Writing Month, Anyone?

Today I had a problem. A big problem.

For some time, I've needed to start work on Tornado C, my OYAN novel for 2012. Unfortunately, a few plot problems and my general perfectionism have been hindering my outline progress (as you've read in previous posts).

It's been a general idea of mine to enter this novel into the 2012 OYAN Novel Contest once it's finished. Today, I checked the enter-by date on the contest.

August 15.

Gulp.

I have 31 days (exactly a month) to write Tornado C, revise it, and enter it into the contest. (I decided today that I was, in fact, entering....provided the novel's done.) I know for a fact that, under pressure, I can write fast enough - but finding time to revise it, too, will be a big problem. (Especially since my grandparents are visiting here in Liberia until August 1, so I will be spending precious little time on the computer.)

Sure, I've done 45k in nineteen days (my greatest literary accomplishment to-date) but churning out contest-quality work will be a problem. Still, since I have a detailed outline, I'm hoping that the plot problems that often come with hastily written novels will be somewhat diminished.

In the next two days, I'll have started Tornado C. My projected word count is somewhere beyond 40,000 words, so this will be a - ahem - a big project to undertake in just 31 days.

Still, if God is for me, what can stand against? A deadline? Psh.

So here's the deal: I'm planning on finishing this novel before August 15. Unlike NaNoWriMo, however, the only reward I'll have by the end is a finished novel - and my only motivation is the satisfaction of a good word count.

That means I need some good friends to help me along. I challenge you— *cue gauntlet-slapping* —to a WriMo of epic proportions: finish a novel before August 15. The novel can be already-started and unfinished, or it can be a completely new work-in-progress. Your choice. But the race is to the finish line, regardless of where you are on the racetrack.

If you happen to finish before me, you'll get a reward.

Well, in all technicality, it won't be much more than a hearty congratulations in a blog post and the reward of a finished novel. But hey, if Tornado C ever gets published, I'll mention all the contestants in the Acknowledgments, too!

So what say you? Take up the challenge?

Whether you're with me in pen or spirit - it's time to write!

Charge!

EDIT: I've STARTED TORNADO C. Repeat: I've finally started it! The word count is 1085 and it's time for bed. 'Night!