Word Sprints Help You Finish Your Book

Lets face it. Everyone who begins the journey of writing a novel is in for a rude awakening when they finally sit down to write the story that has been hounding them for years. While the process of writing may or may not be difficult for you. Most people find getting the words on the page quickly is more difficult than they thought. Writing is not a craft so much as it is the art of taking the ugliest lump of clay and turning it into a work of art. I believe that the most important part of the writing process is getting the bare bones down on the page. Because without a foundation there is no chance of improvement. So what do I suggest?

WORD SPRINTS.

I know what your thinking. I don't want to time my writing. Its my craft or some other nonsense like that. Well let me tell you this. By doing word sprints for one month I guarantee you'll make more progress in your writing than you would in a standard month. That is unless of course you already know how to turn off that pesky inner editor that we as writers are always battling while writing our drafts.

Simple Guidelines
1. Start slow by only doing short, quick sprints. These should clock in around 5, 10, or 15 mins max.
2. After each sprint do something else for the same length of time (or longer). Doesn't matter what. As long as it's away from the computer. I know that we all like to get lost in the internet but this is counterproductive. If you stay on the computer you are bound to forget about the next sprint you have planned. And we cant have that.
3. Turn that inner editor off. No inner monologue here. Just words on the page. I mean it. If you write the worse sentence of your life chances are the next one will be better so just roll with it. Again, this is why it is important to start off with shorter sprints because you have less time to think, pause and edit. No changing misspelled words, fragments, pov mistakes. Nada, Zip, Zilch - no editing. JUST WRITE.
4. Make it public. Either through messaging or social media. This holds you accountable and makes it worth your while, when you can post a 300 word count in a mere five mins. Seriously, I know that number sounds scary but trust me. It can and mostly likely will happen if you stick with it.
5. You can follow me on twitter- @JaceMcCoy to join in on my sprints. Not only is this a great way to connect but it's fun to see the word counts roll in.

Tid-Bit:
After each sprint do something else that is productive. My personal favorite is some housecleaning, or perhaps a quick run to the store. It's funny how idea's for your ms seem to manifest while staying productive.

Daily Book Giveaway #5: Steve Jobs

Today's selection is:

Please help me get the word out about the Daily Book Giveaway by ReTweeting one of the many tweets I post during the day announcing the days selection. This will be a huge help to me. By doing this once a day you will be helping me build my audience and connect with like minded people. Not to mention good things are sure to follow you. Why??? Because YOU ROCK :D

The guidelines:

Follow me @JaceMcCoy to be entered to win. All followers are entered to win. The winner will be chosen at random by a number generator. If you are following me you will be entered EVERYDAY for a chance to win.

Winners are selected by a random number generator. Sometimes from the bottom of my follower list and other times from the top. Winners name and address will be needed for fulfillment. Otherwise prize will be void after 1 week. Items will be sent directly from suppliers. All followers are only eligible to win once within a course of 1 month.

All orders will be fulfilled directly through Amazon and will be shipped as a "gift."

SUPER DUPER RT FRIDAY

That's right I said it; SUPER DUPER. But what's that mean for you???

Well by now everyone should know, as anyone who follows me should. I have been giving a book away on a daily basis. I call this phenomenon the Daily Book Giveaway or #DBG. Basically I tweet about giving a hand selected book title out to one of my randomly selected followers. There's only one catch. You have to be following me to be entered. Therefore you potentionaly have a chance to win everyday. But...

I NEED YOUR HELP GETTING 100+ NEW FOLLOWERS... within a span of 24hrs.

I need my loving followers to RT the Daily Book Giveaway tweets as much as possible. I said followers because ONLY MY FOLLOWERS ARE ELIGIBLE for this extra giveaway.

Person with the most RT's at the end of the Daily Book Giveaway Receives *3:

Any  RTs for SUPER DUPER FRIDAY do not count towards most RT's. 

Now the SUPER DUPER part.

