See the Pre-Writing Challenge updates: Week 1 | Week 2 + Darren Rowse Video Message to Challengers | Week 3 + E-Book And Future Event”
It’s 12:01 am and that means something big has happened…
The Pre-Writing Challenge Has Begun!
A stellar group of blog writers has committed to the challenge of pre-writing two weeks worth of blog posts, and getting them ready to be published, on top of their normal writing/posting schedule. All this in the span of 1 month. This is a marathon designed to give participants a deeper well of material to draw from on a regular basis. This gives the author the chance to set a post down for a week or two and then revisit it and improve it. This makes a huge difference in quality so it benefits readers too. This challenge was inspired by a couple of guest posts I did on Website In A Weekend this week: Pre-Writing Is Your Friend – With Benefits (Part 1) and Part 2.
These posts go into detail about the many benefits of using a pre-writing process and are worth reading just for the comments. In the comments section of part 2 Antti Kokkonen and I began talking about challenging ourselves to build up a collection of posts (again) and the idea for this challenge sprang forth.
What We’ll Be Doing & How You Can Get Involved
We all have a pretty regular posting schedule, whether it’s posting daily, 5 times a week, 2 times a week, whatever we can typically fit into our lives. Each of us has committed to sticking pretty close to that schedule, though you may see a small decrease in the amount of posts that come out over the coming weeks.
Over the next 4 weeks you’ll get to watch us challenge ourselves as we give progress updates on our own individual challenge pages and help cheer on and motivate the author(s) you follow. Each page lists the drafts we’re working on as we come up with them and what stage of development they’re in giving you a bit of a behind the scenes peak at what’s going on in your favorite author’s brain and what will be hitting the front page of their blog soon.
This is also a chance to help your favorite author get more traffic to their blog. Each author has their own network of readers and friends and this is an opportunity to bring a bunch of different crowds together and mingle. The results could easily extend far beyond the challenge participants themselves.
The Pre-Writing Challenge Roster – These Bloggers Ain’t Scared:
Author: Carlos Velez
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Conscious Me | A Personal Development Journey
Bio: Carlos Velez is a writer with a full-time job on the side (for now!). He blogs about achieving goals and making change. Carlos’ blog, Conscious Me, allows readers to not only observe a journey to success in progress, but to participate and grow themselves.
Goal: “I normally posts 2 times a week, and many of my articles are 1500+ words, so I will count those as 1 and shorter posts as 1/2 a post. I will have 4-6 posts (depending on length) by the end of the challenge.
Author: Justin Matthews
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Catharsis of the Bogue
Bio: Justin is a 35 year old stay at home dad. He started blogging in December 2009 to help himself practice writing. In January 2010 Justin decided to get serious and make his little blog something that will make him money. He has been learning and writing ever since. Justin has 3 kids with one due in July. He love fishing and working out with Kettlebells. He also loves to write, saying “It is one of the only things I have ever been really good at. I will have 10 posts by the end of the challenge!”
Goal: “I normally publishes 5 times per week and fiction on saturday. I have Saturdays taken care of so my goal in the challenge will be 10 posts.”
Name: Bert Padilla
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Cite-Technologian
Bio: Bert Padilla is a 23 year old part-time blogger, blogging about technology, internet, and social media. He has a full-time job at Teradyne, Philippines. He started blogging in late 2008, and finally put up his main blog in March 2009. He also writes articles for Cebu Bloggers Society, a local group in the Philippines geared toward a civic and social awareness.
Goal: “My average post per week is 5, normally 400-500 words, except for product reviews. I don’t spend much time on my computer during weekends, so my goal is to post 10-12 articles per week by the end of the challenge.”
Author: Megan Potter
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Limitless Living – Open Yourself to the Possibilities
Bio: Megan Potter is a Spiritual and Intuitive Coach and Speaker and strives to be a general, all around inspirer (is that a word?) of people – aka a Muse. And that doesn’t even include all her normal girl jobs! Her blog at Limitless Living is meant to inspire all the normal, everyday women, just like her, to believe that they are really Gorgeous, Brave women who can change the world and live a life with no limits. She’s all about Spirit and Passion and Living Your Purpose with Creativity and Joy; even if she is learning as she goes.
Goal: “My goal is to post three time a week (one of which is a Meme I’ve been running) so my goal would be six posts plus the ones I have to blog in the interim.”
