I’m not gonna lie. June was a tough month. The kids are off school, so the routine is out the window. We took a vacation that was marred by the health issues of a family member. Those same health issues have now become an emergency that I’ll be dealing with during the month of July. I honestly feel as though I’ve been living under water for a month. Since it’s difficult to write under water, I did not complete either a draft or a revision. That’s the bad news.
The GOOD news is, I got to visit Harry Potter World while on vacation and recover a sense of childhood wonder. I am chomping at the bit to return to my writing, so motivation is no longer an issue. My daughter will be at sleep away camp for two weeks in July, so that will help me carve out some time. AND, I am very excited about our 12 x 12 Summer BBQ taking place tomorrow. I’m betting I’m not the only one who could use some mid-year support right now (yes, we are now halfway through the challenge for 2016). Join us for some learning, camaraderie, and Q & A.
Now tell us your progress. Did you complete a draft and/or revision in June? Let us know in the Rafflecopter and in the comments. This month’s winner will win a signed copy of The William Hoy Story from this month’s Featured Author 12 x 12 member Nancy Churnin.
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 “The William Hoy Story by Nancy Churnin” at the top.
- Click on the “Comment on Nancy’s Blog Post” button. It will reveal the task, which is to comment on Nancy’s blog post. If you haven’t comment yet, you can click HERE and comment.
- Commenting on Nancy’s Featured Author post and clicking enter in the Rafflecopter will get you one entry in this month’s drawing whether you completed a draft or not. When you click ENTER on that option in Rafflecopter, the next two options will open up.
- Click on the “Wrote a PB Manuscript” button. This will ask if you completed a PB draft in June. If you did, click ENTER, if you did not, move on to the next step.
- Click on the last “Revised a PB Manuscript” button. This will ask if you revised a PB in June. If you did, click ENTER. If not, move on to the next step.
- That’s it! Rafflecopter will track your points.
We’ve created a quick video to walk you through your monthly check-in. You can view it in the Video Tutorial section of the forum HERE.
You have until midnight Eastern on July 1st to enter your results. Rafflecopter will draw a winner and I’ll announce it on the blog on July 2nd.
Celebrate your freedom to write in your July draft!
37 Responses
I wrote a new ms and revised on two. It has been a tough month and I’m happy I found opportunities to put BIC.
I wrote two picture books this month and revised one. So proud of myself
I finished a manuscript and started another!
I wrote a new picture book, tweaked an existing picture book, and submitted the first few chapters of a mg I’ve been tweaking for a while. I’ve been a busy beaver!
@Juliehedlund, glad for your recoup of motivation, as hard-won as it is. Thanks for sharing your realities. May July go better!
In so thankful to have written a new draft and to have revised it! My goal this year is to have 2 badges earned every month, and I’m right on track so far!
Glad that your motivation has been restored, Julie as you navigate a family member’s health challenges. Finding your bearings can be a difficult.
I wrote 2 new picture books and revised another, and I’m happy to say that I’m sending out queries for my MG!
Agree – with kids are on summer break, our schedule is not as structural. I have written one MS in June. Thanks to the encouragement from my 12X12 critique group! <3
Forgot to mentioned that I also revised a PB MS this month while my son at a swim meet.
June has been a crazy month. I managed to write a very, very rough draft for a PB, and I revised another PB manuscript. I’m hoping for not so crazy in July!!
The manuscript wasn’t great, but I finished it….and actually worked on two revisions. This summer is really keeping me busy. I had nothing last month!!!
Wrote 1 rough draft (which I am very excited about — it is very meta!!), and revised two. Looking forward to a more relaxed July!!
Revised three ms! Productive month!
I revised a ton after being inspired at SCBWI NJ at the beginning of the month, and thanks to some spot on advice from my 12×12 critique group. And, with 6.5 hours to go, I just completed a draft of a story I’ve been trying to write for months, inspired by, and in memory of, my dog who passed away mid-month.
Revised two MS this month. First month without a new draft.
Tough month for my creativity, but I am learning a WHOLE lot as a bookseller!
Rockin’ and rollin’ with my new MS and revision count.s Thanks 12 x 12 for the inspiration!
I have written two new manuscripts this month – finally just writting and stopped thinking. I also worked on a revision of a story I wrote in January. Was good to read it again after being away so long – I feel the time away helped make it stronger this time through.
I hope July is a better writing month for you!
I actually do better when the kids are out of school. I wrote one new PB and managed seven revisions. I also turned a PB draft that got a lot of personalized rejections last year into a chapter book that I think is going to rock once I’ve revised it a few times.
Thanks for sharing how you approached writing this story. Love the tie-ins of sports and history for boys… I was a teacher for years. Hard to find those books for reluctant boy readers. This fits the bill.
Still just revising. But all those manuscripts I wrote in previous 12X12 years have given me plenty to revise. Julie, I hope things get better for you.
Harry Potter world! wow I never knew it existed. I returned from aJune holiday ready to write lavender Blue story ( following the song).I soon had to revise it and I also was advised to write another revision as a Chapter Book,which I will do in July or August. Now I have to fit in gardening!
I wrote one new draft and outlined another. No revisions.
Wrote a new book Monster Training with a tweeted draft this month. Began new drawings to try out style of Wolfie and Super Sized Wolfie.
Wrote down some new story ideas and a draft for one of them. Thinking of you Julie, I am also dealing with health concerns of family members.
So, does writing your outline on a cocktail…err…scratch paper count as a new manuscript? Not that I would submit said outline. I’ve heard that it’s not a very good idea. thanks for all you do, Julie and KellI and Happy 4th, everyone 🙂
Tough month of revisions but as I sit here reflecting I realize that in addition to writing a stinky 1st draft and revising for the gazillionth time, I have been teaching my daughter about the world of writing and what one goes through to hone the craft. Whether or not I win the July prize matters not. I am spending much needed and desired quality time with my girl!
I wrote two revisions this month but I came up with several ideas for new stories. 🙂
Completed a rough manuscript and started another. Nothing worth sharing yet, but progress nonetheless.
So happy to have had the distraction of writing and revising this past month, Julie! Looking forward to a summer of so much mor4 of that…plus the upcoming WOW Retreat in July…woo-hoo…I’ll get to hug q1uite of few 12x12ers. 😉
Squeaked in a June draft late last night. Whew!
I’m finding that I spend more time on the revisions now than on the drafts. The revisions are a little more bold than they used to be, too. Glad to have the monthly check-ins to keep me writing those first drafts.
Was gone much of May to mid-June. But, I did come of with a couple of story ideas.
Whew! just made it this month. 🙂
June was a month of revisions for me. Summertime gets me outside walking the trails and watching baseball. I no longer think I am procrastinating when I spend time away from pen and paper. Time away gives me a chance to fill my creative well.
Struggling to work all this out – you’d think I’d have it sorted six months in but in New Zealand the first six months of my year are generally chaos. So no new manuscripts in that time, lots of missed webinars (I wish they were available for longer) and finally, right at the last minute, a revised manuscript today.
Even though I am still plagued with medical issues, although ultrasound treatments and physical therapy are helping, I did manage to revise 2 picture books and added 1 new rough draft to my list