Hi! I'm barbex from the960writers and barbex and I want you to write your story. Masterposts. The Discord server. Check out the960writers for more writing advice.
Writing in the summer, with camaraderie, deadlines, and accountability.
June, July, and August
Announcement is here, first post here.
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Ongoing:
Planning all the plans!
Last day of the month we make writing plans for the coming month. Post is here.
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Ongoing:
SloMo WriNo, Write your novel in a year
Welcome to The Slower Moving way to Write a Novel! Or SloMoWrino for short.
This challenge doesn't focus on getting you to write faster, but on developing a solid writing habit, and writing your novel in a more relaxed way.
This project is run by Maree and the first post is here.
You can subscribe to the #slomowrino tag to make sure you see all the posts here, or subscribe to Maree's substack.
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The projects through the years:
2025:
May and June 2025:
Sunday, May 4 until Sunday, June 29 2025.
Daily writing, set your own goal, make a post about hitting your goal, get a star. Post is here.
Getting to know your story (through writing it)
A special writing event for discovery writers. Masterpost is here. Here is the last post with links to all the advice. You can still follow along with these posts at your own pace.
Write your novel in 2024 2025
Slow and steady, write and finish your novel this year.
The masterpost is here, or start here at the first post and go through the tag #slomowrino. Subscribe to the substack to get everything in one place
2024:
Write 40k in 42 days
Start: 4th of August 2024
End: 14th of September 2024
40k First post is here.
Write a short story in 60 days
Write and finish a short story to publish yourself or submit it to traditional publishers.
The start post is here and the tag is #60daysshortstory. this project is done, but you can still use the resources.
2023:
Fall of 2023, the begin of SloMoWriNo https://www.tumblr.com/the-wip-project/736076610461138944/slomo-wrino-master-post
Spring 2023, the start with a special writing docket to download: https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/711609740849037313/the-wip-project-2023
2022:
Here’s the masterpost for 2022’s 90 days to first draft: https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/676795295564234752/the-wip-project-2022-masterpost
2021:
100 days of writing. The tag is here, and here are four posts I find especially notable about The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger:
Two short projects in this year. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/190175623889/the-wip-project-2020 and https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/627604336988618752/im-so-busy-are-you-busy-too-i-was-trying-to
Note how I keep pushing for accountability posts. I'm convinced that accountability posts are the key to getting shit done, but very few people actually do it.
2019:
Where it all started, complete with a sign-up form and prizes. The prizes made everything extremely stressful for me, so I'm not doing that again 😂😂😂. https://the-wip-project.tumblr.com/post/185566159309/the-wip-project-2019
Snippet from this week’s writing and reflections below.
Do you want the good news first or the bad news?
Let's start with the bad so we can end on a high note. Continuing to struggle on the writing side of the challenge. The entire fic is leading up to one scene and that's the scene I've been massaging to death both last week and this week. It's not what I want it to be, and it's THE scene, so that's frustrating. I dragged my feet on writing all week because I didn't want to face it, then met the goal yesterday by writing a different short scene that I'm not sure will even make it into the story at all.
(Really feel like giving up on it. Really trying not to.)
On a more positive note, I applied the what do they fear/what do they want/what are they willing to do to get it questions to the characters in the story I'm plotting and it really helped me unlock one of their motivations. It was a tough question to answer at first, because although I instinctively knew how he would respond to the situation, I was having a hard time articulating why*. Forcing myself to dig into that made it all a lot clearer, and I was able to plot out the next section. I'm probably 1/2 to 2/3 done with the basic structure of the entire thing. Exciting!
* Because it's way too close to my own personal issues heh.
Snippet
[I observe that purpose in biological male appears to be pleasure,] Rocky said smugly. [I make science discovery!]
It was difficult for me to find something to write about for you today (that's why the post is late). I thought it should be a post about productivity, but as I was skimming through posts and books about productivity for writers, it felt kind of pointless because we already talked about all that. I know all this already and I'm sure you know it too.
Make it a habit, set small goals, do writing sprints. Where ever I looked, all advice basically boiled down to this. @mareebrittenford wrote about writing sprints in week six, and I'm pretty sure I have mentioned habit forming a hundred times on this blog. Maybe it just feels that way, but whenever I hear "the secret trick is to form a habit for daily writing" I just want to yell "Yes, I know! That's not the problem!".