All the following will be picked randomly through those who RT the Daily Book Giveaway tweets.

If I reach...
15 New Followers: Choice of one of this weeks DBG
30 New Followers: Hunger Games Trilogy
45 New Followers: The Night Circus (Audio Book Version via Audible)
65 New Followers: All of the above
80 New Followers: Kindle Touch
100+ New Followers: 

A KINDLE FIRE 

with

• All the books from  this weeks DBG in ebook format
• The Night Circus (Audio Book Version via Audible)

RULES:
1. RT the Daily Book Giveaway tweets whenever possible.

2. Or promote the Daily Book Giveaway (#DBG) yourself. But make sure both @JaceMccoy and (link) are present with in the tweet. I highly suggest you also use #ff; as the gal is followers. HINT: It might help to use the tags #apple or #ipad; as the book selection will reflect (DBL HINT.)

3. This one is a bummer for some. You must have at least 50 followers to be eligible for MOST RT's category.

So that's it. The Daily Book Giveaway starts at 12:00 AM Eastern Time and concludes at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. Therefore SUPER DUPER RT FRIDAY will start and conclude at the same time. All prizes will be announced at the time stated # of followers are reached. Except for 100+ as that will not be drawn till after the contest concludes.

  

Daily Book Giveaway #4: A Discovery of Witches

Today's selection is:

TODAY'S WINNER IS:

@JohnBetcher

Please help me get the word out about the Daily Book Giveaway by ReTweeting one of the many tweets I post during the day announcing the days selection. This will be a huge help to me. By doing this once a day you will be helping me build my audience and connect with like minded people. Not to mention good things are sure to follow you. Why??? Because YOU ROCK :D

The guidelines:

Follow me @JaceMcCoy to be entered to win. All followers are entered to win. The winner will be chosen at random by a number generator. If you are following me you will be entered EVERYDAY for a chance to win.

Winners are selected by a random number generator. Sometimes from the bottom of my follower list and other times from the top. Winners name and address will be needed for fulfillment. Otherwise prize will be void after 1 week. Items will be sent directly from suppliers. All followers are only eligible to win once within a course of 1 month.

All orders will be fulfilled directly through Amazon and will be shipped as a "gift."

Daily Book Giveaway #3: Mocking Jay

Today's selection is:

TODAY'S WINNER IS:

@SVHillman

Please help me get the word out about the Daily Book Giveaway by ReTweeting one of the many tweets I post during the day announcing the days selection. This will be a huge help to me. By doing this once a day you will be helping me build my audience and connect with like minded people. Not to mention good things are sure to follow you. Why??? Because YOU ROCK :D

The guidelines:

Follow me @JaceMcCoy to be entered to win. All followers are entered to win. The winner will be chosen at random by a number generator. If you are following me you will be entered EVERYDAY for a chance to win.

Winners are selected by a random number generator. Sometimes from the bottom of my follower list and other times from the top. Winners name and address will be needed for fulfillment. Otherwise prize will be void after 1 week. Items will be sent directly from suppliers. All followers are only eligible to win once within a course of 1 month.

All orders will be fulfilled directly through Amazon and will be shipped as a "gift."

Daily Book Giveaway #2: Catching Fire

Today's selection is:

TODAY'S WINNER IS:

@kimcormack

 

Please help me get the word out about the Daily Book Giveaway by ReTweeting one of the many tweets I post during the day announcing the days selection. This will be a huge help to me. By doing this once a day you will be helping me build my audience and connect with like minded people. Not to mention good things are sure to follow you. Why??? Because YOU ROCK :D

The guidelines:

Follow me @JaceMcCoy to be entered to win. All followers are entered to win. The winner will be chosen at random by a number generator. If you are following me you will be entered EVERYDAY for a chance to win.

Winners are selected by a random number generator. Sometimes from the bottom of my follower list and other times from the top. Winners name and address will be needed for fulfillment. Otherwise prize will be void after 1 week. Items will be sent directly from suppliers. All followers are only eligible to win once within a course of 1 month.

