An Opportunity for Writers · 10:16pm Aug 2nd, 2012
Blog Number 5: "Month of the Novel" Edition
On Equestria Daily, there is a National Pony Writing Month for those looking for a challenge. The task is to write a 50,000-word novel about ponies during the August month, finishing on 31st August 2012. The idea is to encourage aspiring writers to work on a project that'll provide tangible proof that they can write when they set their minds to it. This is the second time the event has been hosted, and it was originally inspired by the National Novel Writing Month more usually held in November. More details can be found here on the site.
I bring this up for two reasons. The first is to raise awareness about the event so that anybody interested can have a look if they haven't already. Maybe you need a little impetus to get the creative flow going? Maybe you'd like a fun challenge for the summer? Or maybe you find the suggestion helpful in some other way for your writing, even if you don't actually take part? If you are interested, the link above will take you to the site where you can see for yourself if it's something you might like to try.
The second is to announce that I'll be taking part in this event. I have trouble getting started on (and committing to) a story, and the lack of productivity is one of my biggest obstacles to fulfilling my personal goal of becoming a professional writer in the future. This event could be a chance to turn that around and to get me on the road to writing more (and better) stories. I could really motivate myself with something like this.
For this reason, I'm putting other writing projects on hold and concentrating on one story for the whole of August. I won't go into much detail in this blog, as I want to leave the specifics as a surprise, but in brief it will be a longer Daring Do adventure story set on a new continent away from Equestria. I'm already at the planning stage and I intend to complete it in weekly instalments. Since the event is pretty lax, I won't try and make the adventure story a masterpiece just yet (that will have to wait until September, say, when I can find a proofreader to look over the work). I want to prove that I can produce something, not that I can run before I walk. Each Friday will act as a checkpoint, so that I can monitor my progress and work to a deadline.
In summary:
1. There's a writing event on EqD.com
2. The event's to produce a 50,000-word pony novel before the end of August
3. The link is here if you are interested in taking part
4. I'm taking part, and thus taking an opportunity to hone my writing skills
5. I'll be posting updates once every Friday (excluding tomorrow's Friday) about my Daring Do story, which will be all I focus on for August
So there it is, in writing. I have committed to this event and will see it through come thick and thin. Wish me luck, and good luck to you too if you'd like to try it!
EDIT 23/11/2017: Impossible Numbers, out.
Statistics
New Stories?: See above.
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Age: 33 weeks, 3 days
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Good luck with the novel writing this month! Unfortunately, I'm way too booked with other stuff (what with helping with the writing track at EverfreeNW and stuff) to seriously be able to commit to this.
Thanks also for the informative / insightful blog entries. I like reading yours (even if I don't always comment, eh.)
I am very conflicted on this. On one hand I really want to try writing a work of fiction. On the other hand I have a signifcant fear of failure.
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Thank you for the encouragement. It's much appreciated.
And thanks also for complimenting my blog entries. It's good to see other users enjoy them. 
I'm currently getting bogged down in details, but I should have something up by Friday 10th. It should appear in the "In Progress/Development" box at the bottom of my userpage, though I might shift the box further up said page when it does so.
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It is intimidating, I won't deny it, but you gain a lot from simply trying. If you don't try, how will you ever know how good you are? Even if you don't fulfil the 50,000 word count - and that is quite likely, given how tough it is to get yourself writing in the first place (I speak from experience) - at least you'll have physical evidence of your writing ability and will have something to show for it.
It also depends on what you want to write about.