Hello, my 12 x 12 friends! I am sitting outside in the sun as I write this. Since April began with mountains of snow, that is something to celebrate right there! Also, I did write a new draft this month. It is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad draft. As many of you probably know, I loathe writing first drafts, and writing this one was particularly excruciating. But I was inspired by the webinar with Rajani LaRocca this week (who also happens to be our featured author) to just DO IT ANYWAY. So I did. 🙂
Tell us YOUR progress. Did you complete a draft and/or revision in April? Let us know in the Rafflecopter and in the comments. April Featured Author Rajani LaRocca is offering one 12 x 12 member a picture book manuscript critique (under 1,000 words)! If you attended Rajani’s webinar this week, you know just how valuable this prize is. (If you didn’t see Rajani’s webinar live, the replay will be sent in the next few days.)
Thank you for giving back to 12 x 12, Rajani! You’re a ROCKSTAR!
Here is what you need to do to check in for a chance to win:
- See the Rafflecopter widget at the end of this post that says “PB Critique from Rajani LaRocca” at the top.
- Click on the “Comment on Rajani’s post” button. Commenting on Rajani’s post is mandatory for this giveaway and you can enter the Rafflecopter even if you didn’t write a draft this month. Click ENTER.
- If you haven’t commented on Rajani’s post yet, go to the post here to comment. Then come back here to enter the Rafflecopter. (Commenting won’t enter you in the drawing automatically, you have enter the Rafflecopter by following step 2.)
- Click on the “Wrote a PB Draft” button. This will ask if you completed a PB draft in April. If you did, click ENTER, if not, click cancel and move on to the next step.
- Click on the last “Revised a PB Draft” button. This will ask if you revised a PB in April. If you did, click ENTER. If not, click cancel.
- That’s it! There is no overall submit button or email confirmation. Rafflecopter will track your points. (The top of the Rafflecopter will say X/3 with X being the number of entries you currently have in the drawing.)
Here’s a video tutorial on the forum to walk you through these steps as well. Click here for the monthly check-in tutorial.
You have until midnight Eastern on May 5th to enter your results. Rafflecopter will draw a winner and it will be announced on the blog on May 6th.
Remember, badges are not awarded automatically and must be requested in the forum. Click here to request your April badge on the forum.
23 Responses
Thank you, Rajani, Julie, and Kelli for a very inspiring April <3
I’m with you on first drafts. Why are they so difficult to get out!?!
It’s been a good month for me. I have a really horrible first draft. But, it is a draft. Yay, me!
I revised a really fun story I’m working on. Makes me laugh out loud at my MC.
Rajani was a fabulous speaker. I hope you will have her back again.
Wow this was so well said. You literally wrote everything I always thought about writing and the journey that goes along with it. I have been blessed to work with an amazing editor who told me to focus on the heart of the story and to not divert away from it. Though even with that good advice, I often found myself changing up parts of the story after sending it out to agents and publishers to fit their mold or what they thought it needed (upon rejection), only to realize that I ruined it. We have to stay true to our vision. Not everyone will understand it. But like you said someone out there will. This was the message I needed to hear today!
Looking forward to watching the replay of the webinar.
Can’t wait to watch the replay of Rajani’s webinar! I’ve heard such wonderful things about it!!
This webinar was a magical two-hour events.
I look forward to watching Rajani’s webinar on replay. I wrote a rough draft and revised. April went by too fast. Looking forward to May and more inspiration!
Thank you for the inspiration to keep going!
Looking forward to this webinar. I got back on track this month and wrote a new draft and revised a ton!
I can’t wait to catch the replay!
Nothing new…but I did revise an oldie but hopefully, a goodie. And I always appreciate anything Rajani shares, whether in a blog post or a webinar…or a new book!!!
I wrote a new MS and shared it with a group that helped me with the word count. I also revised a couple things in the very first MS I ever shared with professionals!
I managed to scrape together a very, VERY rough draft on the last day of the month … talk about by the skin of your teeth! Also revised a couple of manuscripts and got them ready for their next critique. Have to admit that a few recent knock backs have dented my confidence and I’m struggling to remain positive … but I know that will pass with time. Keep calm and carry on!
Since my USB where my stories are saved broke, I hadn’t been able to write anything new. Shock set in. Good news is, I found a place that was able to recover my stories so while I couldn’t focus on new, I was able to revise. Shock is now diminishing and my creativity is coming back.
I was so determined to get revision time for already works in progress that I did not start a new story. I mulled over several ideas, but I did not act on any. I have enough first drafts that need my attention before adding another. Maybe one day ……..
Thank you for your inspiration and wisdom.
I revised a manuscript in April. Thanks for a great month!
Wow! That month went fast. But got in a draft on a new idea (that I since found has a ton of competition—ugh!) and continued to revise a manuscript that seems to be working its way into two. We’ll see where that goes in May. Thanks for all the inspiration!
Great topic for a webinar… this makes me feel like I am not alone in the struggle and beauty of writing for children!
So encouraging! Thank you so much for a great webinar!
Congratulations on your new draft, Julie!!! I loved Rajani’s advice to just “do it anyway,” too! 🙂 I worked on two drafts and two revisions in April. Some of my new drafts have been really rough this year, but at least they’re in existence now. A page with words is a whole lot easier to revise than a page that’s blank! 😉 I also loved Rajani’s webinar and can’t wait to go back and listen again! 🙂 Thanks to everyone in 12×12 for being so awesome!
I love the fact that Rajani does all of this while working full time. It makes me feel good knowing I’m doing the same gig!
It only took me three weeks, but I FINALLY got a chance to watch Rajani’s webinar and remain floored by how many books she’s written while working as a doctor! Loved her thoughts on how to make critiques efficient/productive and thoughtful. And pretty sure I need to edit out some crutch words from my MS …