As I did my mental scream, some inner voice, very calmly, said: So, what is the problem?
Inner voices can be such assholes.
The problem is... that I don't know what the problem is.
Which reminded of this ancient post by Rachel Aaron/Bach, in which she describes how she perfected her writing process. One point she makes is that she had only a vague idea what her process even was and she started to take notes to figure out what worked well.
And that's going to be our homework for this week, and I'm going to tag you all as a little wake up call:
Take notes this week: When did you write, how long, in what environment (office, cafe, couch), and how many words did each session yield?
Once you know better what works best for you, the next step is going to be to replicate the best situation, but that's something for later. For now, let's figure out what works.
It was difficult for me to find something to write about for you today (that's why the post is late). I thought it should be a post about productivity, but as I was skimming through posts and books about productivity for writers, it felt kind of pointless because we already talked about all that. I know all this already and I'm sure you know it too.
Make it a habit, set small goals, do writing sprints. Where ever I looked, all advice basically boiled down to this. @mareebrittenford wrote about writing sprints in week six, and I'm pretty sure I have mentioned habit forming a hundred times on this blog. Maybe it just feels that way, but whenever I hear "the secret trick is to form a habit for daily writing" I just want to yell "Yes, I know! That's not the problem!".
As I did my mental scream, some inner voice, very calmly, said: So, what is the problem?
Inner voices can be such assholes.
The problem is... that I don't know what the problem is.
Which reminded of this ancient post by Rachel Aaron/Bach, in which she describes how she perfected her writing process. One point she makes is that she had only a vague idea what her process even was and she started to take notes to figure out what worked well.
And that's going to be our homework for this week, and I'm going to tag you all as a little wake up call:
Take notes this week: When did you write, how long, in what environment (office, cafe, couch), and how many words did each session yield?
Once you know better what works best for you, the next step is going to be to replicate the best situation, but that's something for later. For now, let's figure out what works.
Back in business baby! :D Sometimes this week I was on a roll and didn't want to stop, other times I got around the minimum and that's okay. I'm making a lot of progress on this WIP and even had flash of brilliance for a paragraph. @the-wip-project
As part of summer writing 2026 at @the-wip-project, I'm still noodling around and away at the original fiction, taking the occasional break from it with fanfiction. But I noticed that the "breaks" keep getting longer, which is good for the fanfics that really need some updates, not so good for the damn original fic that was supposed to be done by this point.
This week's homework is based on V.E. Schwab's questions to answer to create memorable characters:
1) what they fear?
2) what they want?
3) what they're willing to do to get it?
And maybe I should think about that a little bit. The one big difference between original fiction and fanfiction is that I don't know the characters all that well in my original fiction. In fanfiction, certain things are set, even if I veer in out-of-character scenes all the time. But I think I can write these scenes convincingly enough to take my readers along.
With the original fiction, I only have a few vague ideas about the characters, expecting them to come more alive as I write them. But, wouldn't you know, that's like really a lot of work! I feel like I'm writing forward, dragging the characters along, while they, reluctantly, let me know how they feel about all that.
Maybe I need to know them a little better?
Let's see, my main protagonist is Sonja, newly divorced woman who gets dragged into a fantasy world via a portal. She meets a man acting as her guide in this world. His names is Kayden (for now, names are temporary), young, kind, and handsome.
The idea for the story is the older woman being made to fulfill a prophecy with her young guide, her slightly grumpy about this stupid quest, him all golden retriever sunshine, as they fall in love and... well there's a another group involved, also a dragon, well, the rest is kind of foosy goosy loosy...
On with the questions:
What do they fear? Sonja fears that she's too old and damaged for happiness now. Kayden fears that he will not meet the expectations set upon him.
What do they want? Sonja wants to be someone for once in her life. After years of feeling invisible in her unhappy marriage, she wants to make an impact now. Kayden wants to fulfill the prophecy, because he has been raised in the knowledge that this is his destiny.
What they're willing to do to get it? Damn, that's a tough one. At this point in the story, Sonja just wants this all over and done with, but that will change, later. But Kayden? I don't really know.
You know, this was quite helpful, at least in showing me what I don't know. I won't be filling out any character questionnaires, but I will think about these questions and how they influence my story some more.
