What it says up there. I'm a bit curious about it since I remember quite a lot of them having happened over the years, but I can't really remember when and how many. They're a good opportunity to find some new stories and (sometimes) motivate yourself to write a bit more. so I appreciate them when they do happen.

Twice a year. I believe it's april and... was it november?

They occur on April 1st and October 31st, running for five weeks.

I haven't been here for one of these Writeathons before but I'm glad to see that one is coming up in just a month and a half... I look forward to that.

I don't like them as much since many authors prepare the chapters in advance, and then just post at once during the writathon. It's like cheating (you could literally write 0 words during the writathon and still "win it")

Like going to a marathon and not running because you had ran the mileage in the last 6 months combined. And then winning it by default without running xD

Ararara Wrote: I don't like them as much since many authors prepare the chapters in advance, and then just post at once during the writathon. It's like cheating (you could literally write 0 words during the writathon and still "win it")

Like going to a marathon and not running because you had ran the mileage in the last 6 months combined. And then winning it by default without running xD

Ssshhh…no one needs to know this…

😂

Ararara Wrote: I don't like them as much since many authors prepare the chapters in advance, and then just post at once during the writathon.

To be fair, having to write 55,555 words in a 30-day period can cause some major burn out. I know my last ten chapters or whatever had a decent number of typos in there, just because I couldn't think any more and was just throwing words onto the page to get it over with. And then I didn't write for like two months afterwards.

So, as of right now I have like 3k words and an outline ready for the next writeathon. I'll be doing the bulk of it during the writeathon time, but I don't think doing all of it would be healthy for me.

Mad Wrote: To be fair, having to write 55,555 words in a 30-day period can cause some major burn out. I know my last ten chapters or whatever had a decent number of typos in there, just because I couldn't think any more and was just throwing words onto the page to get it over with. And then I didn't write for like two months afterwards.

So, as of right now I have like 3k words and an outline ready for the next writeathon. I'll be doing the bulk of it during the writeathon time, but I don't think doing all of it would be healthy for me.

Don’t give away the strat. Have it prepared beforehand, then go in pretending it is just written. 😂

Jokes aside, I know what you mean. I was crazy enough to do 50k words in one day before, the average person can barely manage that in a month as far as I can tell. So those who do those competitions, it is not a surprise to see burnout happen.

Yeah, that's definitely understandable. When the next one rolls around I'll certainly try to hit 55,000 words in the given time, but then again I'm not approaching it from the perspective of "I must win", it's just a nice goal to aspire to.

Morvram Wrote: Yeah, that's definitely understandable. When the next one rolls around I'll certainly try to hit 55,000 words in the given time, but then again I'm not approaching it from the perspective of "I must win", it's just a nice goal to aspire to.

Yeah, even if you have a huge backlog, the goal should still be to write 55,555 more words in the 5 weeks since you definitely don't want to eat up your whole story backlog.

Edge Wrote:

Ararara Wrote: I don't like them as much since many authors prepare the chapters in advance, and then just post at once during the writathon. It's like cheating (you could literally write 0 words during the writathon and still "win it")

Like going to a marathon and not running because you had ran the mileage in the last 6 months combined. And then winning it by default without running xD

Ssshhh…no one needs to know this…

😂

Both disappointing, and good to know. I was looking forward to doing this, but it would be frustrating as hell to get started and then find out it's just a bunch of pre-written stories getting posted. I know the personal challenge would be there still...but participating in the event would be ruined. 

The Wrote:

Edge Wrote:

Ararara Wrote: I don't like them as much since many authors prepare the chapters in advance, and then just post at once during the writathon. It's like cheating (you could literally write 0 words during the writathon and still "win it")

Like going to a marathon and not running because you had ran the mileage in the last 6 months combined. And then winning it by default without running xD

Ssshhh…no one needs to know this…

😂

Both disappointing, and good to know. I was looking forward to doing this, but it would be frustrating as hell to get started and then find out it's just a bunch of pre-written stories getting posted. I know the personal challenge would be there still...but participating in the event would be ruined.

I think most authors are still legit. But yes, it's impossible to tell 

Ararara Wrote: think most authors are still legit. But yes, it's impossible to tell

It happens for sure, but it is hard to tell how many does it. From a discord I was on, I remember a few talking about this, how some write it months ahead of time. Which discouraged them from entering the contest. 

How do most people do it? Just write and post? Or do they try to do their usual editing?

The Wrote: How do most people do it? Just write and post? Or do they try to do their usual editing?

Yep, just write and post. During the writeathon all editing is pushed aside in an effort to write faster.

Mad Wrote:

The Wrote: How do most people do it? Just write and post? Or do they try to do their usual editing?

Yep, just write and post. During the writeathon all editing is pushed aside in an effort to write faster.

Good, i like that idea. 

The Wrote: I know the personal challenge would be there still...but participating in the event would be ruined.

You've gotta do it. November is also Nanowrimo, and completing Nanowrimo/Writathon is one of the most fun things an author can do. My first few Nanowrimos were a real struggle to come up with cool stories and write a whole novel out of them in just 30 days. In recent years I've gotten much better at writing quickly, but I like to introduce strange challenges each year to make it harder for me to actually complete the story in good time. Two years ago, I developed an extremely complicated LitRPG system from the ground up and wrote a (never to be released) story based on it. Last year, I did my "story remix" novel The Gay Gatsby which was certainly a unique challenge. This year, I'll just be continuing the serial I'm already posting, which means all of the chapters will be backlog. But my highest Patreon tier will be access to all advance chapters, which means I've got to write AT LEAST as much as I post, if not more.

So, if 50k words in a month (or 55k in 5 weeks) is tough for you, I still 1000% recommend doing Nanowrimo/Writathon, even if some people on Royal Road just post pre-written content. While winning the top spot is nice, who cares if people cheat? It's all about you yourself beating your personal goal. If it's NOT tough to write 50k words a month, you should do it anyway and create some sort of extra challenge for yourself.

Ararara Wrote: I don't like them as much since many authors prepare the chapters in advance, and then just post at once during the writathon. It's like cheating (you could literally write 0 words during the writathon and still "win it")

Like going to a marathon and not running because you had ran the mileage in the last 6 months combined. And then winning it by default without running xD

So that's the trick. Too bad I don't have the patience for that.

Maybe Oct 1st would be a good time to have some discussions about story ideas and half-formed plans for November.  IIRC Nanaimo also opens the forums about a month early for prep work, networking, etc.  I always like discussing concepts for stories that are going to be written soon.  I've 'failed' NaNo 3 times now because I do burn out and also get stuck if I try to write at that pace, but once I learned to set a personal goal of 20k words for the month instead, it became more fun and less stressful to participate.