Updates:
February 26 – I decided that I needed to look at this challenge as the entire 6 weeks of writing (18 posts) rather than just the 2 weeks of pre-writing (6 posts) otherwise I would be so focused on the 6 post topics I’d forget to think of things for the others. So this is where I stand on all of them.
I have, at least, an idea for something like 13-15 of the 18 posts. Three are now in draft format (fully written and linked, waiting for editing and finalizing), and three have either been posted or are already scheduled to post.
I’ve written at least two of the six around midnight when I should be in bed – or at least not working. I just can’t stop writing! Although, I imagine there’s a good chance I’ll crash and burn in about three days
.
Yours,
Megan
Author: Amanda Farough
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Violetminded | Code & Creativity
Bio: Amanda Farough is a web rock-star, currently peddling her wares in web design and development; in a previous incarnation, she was a bad-ass software developer. Her blog is a smattering of various topics: design, development, literary debauchery, freelancing, tasty creative non-fiction about her life, love letters, and various other bits and bobs of geekery. On her off hours, she designs (and plays) video games, writes novels that may never be published, and dances in the rain.
Goal: “I’m completely erratic in my posting. This should force me to be a bit more disciplined. Most weeks, I’m anywhere from 1-3 times a week. I’ll shoot for 3 times a week during this challenge. Goal: 6 posts. Rock on. Let’s get this party started.”
Author: Deacon
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Bad Deacon Design | Fine Art Woodblock Printmaking
Bio: Deacon is an artist, a mechanical engineer, and is rather handsome and charming (or so he will tell you). Deacon’s Woodblock Printmaking Studio is in the heart of Downtown San Francisco, blocks from Union Square. He writes about the art he makes and sells, printmaking, and pursuing a career in Fine Art while maintaining a DayJob to pay the bills, and what all that stuff has to do with life.
Goal: “Well, I usually publish 2 to 3, but I’d like to publish 4 to 5. Since this is a challenge, we’ll make 9 posts my target.”
Author: Antti Kokkonen
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: The Blog of Antti Kokkonen | Tips, Guides, Reviews and Resources to Help You Unleash the Power of Online Media
Bio: Antti Kokkonen is an IT Specialist by profession, a blogger by heart, from Finland. Antti shares his expertise and enthusiasm for all things online by writing articles, blogging and helping others. Antti has a down-to-earth approach to both his personal and business life. In addition to helping the largest companies in the world to reach better results, he helps people and their businesses to become more effective and more profitable online by focusing on all aspects of online media, including blogging, social media and online marketing.
Goal: “I post 3-4 times a week, so for this challenge I set target at 8.”
Author: Dustin Evenson
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Professor Budget | Financial Budgeting, Debt Reduction, Wealth Building
Bio: Dustin Evenson considers himself a theologian and philosopher first, and a financial coach second. He knows about the theory and practice of budgeting money, and draws on his experience and knowledge of theology and philosophy to bring this to others.
He wishes to teach through his blog and inspire others.
His blog provides practical information and opinions about budgeting money, debt reduction strategies, and wealth building.
Most articles revolve around simple ideas and practical use.
Dustin would eventually like to comment on budgeting spirituality and philosophy into one’s life through his blog.
Goal: “I normally post three times a week, but want to push towards publishing every weekday, so my goal is 10 posts.”
Author: Aaron Pogue
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Unstressed Syllables | Writing advice for everyone
Bio: Aaron Pogue is a Technical Writer with the Federal Aviation Administration. He has a degree in Writing and has been working as a Technical Writer since 2002. He’s also a creative writer with nine novels, a dozen short stories, and countless essays and poems under his belt.
Most recently, he’s a writing professor at Oklahoma Christian University where he teaches Technical Writing to a bunch of people who aren’t writers. That experience became the foundation of his website. While Aaron brings decades of training as a writer, he is more and more convinced that everyone can learn to write better, with less effort.
Goal: “I post two articles and two writing exercises every week, so my goal would be eight posts total.”
Author: Eleanor Edwards
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: GiveABrick.com | Give A Brick (i.e. just £1) then ask your friends to do the same
Bio: Eleanor writes for UK registered charity, Give A Brick. Give A Brick think they are the first charity to ask all their friends to give just one brick (£1) and then ask them to ask their friends to do the same. Your £1 will buy bricks (and roof tiles, concrete and slabs) to provide a place for children to play, young people to hang out in safety and older people to meet. All deserve to feel valued and loved. That’s what Give A Brick is about and you make the difference.