Snippet from this week’s writing and reflections below.
After a few weeks where progress felt easier if not consistent, this was a rough one. I'll admit that this is in no small part due to the fact that I've completely messed up my sleep schedule again, and I have a hard time (1) writing and (2) feeling positive when I'm this tired.
The other challenge is that the story is spiraling a little, which happens with most things I write. I'm having a hard time wrapping up a critical scene, and I just keep expanding on it and expanding on it to the point where I know I'm well past its natural end, but it just keeps going. I also think I'm losing the characters' voices more and more the longer it drags. Maybe I'll try the editing/rewriting trick that worked for me so well a few weeks ago.
I did have one really good writing day, which was the 16th, where I wrote 311 words. This was the day after chatting about the idea with a fandom... friend? mutual? acquaintance? which actually made me feel excited about the idea again. Something to consider. I typically don't talk a lot about what I'm writing ahead of time because then I feel like I've told the story and I don't have to write it anymore and I lose my motivation. I also don't have a huge community in this fandom (yet?). But maybe I need to find a way to share a little bit more than I am.
(The 509 words yesterday was NOT in any way a good writing day. That was vomiting out words to meet a goal.)
On a more positive note, I'm making huge progress on breaking down some of the issues in the fic I'm plotting/outlining, and I'm looking forward to maybe actually writing it. (Although I know I'll go through all of these same painful stages with it if I do :)
Snippet
Ryland was shaking everywhere. Outside. Inside. In places he didn’t know could shake. His spleen was probably quivering.
(I promise I'm calling him Grace in the fic I'm plotting.)
According to my plan (I do not have a plan) we should all be deep in our stories, maybe even right in the dreaded middle by now. Or, if you're like me, you're still kind of stuck at finding what the story wants to be as you noodle around in scenes that may or may not be part of a coherent thing one day.
As I was procrastinating reading around in my inbox full of newsletters, I came across a delightful post by Maggie Stiefvater (sorry, it's Substack), which talked about why character questionnaires don't do anything for her, because they focus on superficial descriptions instead of what actually makes the core of the characters. Which reminded me of this old post by VA Schwab:
And because my tagging system is immaculate 🤣, I found it on my writing blog with a great explanation by Diane Duane.
All this to say, here's some reading for you and when you've done that, let's talk about your characters. At this point in your summer writing, you probably have some general idea about your characters (look at me circling back to the beginning of this post). But we don't want to fill out questionnaires about hair- and eye-color, we want to know what makes the core of our characters.
Back to V.E. Schwab's three questions, do you know
1) what they fear,
2) what they want,
3) what they're willing to do to get it?
How about a post about this? Let us see your characters and what you know about them. You might find out something new about your story and characters.
Here's the calendar for this week (as always also on the google drive):
According to my plan (I do not have a plan) we should all be deep in our stories, maybe even right in the dreaded middle by now. Or, if you're like me, you're still kind of stuck at finding what the story wants to be as you noodle around in scenes that may or may not be part of a coherent thing one day.
As I was procrastinating reading around in my inbox full of newsletters, I came across a delightful post by Maggie Stiefvater (sorry, it's Substack), which talked about why character questionnaires don't do anything for her, because they focus on superficial descriptions instead of what actually makes the core of the characters. Which reminded me of this old post by VA Schwab:
And because my tagging system is immaculate 🤣, I found it on my writing blog with a great explanation by Diane Duane.
All this to say, here's some reading for you and when you've done that, let's talk about your characters. At this point in your summer writing, you probably have some general idea about your characters (look at me circling back to the beginning of this post). But we don't want to fill out questionnaires about hair- and eye-color, we want to know what makes the core of our characters.
Back to V.E. Schwab's three questions, do you know
1) what they fear,
2) what they want,
3) what they're willing to do to get it?
How about a post about this? Let us see your characters and what you know about them. You might find out something new about your story and characters.
Here's the calendar for this week (as always also on the google drive):
7/13: 150/200 (guessing because I just did some OC asks)
7/14: 0/200 (another long travel/sightseeing day)
7/15: 217/200
7/16: 203/200 (another travel day)
7/17: 0/200 (final travel day but battling motion sickness & migraine)
7/18: 247/200
This week was a rough one, pretty much drove across a quarter of the continental US (plus up and down an entire New England state in one day) and it was exhausting. Then a migraine/motion sickness decided to knock me out yesterday evening. But! Trip #2 is done with and hopefully I can build my momentum back up. @the-wip-project
Snippet from this week’s writing and reflections below.