All orders will be fulfilled directly through Amazon and will be shipped as a "gift."

Daily Book Giveaway #1: The Hunger Games

Today's selection is:

 

TODAY'S WINNER IS:

@lomargie

Please help me get the word out about the Daily Book Giveaway by ReTweeting one of the many tweets I post during the day announcing the days selection. This will be a huge help to me. By doing this once a day you will be helping me build my audience and connect with like minded people. Not to mention good things are sure to follow you. Why??? Because YOU ROCK :D

 

The guidelines:

Follow me @JaceMcCoy to be entered to win. All followers are entered to win. The winner will be chosen at random by a number generator. If you are following me you will be entered EVERYDAY for a chance to win.

Winners are selected by a random number generator. Sometimes from the bottom of my follower list and other times from the top. Winners name and address will be needed for fulfillment. Otherwise prize will be void after 1 week. Items will be sent directly from suppliers. All followers are only eligible to win once within a course of 1 month.

All orders will be fulfilled directly through Amazon and will be shipped as a "gift."

Book Giveaway: Rules

To help build followers I have decided to give books away on a daily basis. The books will be chosen by me, and will often be a book I have read or has been recommended to me.

The guidelines:

Follow me @JaceMcCoy to be entered to win. All followers are entered to win. The winner will be chosen at random by a number generator. If you are following me you will be entered EVERYDAY for a chance to win.

Please help me get the word out about each days book giveaway by ReTweeting one of the many tweets I post during the day announcing the days selection. This will be a huge help to me. By doing this once a day you will be helping me build my audience and connect with like minded people. Not to mention good things are sure to follow you. Why??? Because YOU ROCK :D

Winners are selected by a random number generator. Sometimes from the bottom of my follower list and other times from the top. Winners name and address will be needed for fulfillment. Otherwise prize will be void after 1 week. Items will be sent directly from suppliers. All followers are only eligible to win once within a course of 1 month.

All orders will be fulfilled directly through Amazon and will be shipped as a "gift."

Writing Prompt 115

You think yourself clever; serendipitous. Ignoring the harbinger that is the cawing raven. But your wicked desires are now manifest. In the fields of heather the bells begin to shed the tears of mortal men. Soft petals glisten a motley of colors. Emotions of kaleidoscopic hues. Your body calms as the mellow hum rings out from the low hanging floral bells. A warning that some things lost should never be found. Blinded by radiance; you believe you’ve found grace. The beginning of all things. But only the end has begun. For we know the ways of man. The thirst of life. They are a weak existence. While we are all that is. The air you grasp at. The tremors of your crumpled body. We are… Ubiquitous. Welcome to humanities future.

THE END HAS JUST BEGUN.

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So I wrote this kinda as a prologue. The rest of the story would explain what is happening and who/what the unidentified entity is. I wanted there to be emphasis on beginning and ending. As this is the beginning of a struggle between good/evil. An apocalypse. Enjoy – JACE

I wrote this as part of a writing prompt at Creative Copy Challenge . The bold words were the ones in the prompt. - It may be a little rough but it was all for practice.

Writing Prompt 114

I’m standing looking at the last place on earth I want to go. An old bar sits between two apartment buildings looking disconcerting. The inside is packed to the gills with people . And a whole slew of other creatures. The bronze etched glass reads The Red Gnome but don’t let the whimsical name fool you. It’s nothing more then a lair to some of the fiercest Fae in Brooklyn. Since it has opened it has amassed various local awards including a full page write up in the New York Times. Anyone who is anyone has been to The Red Gnome. It is the the hottest spot in Brooklyn and one of the top ten bars in New York. Which is precisely the reason no one notices when a few people go missing. But people don’t just go missing; they’re erased. Peoples memories of them, the photos with them, all evidence that they had ever existed disappears.

A year ago I got a call from a woman as it was happening. At first the phone was quite with only the sound of people talking over each other. But then came a soft voice “Jared..,” she whispered “ I’m, at The Red Gnome.”

