Please specify which day you’ll be attending.

Next step is to prepare yourself ahead of time so you’ll have the best experience possible. Click on 10K DAYS in the menu above (beneath the blog header) and you’ll find more info.

WHERE TO GO TO PARTICIPATE ON NOVEMBER 14 or 19

To participate, return to the HOME PAGE of this blog on the morning of your chosen 10K Day. (Each writer determines his/her own start time.) You’ll find a special post called 10K Day: Live While It’s Happening! and that’s where you’ll be making your check-ins.

The Live, While It’s Happening! post will give you pointers on what to post for your check-ins.

Please leave your RSVP/comments below.

See you at the 10K! ~ Milli

“I Brake for Squirrels” (and 10K Day nuts)

WELCOME TO ALL those plucky writers who are participating today!

This is the place to post your check-ins.

To learn more about this event, check the special 10K Day section (see blog menu above). If you develop a case of writer’s block—or you need some extra ideas on what to write—you’ll find plenty of inspiring resources in the Write NOW! section.

DON’T FORGET TO TAKE REGULAR BREAKS!

You’ll regret it later (when you’re feeling fried) if you don’t take regular breaks. Even if you’re on fire with your writing, take your scheduled breaks.

Every two hours is recommended. Breaks are also for posting check-ins.

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST FOR YOUR CHECK-INS?

Comment moderation will be turned off for the day so your posts should appear right away. If you don’t see yours, try refreshing your screen.

Keep check-ins fairly brief:

1. You can mention your word count if you want to. If you’d rather not, please provide a general comment about your progress thus far.

2. You can also describe what you’re working on.

3. Feel free to mention how you’re feeling and how the day is going for you.

4. It’s always fun to hear what people are drinking, snacking on or listening to.

5. Check-ins only. Please DO NOT post your writing! (The comment section will become unwieldy if writers try to post stories/chapters from their novel.)

DON’T FORGET TO log out of forums, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.

Go gettum, Tigers! – Milli

Prepare the Minds of Those Who Claim Your Time

Your 10K Day is for you.

If you’re typically not very good at setting boundaries for your writing, this is a good time to start. Whether you attain the goal of writing 10,000 words that day is not the crux of the matter. Granting yourself that day is.

Let your friends and loved ones know ahead of time that you’ll be unavailable, except for matters of urgency.

Do as much as you can to minimize routine chores. Get the laundry caught up the day before (or catch up on it after your 10K Day). Do important errands the day before. Provide something extremely simple for the family dinner and assign someone to cook it.

My husband always cooks dinner for us on a 10K Day. This is not as heroic as it sounds. I supply him with a bag of Bertolli Complete Skillet Meal for Two (look for this range in the frozen section of your supermarket). All he has to do is dump it in the skillet, cook it for 6-10 minutes, and then serve it up.

They’re actually quite tasty. And I can’t tell you how heavenly it is to sit down to a hot meal—prepared by someone else!—after all those hours of writing.

Now Embrace the Joys of Being Dispensible

You can tell people to leave you alone until you’re blue around the gills but it’s really up to you to police it. The low-stress way of doing this is to let your calls go to voicemail (or turn your cell phone off), log out of your e-mail and do not respond to text messages.

Oh, yes . . . and close the door to your writing area if you have one.

If you need to be available for emergency contact (this is often the case with mothers), decide ahead of time how to deal with this. Ideally, you don’t want to listen to the phone ringing all day—part of you will be distracted, wondering who it is. That’s why it’s best to think it through ahead of time.

Gather Your Materials

You’ve probably already decided what you want to work on that day. Make sure you assemble everything you’ll need the day before.

For instance, if you’re writing an historical novel you’ll probably want to have your research notes by your side. But if there’s something you really need to research before you can write the next section, do this in advance. 10K days are not for doing research.

Remember, This is Fun!

If you’ve started feeling some performance anxiety, chill out. You’re supposed to enjoy yourself. You don’t have to show anyone what you wrote that day. And you have nothing to prove to the world.

So you only wrote 1,999 words that day? Maybe that was precisely the breakthrough you needed.

Be Kind, Unwind!

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RELATED TOPICS

10K Day: Rules of the Game

10K Day: Survival Tips, Productivity Tricks

More . . .

10K Day: Not Sure What to Write About? No Worries!

How to Cheat on a 10K Day

Results of My First Ever 10K Day