Somehow pulled this one out despite being away from home all week. Public accountability, not wanting to break a streak, and spreadsheets are powerful motivators.
Beyond that, I'm not sure how much I actually have to say about the experience. I barely remember what I wrote this week, except the few hundred words that I eked out while I was falling asleep last night just to meet the goal. It all feels very disjointed.
Was it worth it to keep up with the challenge over the course of the week, or should I have taken the time off, fully enjoyed my time with family, and come back to it refreshed? Hard to say. Maybe I'll have more opinions when I read things back.
(To be fair, I did fully enjoy the time with my family. But my writing goals were in the back of my mind sometimes. And I sacrificed sleep to them more than once.)
I suppose that could be something to ponder: the balance between pushing through and allowing myself time to rest and reset. When am I beating my head against the wall, when I should really just take a break? When am I stagnating or procrastinating, when I should try to keep going? I'm afraid I don't have good answers (yet?).
Snippet
[Follow, please,] Rocky said, and then, without turning, he reversed direction and walked farther into the space between the buildings, away from the street.
Ryland stared after him for a moment, then felt himself shrug and follow. It wasn’t like anything bad had ever come from following a near-stranger down an alley, right?
Today's post was supposed to have a link to a thing I read, as I always try to cite my sources, but I lost it. I don't know if it was in an email, or if it was linked on some social media site. I can't link you to someone else's clever words, you will have to get by with my ramblings today.
Here's the gist of it. It's about setting and how detailed we describe it. A lot of advice says that writers should not waste their times with vivid and elaborate descriptions/setting while they write the first draft. This aligns with the common imperative of writing an ugly first draft, leaving the pretty descriptions for revision.
Do you write like that? I don't write like that.
I do understand that it can look like I'm wasting my time on pretty words, which may or may not get deleted again, hence the advice of leaving all that out of the first draft. But I noticed if I write that bare draft, I'm missing something. The descriptions I write, about the setting, the environment, the details of the world, I need those to get into my story. The first reader of my story is me!
And some of these words will get changed or even deleted, but in writing them into my draft, the details come alive in my mind. I'm not writing a bare draft, I'm writing a story for myself. I need the details, the pretty words, the little little nods at the worldbuilding, to see it all in my mind's eye.
This may just be me and my way of writing, but if you also don't like to write the bare draft first, know that you're not alone. In the end, every method, every approach is valid, as long as you finish your story.
How about you? Are you a bare draft writer, or do you write the elaborate draft? Let's see how you do with your summer writing.
~barbex
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Here's your calendar for this week, as always also as pdf on the google drive:
The prompt this week is another new word I learned: vicarious
7/10: 200/200 (worked on an otp ask so i'm guesstimating)
7/11: 255/200
Another week where I hit/exceed my daily word goal as well as finished a WIP then started on another one. Vacation #1 was relaxing but tomorrow starts #2 so hopefully I can get some words down after two days of traveling. @the-wip-project
Week 5 Recap
for the @the-wip-project Summer Writing Challenge
Goals • Week 1 • Week 2 • Week 3 • Week 4
June
Week 5:
Words: 1,178 / 1,167
Minutes Outlining: 30 / 24
Snippet from this week’s writing and reflections below.
Late update today because I'm visiting family!
Speaking of which, for weeks 5 and 6, I don't care how barely I meet my goals, as long as I meet them. I shouldn't even phrase it like that, because it might not happen while I'm out of town. So I suppose I'll say... if I'm able to keep momentum at all/make any progress, that will be a good thing.
(Also had a moment of panic already where a young relative asked me what I'm writing and wasn't satisfied with the answer I usually give adults, which is usually along the lines of "oh, short stories mostly.")
So: both goals met for week 5, despite the holiday weekend and travel! I also mentioned in my June recap that I was a little blocked on plotting and outlining. I made some breakthroughs on that over the weekend, but I'm not sure I'm not sure it's something where I'd be able to recreate the conditions. I was just randomly mulling over a tumblr post I saw the other day and something clicked.