I knew the voice but couldn’t place it. I felt like I should know it. How could I not know who this woman was. A lump started to form in my throat. “Who is this?” I asked hoarsely.

She started crying “ I don’;t know. Don’t you know who I am?”

And that’s when I looked at the photo of me and my parents at NYU. Only there was a woman with her arms around me smiling at me. A woman I had never seen. Or maybe I had seen her but why was she hugging me. Who was this woman in the picture. More improtantly who is this woman on the phone. “Sorry I don’t…” I stuttered as the woman in the photo slowly started to vanish “I don’t know who you are.”

“Jared, I…” she said as the people in the background slowly quieted “I love…you.” the words evaporating.

“I love you too,” I said shocked by my own words. But somehow I knew they were true as the phone disconnected leaving me standing there feeling like I had just lost something with only the dial tone to keep me company.

Now after a year of searching for answers I am finally ready to take the next step. But looking at the well lit bar the hopelessness sets in. The things that run that bar aren’t even human. How am I going to get answers. But just as I was thinking of giving up I spot the in I was looking for; a tattered sign reads Now Hiring- Grill cook. Slowly I make the short distance across the street taking a deep breath as I enter crowed bar. I quickly reach the bar. When a large balding man with a fiery beard and a glint in his eyes asks “What ya drinking?”

“I don’t drink. I’m here about the job.”

“What’s that you say; you don’t drink,” letting loose a thunderous laugh. “ You disabled or just retarded.”

“No, just looking for work.” I said

“Your the first person to apply. Everyone else is too busy having a good time,” he said taking a shot of some strange purple liquid. “ I’m Fern,” daring me to comment before letting out another gut wrenching laugh “ You hired as long as you can make our special; The Sequel.”

“ I’m Jared,” I said holding out my hand “But what the hell is The Sequel,” I asked while Fern’s monstrous hand shook mine.

“Double beef patty with two slices of American and Swiss. With our famous horseradish sauce. Its a local favorite,” he said proudly scratching his beard.

“I think I could manage.”

“Good then. You’re hired,” he said with a wide grin

-------------------------

I wrote this as part of a writing prompt at Creative Copy Challenge . The bold words were the ones in the prompt. - It may be a little rough but it was all for practice.

Untitled 22

I wish I had know that how we spent our long days meant something other than drab windows in a pea colored room. You said You wanted to fly; that the world was your sky. Little was known of how you lost your wife. I took you from the drab life inside. And you climb the ledge waiting for your sky to take flight. A dive more elegant than a setting sun. You finally found your sky. And flew....

------------------

This poem was written in: 4mins

Untitled 1

You don't move. I sit still and silent. Basking in your glow. These nightmare start to creep. But Im not living for the bad dream. Good days come and go; But you and I are forever. It's time to make a choice. Letting you go; Or let you lie still, never to look me in the eye. Not feeling my hand As I say goodbye. Your body's still here but your souls long gone. I 'll follow you there. It'll feeling like no times passed at all.

-----------------------

This poem was written in: 2mins

Untitled 578

Do you see

the light in front of your eyes

Brimming at the edge of sanity

I am blind

Constant darkness

Raging inside of me

I cant seem to find my way

Out of this, this place

Theres no sound

Echoing silence all around

Teacher, Teacher, The Dog Ate My Internet

TADA

In other words Hell Ya! I haven't had the internet in almost six months and let me tell ya having it back is like a wet dream gone too far. I guess its true what they say; You don't know what you've got till it's gone and the internet was no exception. Oh how I missed the typing keys; the sound of tweets and all other internet luxuries. Now the only bad thing is will I be able to stay on task. OF COURSE!!! So here's the plan folks; take notes. In one, count them ONE, months time a new cleaner, tastier blog will be up and running! In three months said blog should have audio up and running (music and podcast ect.). And in six months I would like to have video on said sexy blog. BUT we all know how easy it is to become a couch potato.

