainly as hard to create as a novel. This is about quality not quantity.
The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment. - Earl Nightingale
26 comments:
Hi Molly, I've been thinking about my goal for awhile. I've decided I'm going to finish my revisions of the dummy I'm working on. I will have a polished dummy by the end of November. Looking forward to the challenge ahead!
I'm in! My goal is to revise novel #2. (Hyperventilating, even as I type.)
Oooh, hi, Kjersten and Holly, I'm getting excited, I hope you are too! The 2009 Golden Coffee Cup is reving up!
K. Whoa, a finished dummy. That's brilliant. Wholly brilliant!
H. A complete revision of the first draft. That sounds absolutely fantastic. Absolutely.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Molly:)
Hi Molly,
I'm going to finish my final draft of my wip (YA novel). In fact, I plan to get it done before the end of November. Then, I'll have to set a new goal. :)
Hi Molly,
Thanks for inviting me!
I'm going to rewrite my MG paranormal--Molly you might remember Elle Castle?
Yup! That's my goal. Can she do it? Yes, she can!
Shelley S.
Hi, Molly.
This will be my first NaNoWriMo and my first Golden Coffee Cup! Thank you for hosting, encouraging and helping me to hold myself accountable. My goal is to write a short story per day, no editing until December.
~Debbie
Hi Molly,
I did NaNoWriMo several years ago and it was a great experience but this year I would like a finished product. So, thank you for the Golden Coffee Cup. My goal is to finish writing and illustrating my non-fiction picture book
Hi, Molly. I'm going to revise the first third of my YA and send it out to my wonderful teacher.
I'm awe of the people who revise the whole darned thing ... or write one from scratch. Oy.
My goals are to revise my middle grade novel, Secrets, and to write 10,000 words on my new middle grade mystery. That should keep me busy enough!
Yay, Chris and Vijaya!
Vijaya, I appreciate that you are honest with yourself about your goals. I think you will find good success. Snap! Snap! Snap!
Chris, I'm inspired. Secrets-love, love,love that title. Snap! Snap! Snap!
Finish this revision of my novel by 11/29 and send out a query on 11/30 (no matter what my NaNoWriMo word count is!).
Alright. I'm in. I will finish revising a dummy for one PB and finish the rewrite for a second PB.
Hi Molly,
Hope I'm not too late--just learned about this today. My goal is to write 10,000 rough draft words of a new mg novel.
Thanks! (And I hope this doesn't show up twice!)
Hey Molly and Exalted Company.
I guess I checked on facebook that I would not attend the golden coffee cup and was in the no category. That is because I am a dirty filthy liar, or fiction writer as I prefer to be called. Count me in if it's not too late. Never quite finished my goals for Holly and Jolie's marvelous smackdown but am in dire need of finishing a good clean draft. Make that a crappy, horrible but finished draft. That is my goal. Let's make it five thousand words a week... GULP.
Feel free to kick me hard in the butt along the way. Thank you! Good luck everyone.
PS my word verification is dolog. Beautiful word that.
I'm in! What a great contest idea. Thank you so much for creating/hosting/continuing it!
My goal: work on my first YA novel for 1 hour every week day (excluding Thanksgiving) for the month of November. "Working on" includes character sketches, backstory, and new words. It does NOT include revisions. (Must. Move. Forward.)
Hi Molly,
I'm going to write a first chapter of a new novel idea plus map it out. I'm also going to do a final revision on an easy reader and submit it.
I'm setting aside my unfinished novel and starting a new one. My goal is make the NaNo word count, and to share a daily NaNoNuj with friends on Facebook and Twitter, or you can also look on my blog, Deb Lund ad lib. They truly are only nudges, never more than a few words long. Short enough for us Wrimos to read without forsaking writing time. Oh my, I have to get back to writing! http://www.deblund.com/blog/
Hi Julie, Val, BJW, Kevan, and Pam
Julie, A final revision and an easy reader (I'm very fond of easy readers), great goals! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Pam, welcome! We will dance with you when you have your stack of 10,000 words. Fantastic goal! Snap!Snap! Snap!
BJW, It ain't lyin' here. We call that fiction, pardner. 5000 word a week! What an august goal! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Val, I think working on the backstory of a novel is a hero's journey ;). Yay! A mosty lofty goal! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Kevan, I'm sure your journey will lead you to a superlative dummy, and notworthy drafts! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Whew! That's alot of Holy SNAPPING!
Hi Molly,
My Golden Coffee Cup goal is to revise Bound By Three using the comments on the editorial letter as the guideline. By the end of the month I want to address many of the larger points, have lots of new scenes that are deeper into character emotion and more vividly drawn. I also plan to cut tons of the old scenes to get Tess and Gavin together sooner. I'll be rewriting and revising 6 or 7 days per week. The first draft was more plot driven. I love the complex plot, but this revision will tip the scales to make the tale more character driven. Go Tess!
Finish my WIP (I'm at page 125) and send out at least four queries for the one that's finished. That might mean some revising on that one too. I don't drink coffee, even virtual coffee :) so I'm just in this for the kudos. (Or is it the feeling of accomplishment?)
I have started and restarted several picture books. My ADD kicks and I need to focus! I want to finish one and feel good about it! dee dee
Janet, I know that you will make Tess shine. Peace to you on this journey.
Hi Jen, here is the plain honest truth (ironic), I don't drink coffee either. The cards are also good for tea. :) Completing WIP! Now that is fab! Snap! Snap! Snap!
DeeDeeGoodSpeed, Ah, ADD, and a stack of half finished picture books, I applaud your courage to focus. I think you will polish one of those gems! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Molly,
Well, I didn't reach mhy Golden Coffee Cup goal. But I do want to say THANK YOU! for the daily inspiration. Your cup-of-javas gave me the fuel I needed to finish NaNoWriMo.
I didn't complete my stated goal, but I do feel like I made huge progress - after months of pondering, I figured out where the revisions have to go and began working toward that in the midst of a lot of other deadlines! Thank you for the daily java, inspiration, and friendship!
Molly, Thanks for a golden month of great tips, insights, and inspiration. My goal: to move far forward ("Swoop") on the new manuscript, and not to polish compulsively ("Bash") already written chapters. Thanks again!
What fun to go back and read all these goals. I did it! I did it! And I'm still so amazed. Thanks for the support, Molly!
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