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12 x 12 December 2015 Check-In!

Hello my dear 12 x 12 participants,

It is New Year’s Eve. The very last day of 2015, and thus this of year’s challenge. I am always simultaneously sad and excited on this day. Excited because a brand new, shiny year is ahead of us full of possibility. 2016 is extra-special because it is the FIFTH anniversary of the challenge. We have so much in store for you in the form of new features, new webinar speakers, celebrations, and more.

But I’m also sad because every 12 x 12 “class” is unique and special in myriad ways, and while many of you will (I hope!) come back, some of you will not. The group exactly as it is right now will no longer exist.

Allow me, therefore, to pause for a moment to say THANK YOU for being a member, for being brave and taking on this challenge, and being even more brave for sharing your work, your processes and your stories with us. It is truly an honor to write, revise, edit, rant, rave, cry, celebrate, and support alongside all of you. I cannot imagine my life without YOU, the heart of 12 x 12.

Okay, okay! *wipes eyes* Let’s move on to the business of today. First of all, I must apologize. In the buzz and excitement of getting things ready for 2016, I TOTALLY FORGOT to secure a featured author for December. Once I realized, I decided I would write a post. Then I TOTALLY FORGOT to do that, too.

I suppose I am obliged each year to prove that I am not, in fact, superhuman. I just wish I hadn’t (to use a football metaphor) fumbled on the one yard line. Ah well. Onwards!

Now for the actual check-in. So far, I have not done any writing or revising in December. BUT, as I write this post, I am sitting in a cozy cabin up in the mountains about to spend the next three days writing and revising. My pledge is that I will have both a new draft and a revision finished by the end of today. I’ll keep you posted on the Facebook page. I am also committed to writing my January draft AND completing a revision before I leave here on the 3rd so I can start 2016 with gusto. I hope you’ll join me there.

Now tell us your progress. Did you complete a draft and/or revision in December? Did you write 12 or more drafts this year and await your Winner badge?

Remember, although not everyone is an “official” challenge winner, everyone who wrote and revised as part of 12 x 12 this year is a winner as a writer. Because you’re doing it. You’re working, and learning, and sharing, and supporting.

All that being said, only one of you can win this month’s prize:

A 2016 12 x 12 SHEL SILVERSTEIN MEMBERSHIP.*

Here is what you need to do to check in for a chance to win:

  1. See the Rafflecopter widget at the end of this post that says “2016 12 x 12 Shel Silverstein Membership” at the top.
  2. Click on the “I wrote something this year!” button. If you wrote anything at all this year, click enter to get one entry in this month’s Rafflecopter whether you completed a draft in December or not. When you click ENTER on that option in Rafflecopter, the next two options will open up.
  3. Click on the “Wrote a PB Manuscript” button. This will ask if you completed a PB draft in December. If you did, click ENTER, if you did not, move on to the next step.
  4. Click on the last “Revised a PB Manuscript” button. This will ask if you revised a PB in December. If you did, click ENTER. If not, move on to the next step.
  5. Submit your entry. Rafflecopter will track your points.

You have until midnight Eastern on January 1st to enter your results. Rafflecopter will draw a winner and I’ll announce it on the blog on January 2nd.

*If you plan to renew or upgrade to GOLD in 2016 and you win the prize, the amount of the Shel SILVERstein membership will be applied as a discount to your fee.

Remember, returning member registration for 2016 begins next week! Watch your email inbox for details beginning January 5th. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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38 Responses

  1. Can’t wait for next year!!
    Thank y’all sooooo much for the support, the resources, the deadlines… everything.
    See you in 2016!

  2. This challenge and the benefits of being part of the 12×12 community has helped me so much this year! Thank you for helping me move forward. Here’s to more and better writing in 2016!

  3. Julie, thank you so much for all of the time and effort you put into making this 12 x 12 program. Your hard work is appreciated. Happy New Year!

  4. Thank you so much Julie, for an amazing year of writing! I am dancing on my toes, eagerly awaiting 2016!

  5. Thank you Julie,
    Two years and I’m ready to re-register again. This year I am commited to sending something in to an editor or an agent and revising the life into my pieces. I am doing the 12 days lists and really jumping in after the holiday company goes. did write a draft with my grand daughter yesterday, now for the work of making it better.

    1. It’s interesting that Blatman considers Israel to be a colonial state because of its actions in the West Bank while other Israeli scholars have long explained — certainly from a historical and political perspective — why Israel in its entirety is a colonial project doomed to failure. One might say Bl&a1tna#82m7;s realization is too little too late. I suppose the significance of this admission is merely in the fact that he is a Holocaust scholar.

