Sweet! Thanks Nat. So far, it looks like only five are on board: Joy, Laura, Rebecca, You, and Me. On the 1st, I'll divide people up so we can avoid idea stealing as much as possible. We'll probably have two in one group and three in the other.

Hi Emily!

I would love to be part of the 4-months-to-a-draft group your getting together.

This is a great idea. Thanks for taking the lead on organizing this.

I would also suggest that if there are more than 6-8 people interested, it may be worth splitting into two groups by genre to avoid the idea sharing/stealing that someone mentioned. For example, if two people are writing about vampires, they could be in separate groups.

Also, if you need any help coordinating, just let me know.

Here's where to find the widget (Thanks, Vanessa!): http://allfreelancewriting.com/word-count-tracker/

Uw! Yes, that sounds fun too! So jazzed!

That sounds like fun.  Also, I just found Vanessa K. Eccles, another SheWriter, has a widget on her blog page that shows "Novel Progress" of how many words written out of 80,000.  I covet one!  Here's her blog: http://www.vanessakeccles.blogspot.com/  I've asked her where to get one and I'll post it here if/when I find out.  A little whimsy to brighten the writing hours...

Hmm, my sister brought up something I thought might be nice. I'll post videos of myself (where's that damn make-up bag? I know it was right here three years ago...) talking about our project. I'll talk about useful books and tips, my chosen project, movies, songs, and videos that I think might help, etc. I really want to be very active in this project because being active spurs me to do my best and get it done! Ha ha! I also encourage you all to do the same. Help keep the inspiration and encouragement going full circle!

Hmm, good point, Laura. We don't need to be more neurotic than we already are when it comes to critiquing. And let's be honest: no one writes gold on their 1st try and no one wants others to read their non-gold. Maybe we could try your idea of logging our daily word count and prod each other to get it done. Maybe at the end of each month, we could critique what our partner has done (four total critique sessions). That way, you get helpful info as you go!

Ah, yes. I didn't even think of that (I too am too trusting at times). Well, I would hope that that kind of thing wouldn't be an issue (we're all adults here; no copying off your partner's test!) but since it is a legit concern, we could all pledge a "don't copy me and I won't copy you" type of deal. Aside from getting your work copyrighted I really don't know what else we could do. We just need to be honorable women and make a vow not to steal creative ideas.

I actually would vote against having any kind of critiquing early on - before the first draft is done.  The thing that gets a first draft done is writing words and not really worrying about how good they are - that's what the second draft is for.  You've just got to get something down, and if a critique is looming, that's much much harder.

I got the first draft of my novel done while taking a class where it was required to post to our group every night how many words you wrote that day.  You had one person in the group who was your prodder, and you were theirs - if you didn't post, or if you didn't do what you said you'd do in terms of writing, they gently prodded you to get back to the computer and vice versa.  It was all about supporting people with getting through the first draft.  The class provided guidance and structure, but it was being held accountable that got the draft written.

Plus that would take care of Joy's concerns as well.  Just a thought!  Thanks for putting this out there - I'm on board for my children's book!