Maybe the lesson is to allow more brainspace for creativity? I'm always less stressed when I'm here, and I have fewer responsibilities since I'm not at home, so I'm spending less time worrying about getting things done. I'm still not sure how exactly to make that creative room when I'm in the thick of my real life, but something to ponder.
Snippet
"Let me put this to you another way: only one of you is expendable today, and it’s not him. We can keep you on the list for future opportunities, but — no guarantees.”
June is over and we're well into the second month of the Summer Challenge. And I don't know about you, but my self drive and momentum is just about gone.
I'm tired, hot, and sweaty. (And you might be enduring heat much worse than me!) So, sitting down and writing feels like the least desirable activity ever.
How do you keep writing when your motivation is literally sweating away?
For me (and hopefully for you) the best help has been to get social about it.
Remember that camaraderie we offered as part of the challenge? That whole idea of writing not being an entirely solo mission?
I'm talking about writing sprints.
Now, some people are wary of sprints. Perhaps you write slowly, or don't like the idea of competing for word counts. Honestly? Same Here! For a long time I stayed away from them because of all that. Nothing made me feel worse about a writing session than having other people constantly reporting their high word counts and seeing how pathetic my own efforts seemed in comparison.
But here's the good news. You don't have to follow writing sprint 'rules.' Perhaps we'd all be better off if we called them Focused Intervals instead.
Here's some ways you can flex the method to suit your own needs.
Ditch the word counts. Instead of reporting a word count at the end of each interval, try reporting one thing you're pleased with. It can be a great line, a plot problem solved, or even 'opened the document and made words.' That's all great achievements and matter more in the long run than any specific word count.
Vary the amount of time. The standard is to do ten to fifteen minutes, but I personally do better with 25 minute intervals. Maybe you'd have fun with setting the timer for five minutes! Or uneven numbers, 14 minute sprints? Why not?
Mix up the activities. Say you reach out to a friend and ask to write together. And they say 'I'd love to, but I really need to tidy up my house/pay some bills/do boring work task.' No problem! You can do any of those tasks as a timed interval too. Last week I was doing data entry for work while an online friend wrote. Great for both of us!
Overcome Starting Inertia. If you're struggling to start, tell yourself you only need to write for 10 minutes and then set a timer. Maybe you get on a roll, maybe you quit after the ten. Either way, it's a success!
Hopefully something here is helpful for you and you're able to make some progress this coming week!
June is over and we're well into the second month of the Summer Challenge. And I don't know about you, but my self drive and momentum is just about gone.
I'm tired, hot, and sweaty. (And you might be enduring heat much worse than me!) So, sitting down and writing feels like the least desirable activity ever.
How do you keep writing when your motivation is literally sweating away?
For me (and hopefully for you) the best help has been to get social about it.
Remember that camaraderie we offered as part of the challenge? That whole idea of writing not being an entirely solo mission?
I'm talking about writing sprints.
Now, some people are wary of sprints. Perhaps you write slowly, or don't like the idea of competing for word counts. Honestly? Same Here! For a long time I stayed away from them because of all that. Nothing made me feel worse about a writing session than having other people constantly reporting their high word counts and seeing how pathetic my own efforts seemed in comparison.
But here's the good news. You don't have to follow writing sprint 'rules.' Perhaps we'd all be better off if we called them Focused Intervals instead.
Here's some ways you can flex the method to suit your own needs.
Ditch the word counts. Instead of reporting a word count at the end of each interval, try reporting one thing you're pleased with. It can be a great line, a plot problem solved, or even 'opened the document and made words.' That's all great achievements and matter more in the long run than any specific word count.
Vary the amount of time. The standard is to do ten to fifteen minutes, but I personally do better with 25 minute intervals. Maybe you'd have fun with setting the timer for five minutes! Or uneven numbers, 14 minute sprints? Why not?
Mix up the activities. Say you reach out to a friend and ask to write together. And they say 'I'd love to, but I really need to tidy up my house/pay some bills/do boring work task.' No problem! You can do any of those tasks as a timed interval too. Last week I was doing data entry for work while an online friend wrote. Great for both of us!
Overcome Starting Inertia. If you're struggling to start, tell yourself you only need to write for 10 minutes and then set a timer. Maybe you get on a roll, maybe you quit after the ten. Either way, it's a success!
Hopefully something here is helpful for you and you're able to make some progress this coming week!
