Nature / Writing

Monday September 01, 2014 This time last year, I was sleep-deprived and beginning to panic. That's because I was in the final 12 hours of my first 3-Day Novel Contest. A few days ago I received a comment on my 2013 3-Day Novel Contest Wrap-Up from Pam Bustin, a Canadian writer who's been doing the contest since 2008  and was wondering if I was going to be doing it again in 2014. To answer that, let's just say I happily slept in this morning. ... Actually, let's say a little more than that. It took me years to sign up for my first 3-Day Novel Contest because for me, the Labour Day Weekend is usually family time. Last year was an anomaly, but if I had signed up this year it would have been a two-day contest at best. But I considered doing it anyway. What really stopped me was an ongoing writing problem I have, which I even mentioned in the CBC interview I did about the 2013 3-Day Novel Contest : That is the hand of one of my favourite authors, Neil Gaim...

Tuesday April 1, 2014 (This blog post is epic, and probably only of interest to my mom. If you just want my  3-Day Novel Contest  take-away tips for writers, you can  skip down to the "Suggestions" section .) Well, the  shortlist for the 2013 3-Day Novel Contest is out and I'm not on it, which is what I was expecting. Caution: Reading this will make you reconsider how you spend   your long weekends. I really like the story I started that weekend, but having  read many of the winning 3-Day Novels over the past few years, I knew mine didn't have a chance of winning. It was too short, too scattered, and simply felt incomplete. If you haven't read any of those books, you should - it's astonishing what people have created in three days.* (I recommend  In the Garden of Men . Or Socket . Or Struck . Or Snowmen, Heidegger Stairwell, The Convictions of Leonard of McKinley ...).  I held out a small hope for an Honourable Mention/shortlist...

Thursday August 29, 2013 If you've come here from CBC Canada Writes ' coverage of the 3 Day Novel Contest, welcome! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I did a quick interview with the CBC about my plans to participate in the upcoming 3 Day Novel Contest , an annual event which challenges writers to start and finish a new novel during the Labour Day weekend. This post will probably make more sense if you've read that interview , so I encourage you to go have a look.  It's cool, I'll wait... Now there are a few updates since I answered the CBC's questions, and there wasn't room to talk about all of my prep in the first place, so here's a bit more on where things stand now: Updates The Pirate Research I still have a lot of books to get through, but on the other hand, I'm feeling committed to this idea no matter what. So, I think I'm definitely doing a pirate book this weekend - the question is how much of it will b...