My First Contest

The most amazing thing happened on Friday: exactly four months after my first post, I hit 100 followers!  (Thank you Kaylie for being #100!)  I never imagined that so many people would be interested in my blog, especially within such a short time frame.

To thank everyone for reading and commenting on my blog, I'm hosting a 100 Followers Contest.  Based on posts from across the blogosphere, it seems that people prefer simple contests.  Since I, too, like to keep it simple, my rules will be short:

1. You must be a follower to enter the contest.
2. You must enter a comment to this post.  Share with us a piece of writing advice that you've learned. 

Although I'm not requiring that you post this contest on your blog, I'd appreciate it if you'd spread the word.  

Entries will be accepted until midnight (MST) on May 31st.  I will use Random.org to choose one winning comment.  The winner will receive a $20 gift card from Barnes and Noble.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thanks and Goals

I owe a great big thanks to all of you who commented on my blogfest entries! All the thoughtful comments were filled with encouragement, which I greatly appreciated. Even better, the number of followers on my blog more than tripled this weekend. As a newbie blogger, my heart sings to see all those who showed an interest in my blog! I can't wait to be one of those bloggers who celebrates having 100 followers.

Thanks to the example of Crystal Cook on her blog Write Because You Must, I'm going to start setting weekly goals. They seem more manageable than monthly or quarterly goals because I tend to procrastinate. I commend all of you who manage to write 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000+ words per day, but I'm not there yet. As much as I'd love to be able to write that much, I know that if I set my goal too high, I'll give up before I even begin. Besides, I haven't written since the March Marathon on Throwing Up Words, so any word count will be better than my current situation!

This week's goals:

1. Write 500 words a day for at least 5 days on my current WIP.
2. Work on revisions for chapters 9-11 on my previous manuscript.
3. Finish critiquing a writing partner's manuscript before my writing group meets on Saturday.
4. Submit online.
   

I can do this, right? What weekly goals you set for yourself? (For when I begin to aim higher, of course.)