Last year I took part in the Clarion West Write-a-thon. Don’t believe me? Well, here’s a post that I wrote about it last year (sure I could have faked that post in order to give my future self some credibility when talking about it, but that would have taken a lot more foresight than I am endowed with).
Anyway, circling back, last year I took part in the Clarion West Write-a-thon. The Write-a-thon is a six week challenge to writers to raise funds for Clarion West and to achieve their own writing goals. For example, last year I challenged myself to write six short stories and to write a movie script. In the end I wrote five short stories (and no movie script) but even though I fell far short of my goal I was still really happy with how much I did achieve (and I also learned a lesson about realistic goal setting). I also raised some money thanks for CW to a generous sponsor/patroness of the arts (thanks mom!).
But even though I raised money for CW, I didn’t really understand what it was for or how it would be used. Now that I have been accepted into the program, I know. The money raised through the Write-a-thon helps out writers who might not otherwise be able to afford Clarion West. Like, for example, me. Getting into Clarion West was a awesome experience, but being able to go thanks to the kindness and generosity of strangers is inspiring on a whole different level*. So if you are taking part in the Write-a-thon and you can spare even a couple of bucks, please donate to Clarion West. You might never know the person who it’ll help out, but know that it will help someone.
And what do you get out of it? The Writeathon (I can’t do the hyphens anymore) is a great motivator for writing. It gives you the same warm, fuzzy community feeling that NaNoWriMo does, only with the Writeathon you are working towards your own individual goals. It keeps you grounded even when the nice weather is trying to lure you away from your keyboard. And if you can get people to sponsor you, do it. Nothing motivates you to write more than the guilt that some sucker donated money in the belief that you would keep putting words on a page.
I myself would take part in the Write-a-thon, except that in five days I will be at Clarion West! Whoo-hoo!
*I do know the names of the people who have sponsored me however I don’t know how they would feel about me putting their names out there, so all I’ll say is that I am forever grateful for their kindness.