  6. First, I want to say a huge “Thank You” for making this year’s 12 x 12 the best one ever. I can’t wait for 2016!!

    I revised 3 of my older picture books and added 28 new rough drafts (out of 67 ideas) thanks to PiBoIdMo. I was hoping to take a couple of last year’s PiBoIdMo manuscripts and expanded them into chapter books but had to put that on the back burner as it seemed as if every time I turned around I had another medical appointment. I will be doing ReviMo once again starting January10 th and hope to revise a couple of my new rough drafts.

  7. Here’s to you, dear Julie! So many of us are enjoying great success…and without 12×12, those successes might not have happened. You’ve done a really good thing here. 😉

    Thanks to another precious gem in our kid lit community, Susanna Leonard Hill, I did complete a pb draft…actually my entry to her Holiday Contest that I won second place with…I think it might work as a rhyming picture book after I flesh it out a bit more.
    And thanks to Rate Your Story, I revised two manuscripts before I sent them at the beginning of the month…and got a ‘1.5’ and a ‘2’…so I am so so so happy. With a bit more spit and polish, I’ll send those onto Essie.
    And of course, I’m working on the few changes Marissa Moss wanted to see in the Sarah story…will have to reach out to a couple more crit buddies to make sure I’ve got that last sentence down pat.

    All the best, dear Julie, for a happy, healthy, and successful New Year! Here’s to 2016!

  8. My new year’s resolution is to FINALLY devote time to my writing! No more excuses! Let’s do this 12 X 12 2016! Happy New Year to you all!

  9. Thanks Julie for a great year full challenge and fun! It’s not how many drafts or revisions, I log that matters. It’s the connection and growth as a writer that feeds me. I’ll be back for 2016 and year 3 of 12×12!

  10. Oh my gosh, I actually got a draft done every single month! I didn’t “complete” the challenge last year, but I did this year! And revised even more drafts than that thanks to a bunch of good things that pushed my motivation. Thanks for this accountability, Julie, Kelli, and everyone involved with 12×12!

  11. My first year taking part and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it! It made me write and revise picture books unlike I’ve ever done before. And that’s what I needed.
    Onwards and upwards!

  12. Thank you so much, Julie, for another great year of 12×12. I just counted up my drafts, and I had 13 new drafts this year, along with countless revisions. All in all, a very productive year! I’ll probably need to focus more on revision in 2016, but I still feel that writing new drafts is the engine that keeps the train moving forward. You did a good thing when you dreamed up this challenge!

    Happy New Year!

  13. Thank you for creating the 12×12 Challenge! I loved the webinars, forum discussions, and the great kid-lit community. It helped keep me accountable for my writing and I’m proud to say that I wrote 12 new PB drafts in 2015. Most are pretty SFDs, but I think a few have potential to be something good. I did do revisions every month, but I hope next year I can make bigger revisions on the “good” manuscripts so I can make them submission ready.

  14. Thanks, Julie. I followed the instructions through Step 4 — clicked on Enter for “Revised a PB Manuscript” (I also clicked on Enter for “Wrote a PB Manuscript”). Step 5 says, “Submit your entry.” But I see no “Submit” button or any other say to submit my entry. How do I do that?

  15. Thanks for a great year to Julie and the 12×12 community–I’m so happy to say I’ve written more this year than any other year! I look forward to the 2016 writing adventure 🙂

  16. Thank you, Julie and Kelli, and all my fellow Year Four Elves! It’s been a year of ups and downs, but being a 12xer has helped me to keep my chin above water all year long! Ever so grateful!

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Interested in Joining the 12x12 Challenge?

Financial Need Scholarship Guidelines

All applications will be accepted via email only between November 1, 2023 – November 30, 2023 at kelli@juliehedlund.com.

Subject line of the email:

  1. 12 x 12 Financial Need Scholarship
 

Please include the following in the body of the email:

  1. An autobiographical statement and career summary in 250 words or fewer.
  2. A short statement describing the nature of the financial need/circumstances in 250 words or fewer.
  3. A sample query letter for the manuscript you are submitting with your application.
  4. Pitches for two additional completed picture books.
 

 Attached to the email:

  1.  The full text of one picture book manuscript, attached as a Word document named as FIN_YourFirstName_YourLastName_Title_of_Manuscript.doc (or docx).