At Give A Brick, Eleanor is building an online community of people helping each other out, listening and being listened to. That aspect of Give A Brick doesn’t cost a penny 
Goal: “I normally post twice daily; one a short motivational piece designed to be actioned in about a minute and the other, a slightly longer piece around 500 words in length. Therefore, I’m aiming to pre-write 28 posts by the end of the challenge *gulp* This might be slightly insane but given that these are short posts compared to some, I believe this can be done ”
Author: Ralph Carlson
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Ralph Carlson Blog
Bio: Ralph Carlson is on his second blog and just retired for the second time. He has no interest in moving on to number three in either category. The intent of the blog was to establish a web presence for Ralph Carlson. In addition his goals include making money using the web whether that means using his blog or not. “In short,” he says “I don’t know what I am doing but I intend to do it with gusto.”
Goal: “I post 5 times per week for ‘serious’ posts and one on Sunday for fun. I intend to double that output for four weeks to provide a one month cushion of posts to refine or give me time to work on other key areas like making money.”
Author: Dave Doolin
Pre-Writing Challenge Page: Website In A Weekend Pre-writing Challenge.
Bio: Dave Doolin is a writer and programmer who is putting full time effort into launching Website In A Weekend as a major destination point for anyone interested in using blogs, especially WordPress blogs, as an essential tool for marketing, customer development and sales.
Goal: “I normally post every day, with articles ranging from moderately technical to community discusssions, all centered around small business blogging. My goal is to have a definite schedule for articles reaching out to April 12, 2010, and to have a full 7 days of articles scheduled for publication by the end of the Pre-writing Challenge.”
Conscious Me is now on Facebook.Visit the new page and add me as your friend!
Thanks,
Carlos
Popularity: 41% [?]
Related posts:
- About The Pre-Writing Challenge: This Will Greatly Benefit You Bloggers
- Pre-Writing Challenge Update: Week 1
- Pre-Writing Challenge Updates: Week 2 + Darren Rowse Message To Challenge Participants
- Pre-Writing Challenge Updates: Week 3 + E-Book And Future Event
- Bert Padilla (Guest Post): Advantages Of The Pre-Writing Challenge
I was really thinking that you still have to send us message that the challenge officially starts. Anyway, that’s not a big deal as I have already wrote some articles. I still have to update my challenge page, though…
Cebu Tech Blogger´s last blog ..What is Smartbro Surf TV?
[Reply]
consciousmeblog Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 12:42 AM
Heh, sheesh, I thought I did. I guess I did neglect to send a good official notification to you guys. Color me embarrassed. I did post on the forum about the start date, but I guess I never made it official except on my own blog. Sorry man.
My recent post Guest Post For Website In A Weekend: Pre-Writing Is Your Friend – With Benefits (Part 2)
[Reply]
John Alden | Web Tasarimi Reply:
July 15th, 2010 at 8:00 AM
I actually heard this contest a while ago Carlos. I couldn’t give it a look but now seeing this and your other pre-writing post, this thing must have been a challenge for you
[Reply]
John Alden | Web Tasarimi Reply:
July 15th, 2010 at 8:01 AM
Haha i mean challenge, not contest
I"ll try to get around to this sometime over the weekend. I'm behind on some programming at the moment.
My recent post How Julie Became a Published Writer (And you can, too)
[Reply]
consciousmeblog Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 12:41 AM
Awesome, if you manage to get to it I'll add you in and be glad to have you.
My recent post Synchrony (Or Lack There-Of) As A Gauge For A Relationship’s Health
[Reply]
Carlos,
I am late to the table but last night I decided to accept the challenge. Started already but have a post for Monday talking about it
[Reply]
Carlos Velez Reply:
February 28th, 2010 at 3:58 AM
Fantastic Ralph,
Shoot me an email (carlos at consciousme dot com) so I have your address for future email messages. Get me a bio like the ones above with a 100×100 pixel head shot and a link to your challenge page. Check out the other participants challenge pages for inspiration. Each one has its own unique flavor which I think is cool.
Also, if you haven't gone to the forums yet, check those out. There's additional information on there that will be of interest. Let me know if you have any questions about all this.
Glad you're signed up! Eleanor from Give A Brick tweeted me today and said she wants to join too, so you won't be the only one starting late.
Thanks again!
