October 1st, 2012 (that’s tomorrow!) is the official start date for Round 4 of A Round of Words in 80 Days (aka ROW80). I have decided to join this writing challenge for the third time. Created by Kait Nolan, ROW80 is “the writing challenge that knows you have a life”, or “the challenge that champions the marriage of writing and real life.” Unlike NaNoWriMo which runs for only a month, each ROW80 round runs for 80 days and the participating writers have to set themselves writing goals for that time. Each Wednesday and Sunday, we check in and let the others know how we are doing. The idea is to form writing habits that writers will hopefully continue once the challenge is over.
As you may know if you follow this blog, my daily life is pretty crazy. I have a day job that keeps me extremely busy, I travel a lot and I read tons of books. Fitting some writing time in my schedule is a challenge, but I’m still very intent on getting published one day.
So here are my goals for this round (and yes, I know they haven’t changed much since the last round, but if at first you don’t succeed…):
Write or edit every day
Editing – Finish my current round of editing for The Last Queen, get my manuscript critiqued and beat-read, then edit some more.
Writing – Write a short story, and continue writing the first draft of The Cursed King
Round Four starts on Monday, October 1st and will end on Thursday, December 20th.
If you would like to join in this writing challenge and become a part of the ROW80 community, here are the rules:
- Post a goals post in which you lay out your goals for this round.
- Post a check-in post every Wednesday and Sunday, in which you share your progress with the other ROW80 participants.
- Comment on other participants’ check-in posts.
Here is the Linky for the other participants’ posts. What are your ROW80 goals for this round?
EM Castellan 
Ah how timely – I’ve just decided not to do NaNo this year because real life is so hectic. But I think I could set some good writing goals. And I’ve managed to read it by the 1st. Cheers. Good luck with your writing goals too.
ROW80 is not as stressful as NaNoWriMo, but it is still a good way to be accountable for your writing. I strongly recommend it. Yeah if you’re joining us!
Short, sweet, and simple – I like it! Sounds like you have a good focus for the round. Good luck!!
Best of luck with these goals!
Good luck with your editing AND your writing! It’s a real challenge when you have a demanding day job. I can relate to that! 🙂
Very practical, very wise — keep it simple! Good luck with your goals this round. 🙂
Short and sweet! Awesome!
Let’s kick some ROW butt! Good luck, EM!
So that’s what ROW80 is! This is awesome! It’s just what I need. I’ve been absolutely horrible at making time for my writing lately. I’m not being held accountable you know? I’m a little late, but I’m joining 🙂
And like some of you said, Nanowrimo won’t be happening this year. Too much on my plate, but this is even better because it’s year-round and won’t burn me out.
Thanks for sharing this and good luck on your goals! I just have one question, though: I already post on Wednesdays on my blog. Could we check in another day instead?
I only check in on Sundays and I’ve never been told off 😉