#NaNoWriMo #First50Words Contest Update

Hello my lovely writers! I have not forgotten about you, and I will be posting the final results tomorrow at the latest.  Thanks for bearing with me!
--Jerusha

In the meantime, check out 50 of the most beautiful sentences in literature for some inspiration!

Here's a few examples:

 “She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.”
—J. D. Salinger, “A Girl I Knew”

“What are men to rocks and mountains?”
—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”
—John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“We cross our bridges as we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and the presumption that once our eyes watered.”
—Tom Stoppard, Rosencratz and Guildenstern Are Dead

“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”
—Charlotte Brontë , Jane Eyre

“One must be careful of books, and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”
—Cassandra Clare, The Infernal Devices

#NaNoWriMo #First50Words Contest!

Hey NaNoWriMo-ers!

Jerusha Rodgers from Rabid Bader Editing here, and I have a couple big things to let you in on!

First things first: Joni Rodgers and I put together a #NaNoWriMo book bundle just for you guys. It's Joni's book FIRST YOU WRITE: The Worst Way to Become an Almost Famous Author & the Best Advice I Got While Doing It, which is a hilarious and poignant book of essays that contain fantastic writing advice. There's even some pro tips from our League of Extraordinary Authors pals. It's also got my title, YOUR TITLE HERE: How To Craft a Killer Nonfiction Book Proposal, a step-by-step guide. Although it was written with (obviously) nonfiction book proposals in mind, it shows writers how to set out a clear path for their book complete with a deadline and marketing strategy. It's kind of like a mad lib for self-publishing, so if you're serious about taking your NaNoWriMo writing to the next level, this is for you.

This book bundle is a limited-time deal available only through Amazon for the next 90 days, so don't wait to grab it (or add it to your Christmas list if that's more your style)!

On to the contest: We loved the response we got when we ran a #First50Words contest a few years ago, and we wanted to bring that back--with a twist.

We want you to send us the first 50 words of your NaNoWriMo manuscript between now and November 30th.

On December 4th, I'll announce the six winners and five Honorable Mentions on Box Octo along with their 50 words!

One first place winner will receive 3 hours of editing from me.

Two second place winners will receive 2 hours of editing from me.

Three third place winners will receive 1 hour of editing from me.

Five Honorable Mentions will receive a free book bundle!

All six winners' edits will be accompanied by a letter that talks about how these edits can be extended throughout the work to improve it and why those changes elevate the work. They'll also receive a free copy of our book bundle to help them further their writing journey.

Come December 1st, you'll be one of two things: A) Ready to set your work aside and let it marinate for a bit before you edit, or B) On fire to get going on the next step and not lose your momentum. Both of these are good responses. And whatever you choose, I'll be right here to help. Editing is an incredibly important stage in writing because it asks you to look at your work and decide not what to take away but what to keep. What drives the story forward? What words earn their space on the page? Where can you reveal things more cleanly or deliver information more vividly? Did your character 'say' something or did they 'cackle' it? Is a particular passage process or product? Having an objective eye can be helpful in early editing phases and is, I think, necessary in the later ones (Our brains know how something is supposed to sound/what something should say, so often our eyes skip over mistakes that a less familiar eye would catch easily.). I'll be posting periodically throughout December on different topics in editing, so whenever you're ready for that next step, you'll have a helping hand with an eagle eye.


Boring Contest Rules That You Still Need to Read:
-Entries submitted in the comment section will not be considered (feel free to post 'em down there, but be sure you email us with the proper info so we can include you in the contest!)
-Email should have the subject line: #First50Words [name] [working title]
-Email body should include only your working title, genre, and your first 50 words
-Contest ends at 11:59pm central time on November 30th.
-You do NOT need to have a finished manuscript (but you DO need to know where the story is going)
-Please only submit your 2015 NaNoWriMo writing. This is totally on the honor system, but Santa sees what you're doing, so don't end up on the naughty list.
-Winners will be contacted via email on Dec. 4th with their place and asked to provide the following:
     -Manuscript in MS Word (edits and comments will only be done in Track Changes)
     -Short (no more than one page) synopsis of your story
-If a winner does not provide the manuscript and synopsis by December 11th, they forfeit their prize (editing hours and critique letter)
-Editing hours will be done during the month of December and returned to winner before December 31st at 11:59pm