My recent post Conscious Me vs. TheInfoPreneur: The $10 Prize
[Reply]
Ralph Reply:
February 28th, 2010 at 5:51 PM
Sent you the email and will work on the bio. Are the fora discussed in your posts? Didn't see them.
[Reply]
Carlos Velez Reply:
February 28th, 2010 at 10:07 PM
forum
Think I'll join in, but unofficially (as in, I'll post updates and so on on my blog, but may not manage to keep to the same pace as everyone else due to other commitments). Great idea though!
My recent post Webcomic Day 3 – Final Introduction
[Reply]
Carlos Velez Reply:
March 4th, 2010 at 5:56 AM
Hi Heather, I'm glad you're taking the challenge, even unofficially. It's already had some great benefits for those who are participating. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll check in on the challenge over the next few weeks and give the participants a shot of encouragement.
My recent post Pre-Writing Challenge Update: Week 1
[Reply]
Heather Reply:
March 4th, 2010 at 9:41 AM
Will do, it looks like a lot of fun (and hard work) and there's some really interesting people taking part as well. Great idea!
My recent post I’m jumping on the Bandwagon…
[Reply]
Just thought i would comment and say neat theme, did you code it yourself? Looks great.
[Reply]
You have tested it and writing form your personal experience or you find some information online?
[Reply]
What’s Up! Just thought I’d respond. I thoroughly enjoyed this article. Keep up the awesome work.
[Reply]
[...] #2. Carry Inventory Have a stash of articles ready to publish for those times when other activities (Olympics) divert your attention from your business. Carlos Velez of Conscious Me wrote an excellent two part article over at Website In a Weekend – Benefits of Prewriting and he’s also thrown out a Prewriting Challenge. [...]
+1
[Reply]
wealth building should be the priority of most people not just leisure and playing some online games and stuffs like that;:-
[Reply]
[...] what would be expected of you and what the benefits are. On Thursday I’ll be putting up the main page for The Pre-Writing Challenge with full details as well as updates on the event and everyone’s progress. In the meantime, [...]
[...] in (as well as creating, organizing and maintaining) a Pre-Writing Challenge – a month-long marathon of writing extra blog [...]
[...] poke around the web, it is hard not to be impressed and inspired by the community. When I read the Pre-Writing Challenge from Carlos, I realized that if I want to earn respect and (eventually) money from my Internet [...]
[...] #2. Carry Inventory Have a stash of articles ready to publish for those times when other activities (Olympics) divert your attention from your business. Carlos Velez of Conscious Me wrote an excellent two part article over at Website In a Weekend – Benefits of Prewriting and he’s also thrown out a Prewriting Challenge. [...]
[...] The Pre-Writing challenge has invaded my blogosphere. Both Eleanor from Give a Brick and Ralph have already taken up the challenge. What can I say? It looks like a lot of fun, so naturally I had to take part too. [...]
[...] Edwards from Give A Brick and Ralph Carlson from Ralph Carlson Blog. I’ll be adding them to The Pre-Writing Challenge Main Page soon with their bios and challenge [...]
[...] Pre-Writing Challenge Group of blog writers has committed to the challenge of pre-writing two weeks worth of blog posts, and getting them ready to be published, on top of their normal writing/posting schedule. All this in the span of 1 month. – Carlos Velez [...]
[...] to that the headstrong decision to join the PreWriting Challenge and I faced a big time management problem. To honor my commitments would take all the time and [...]
[...] you’ve been following the updates on the Pre-Writing Challenge you’ll know that I did exactly what the title of my post says. Jesse from WriteRoom, a [...]
[...] you can visit the main page for the Pre-Writing Challenge. I created this event to help bloggers write a blog post buffer and establish workflow and [...]
[...] sponsorship, I got the bug and wanted to do something else to give the challengers a lift because the Pre-Writing Challenge was a month long event and I knew they’d need it at some point. I sent Darren an email using the form on his contact [...]
[...] some emails and comments, Carlos’ brain child, The Pre-writing challenge was born. I jumped in immediately because of my goals and thoughts. I thought it would be fun to [...]
[...] weighing into Carlos Velez’s prewriting challenge a little over two weeks [...]
[...] just two days after sharing thoughts about the benefits of pre-writing- everything were set for the pre-writing challenge. Thanks to Carlos Velez for being always conscious and Dave Doolin for his weekly WordPress [...]