After the inte
nsity of NaNoWriMo, Kait Nolan came up with wonderful writing challenge called A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80). In this challenge, authors set their own writing goals for the next 80 days. This totally works for me, cause I’m a slacker at heart, while having public accountability motivates me. Set your clocks, peeps. ROW80 starts January 03, 2011.
What’s doin’ with me?
I’ve never been great at setting realistic goals. So why start now? 
Looking through my idea collection, I see I have a few stories already started. It’s time to make some progress on them. Each month, I plan to complete a stage of a different project. So here goes.
- Jan: Finish the rough draft of Trinity’s Awakening (New Adult – Suburban Fantasy)
- Trinity’s Awakening is an utter mess. I’m not sure when I started it, but it was before I got some writing tools under my belt–namely show versus tell. That skill is still a work in progress, but I’m getting better. Last I looked at Trinity’s Awakening, I cringed at the overwhelming task of editing it. Honestly, I chose not to deal with it. Okay, so I’m still not going to deal with the editing portion. I’m just going to pick up where I left off and finish the darned thing. I have it planned as a trilogy, though the second and third books are not outlined. The only thing I really know about the second book is how it ends. The third book, I only know the character growth she’ll experience. I’m pretty excited about this trilogy though. Not sure what I’ll name the trilogy, but I’ve got the names picked out for all three books. Trinity’s Awakening has a pretty decent outline and about 23k written.
- Feb: Finish the first draft of Alley Cat (the third and final book of the Striped Ones series) and complete the first round of editing (NaNoWriMo WIP – Contemporary Fantasy/Romance)
- Okay. You might wonder why I’m writing the Striped Ones series out of order. NaNoWriMo. That’s why. Start a book from scratch and finish it in 30 days. Well, I’d already started Stray Cat, so it was a no go. In fact, I have a lot of books I’ve started and not finished. Gosh I love starting books. How I’d love to have someone else complete them for me. Anyway, Alley Cat seemed the next logical choice. I already know how Stray Cat will end and pretty much the journey. So skipping to Alley Cat wasn’t such a huge issue. The reason I’m working on the 2nd draft instead of finishing Stray Cat in February is because I hate editing. I’m hoping if I sandwich it between something I enjoy (like writing), I might be able to make greater progress and maintain motivation. Alley Cat is short 2-5 scenes plus a chapter from a complete first draft.
- Mar: Finish the rough draft of Stray Cat – 2nd book of the Striped Ones series (Contemporary Fantasy/Romance)
- It goes without saying, I need to wrap this up since it needs to head out before Alley Cat. Not much to say about this other than I think the beginning is pretty strong. It has a skeletal outline, and I’ve written about 9k.
Interested in joining? Well it’s not too late to sign up. Plus! you can find the other participants goals here.
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Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she’s known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for “just one more purchase.” Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Reena Jacobs and Reena Jacobs, Reena Jacobs. Reena Jacobs said: I've set a tight schedule, but I think I can do it. RT @ReenaJacobs A Round of Words in 80 Days #ROW80 – Goals http://bit.ly/eXaWif [...]
I’m also joining in on row80. I really like the public accountability thing for some reason as well. It helps spur my writing onward. Good luck with your projects. Editing is always daunting for me as well. I’d rather sit down and write something entirely new.
Maybe one day we’ll become such wicked awesome writers that our first draft will also be our final draft.
Ah, yes, the double-edged sword of public accountability. Good luck to you, Reena. And here’s to us all becoming wicked awesome writers!
@Cate I don’t know about others, but paranoia starts to set in with me when it comes to public accountability. “They’re watching. I can’t mess up.”
I start a lot of books too.
Good luck with the first round, at least there’s a lot of us in the same boat!
@Claire One thing I love about these challenges is finding out I’m not alone in my path. It kind of reminds me of something my father said when I was in my teen years. “Everything you’ve done… I’ve already done it.” You know how parents all. (rolls eyes) With this writing thing, I feel as if I’m the only one experiencing a situation. Then I find a host of writers going through the same thing. It truly eases anxiety. Especially when I see authors who have been there, done that, and succeeded.
Good luck Reena! Editing is something I haven’t done before (not on this scale anyway), so I’m curious to see how I’m going to go at it during ROW80. I hope sandwiching it between writing works for you.
Very ambitious goals! Sounds like you have a handle on it. About messing up in public? It’s not so bad – I do it all the time.
Nobody’s perfect. I like that lots of us are editing and/or rewritnig during ROW80. Maybe we can have a rant (or rave?) party. 
@Jason You said you’ve not done it “this scale.” If editing is unfamiliar to you, I’ll offer some advice from my personal experience.
Critique groups, partners, beta readers are absolutely wonderful. If you haven’t found someone to help you through the process, I suggest to find some… a mixture of writers and readers. Both offer different benefits. Above all, don’t apply every single suggestion blindly. Critters are notorious for taking over your work and helping you polish the life out of your masterpiece until it’s a bland piece of meat the dog wouldn’t even eat. You’re the head chef. What you say goes. Cause really, you know your work better than anyone else. 
@Cathryn I’ll definitely have some ranting moments. My character would never do that! The critter’s trying to rewrite my entire story!
Of course my husband has his own moment of ranting after listening to hours of What’s better, In a mad dash, the girl sprinted to the tree or In a mad dash, the girl raced to the tree? Okay… sprinted? But should I skip the mad dash? In a mad dash, the girl sprinted or just the girl sprinted? Eventually I get Reena! Enough already. It’s not that crucial.
I understand that utter mess feeling. I am hoping by the end of this year my mess will be more organized.
@J. No time like ROW80 to start working on those messes.
Good luck to you.
Hi Reena! Your goals sound great! I’m new to your blog, so I can’t wait to learn more about your books and get to know you better! Good luck with ROW80! My apologies for the plethora of exclamation points! ;D
Thanks for stopping by, Claire.
I tend to over do it with the ellipses … and em dashes –
I’m working on releasing Shadow Cat this year. Until then, you’re welcome to checking out some of my writing in the free reads section. http://reenajacobs.com/blog/free-reads/