Columbia Writers, back at it again. We’re bringing back a really popular program from years past: Novel in Six Months. It’s a slightly less murderous sort of NaNoWriMo, giving participants six months to write a first draft instead of just the one. Myself and my two co-organizers are going to create a series of small (4-5 person) groups, matched up to align their needs, and set them loose to write together, brainstorm, do exercises, meet, outline, talk, and support one another using a wide range of tools that we provide.
These are support groups, accountability groups, and also just a great group of people to experience something stressful yet amazing with. We encourage write-ins, monthly check-in meetings, and using shared spreadsheets and documents to brainstorm and keep track of word count. In past years, for meeting our word count goals, we made mix tapes for one another and all went out to a celebratory dinner at the end of the experience. I’m still great friends with most of my fellow Ni6 survivors from when I last participated.
What tools do you find work best to keep you on track? What does your ideal accountability/support system look like?
Deidre Dykes, Writer 