Repeat after me:
I _________ solemnly swear I will no longer be a bump on a log taking up space; eating too many Cheetos and will from this moment on be a reformed lazy b-logger (bump on log) and will hence fourth be a true BLOGGER . One which updates at least daily with viable content. (mind you this starts tomorrow because lets face it this entry is whack)

Fin-
J.D. MCCOY

My Own Domain

Well I went and bought a domain name. It's time to kick this beast into overdrive. I've been debating if I should get one for quite some time. I like blogger but it doesn't have the aesthetic that I want. So I have offically gone off the deep end! The website is still in the process of being created and will be a WordPress blog site.

On other news; I am writing away like crazy trying to crank out my rough draft. I really can't describe what it's like sitting in Dunkin Donuts having a conversation with yourself trying to get the dialogue right. When all of the sudden some little kid points at you and says " Momma he's talking to himself." And myself being the nice guy that I am looks up and grins friendly at the snot nosed brat. Only for him to start crying. It was like I ran over his cat. Momma this and Momma that. Then if I thought it couldn't get any worse; The Mom walks up to me and says " You should be ashamed of yourself." Stomping off to the counter to order coffee. Well was I wrong with that asumption. She went and told on me. The manager came up to me and very nicely asked if I would mind coming back in a few minuets after she left. He explained that he knew I've been coming to this location and that he would give me a large iced coffee and two doughnuts when I came back. So I of course I said "Sweet!", causing us both to laugh and receive an evil scowling look from The Mom. I couldn't be more happy. Who doesn't like free coffee and doughnuts. Serves her right evil doodey head! But I swear I saw the spawn of doodey head stick his tongue out at me when I left...

Untitled-33

The world is mine
Just waiting to be plucked
And your just another mass
Waiting to be fucked
Too many causes
Too little too late
My world is waiting
In grim anticipation
For an unbiased,
Unfathomable
Fate

Untitled-33 created at work, scrawled on a decrepit box

Untitled-23

I am a prisoner in my own skin
So much more than whats underneath
Peel the layers piece by piece
and you will see;
The true version of me
An individual divided
Among every thought and action
There is no remorse; only recourse
When the pieces fall a..w..a..y
Leaving you bare
and motionless

-This is one of many random poems I have written.
Most of which are written in five to ten min. with
little or no editing. - JD

The wonderful lessons of spring

Last night I went to this lecture and I must say it was pretty darn interesting. So here are some things I learned.

1. Your instructor can be wearing bunny ears and showing tasteful clevage
2. I have and egg and it represents me navel
3. Some horrible person pushed their father out of a moving car
4. That we all have an army of minion jellybeans led by the marshmellow peeps
5. You should never fook with a pocket taser, or you may poo yourself
6. Said quite person wants to be fooked like an animal
7. Naked pool parties with old people are dissssssgusting
8. Chocolate jack rabbits have hard on's
9. How to tweet tweet Twitter
10. Two new very sexilious blogs Damevegas and Poetrysue
Did I forget to mention I also learned tons of stuff about spring, the impact it has over the harvesting season. That passover has way to much stuff going on. And what easter eggs really mean.
-Later

Snow

I don't remember living in a place that snows! Not only that but when Michigan's High is 56 and Vegas's is a mere 36; you know something is wrong. I work in the elements and let me just say it fu***** sucks. Its cold, wet and irratating. So here are some tips.
1. Wear Layers- Or you'll be a cold SOB
2. Gloves- At least cotton, or some winter snow gloves
3. Coffee or Hot Chocolate to warm the body and soul.
4. GET YOUR ASS INSIDE AND STAY THERE.

----This has been a public service announcement from TimShol.----

NIN

DID I FORGET TO MENTION IM GOING TO THE NiN CONCERT TONIGHT! BIG SHOUT OUT TO MAT WHO GOT THE TICKETS. THREE HOURS AND COUNTING. woot.!.