Friday, January 25, 2008

Please Cheat. . . .Honestly!

Well, Febbies. . .we're in the one week countdown to Armegeddon. . . um, I mean FEBO. Yes, FEBO--that world-shaking web event that asks writers to make some goals and then set out on the adventure of reaching those goals in the month of February.

World-shaking? PattyK, you're thinking, let's not go getting delusions of grandeur. You don't have to take off your shoes to count the number of participants. FEBO is small potatoes. You don't even have tee shirts.

Ahhhh, the world-at-large may be blissfully unaware of FEBO, but frankly, I don't care because the world I want to shake is mine! I want to change my habits so that I can get back to DOING the thing I claim to love to do. . .writing. If I start small and stick with it, maybe someday I'll actually shake up THE world!

With one week to go, how should we prepare for FEBO? Replace those worn out ink or toner cartridges? Set cell phones to vibrate? Stockpile tea bags and chocolate?

If you've ever done NaNoWriMo--or tried to do it--you know the rules. Absolutely no writing before November. You can think about your characters or outline your plot or sharpen your pencils, but not...one...word must be written before November 1. And that's a really great idea. . . .for NaNo.

FEBO isn't like that because YOU are making the rules.

My FEBO goal is to spend two hours a day writing, five days a week. My pre-FEBO goal is to spend at least 15 minutes a day writing, just to prime my pump and get my feet wet. So next week I'm going to practice for FEBO with that simple goal. Some purists might call that "cheating," but I think it's hard to cheat when I'm making my own rules. And I encourage each one of you to cheat too!

Come on. You know you want to!

4 comments:

Donna Alice said...

No t-shirts--awwwwwwwwwww!

Hey, purist or not, if you make the rules you can break them. I'd say you already have a good start by posting on this blog. You could even do the NANO 'Big, Scary Challenge' because you started a blog. Bet that wasn't on your list of resolutions.

I'm going to have to read the comments I made on here since I forgot my goals already. :) But, I did do two of my "getting back home" goals. Typed up two queries to take to our writing class on Monday and printed out my entry for the East Texas writing contest.
Might have my Sandy entry ready BEFORE Feb. 1st--so if that's cheating, I'm guilty too.

Marmot Mom said...

Oooh, I am so in! I rode here on the advice of Llama Momma and decided this is definitely for me.
I have a children's book that has been languishing in my computer. It laughs in an evil way when I scroll by. No more! One way or the other, I will finish it in February!
Thanks, PattyK :)

The Word Place said...

This is definitely the place for me, Patty! I'll admit I felt a little overwhelmed by NaNoWriMo--though I'll give it a whirl again this year!
So I can cheat, can I? Actually, I'm putting off even getting started until Feb. 1 on the dot because I am a procrastinator of the highest ilk! But thinking outloud in the new blog is really helpful, so I resolve to blog about my story everyday and be ready to go--no excuses!!
Stocking up on hot cocoa. . .fat-free,of course.

Donna Alice said...

Just checking----