the 60 day novel writing challenge
Are you ready to finally write the book you’ve been planning for years? The next group start date is October 1st, 2023.
Or you can fly solo and start whenever you’re ready.
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Are you ready to finally write the book you’ve been planning for years? The next group start date is October 1st, 2023.
Or you can fly solo and start whenever you’re ready.
Welcome to the challenge that is helping writers of all skill levels turn their story ideas into a finished novel.
I’ve created a series of daily videos and prompts to guide you through my book writing process, keep you motivated, and give you all the tools you need to successfully draft yours too.
And Bonus! You’ll know you’re not alone, because I’ll be writing along with you, following all my own rules and creating a new piece of fiction while you are.
The Three BIG PROBLEMS Holding Writers Back...
Most writers run into three main obstacles that keep us from finishing our masterpieces, and if you’ve been experiencing any of these, just remember that you are not alone, and you CAN overcome them.
Obstacle 1: "I Don't Have Time."
“When time is short, the key is to make every minute count for ten.”
While I can’t physically add more time to your day, I can help you to make every single minute count as much as humanly possible. That’s why I’ve included:
I keep the daily videos short, concise, and to the point so you can spend as much time as possible on your writing. I’ve packed all my years of writing into a 5-10 minute daily video, which you can listen to on your way to work or even on a quick break.
I keep the daily videos short, concise, and to the point so you can spend as much time as possible on your writing. I’ve packed all my years of writing into a 5-10 minute daily video, which you can listen to on your way to work or even on a quick break.
You’ll never again have to sit in front of a blank page and not know what to do. The daily assignments are made for people on a busy schedule, so that the few minutes you can steal away for your writing are the most productive minutes possible.
Obstacle 2: "I Just Can't Get Myself Motivated."
“Writing a book simply takes a decision to start, a direction to head, and the discipline to finish.”
Even though motivation is internally found, I’ve made sure The 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge provides every bit of support possible to help you finish this book!
Having a community of fellow writers to support and encourage you can often make the difference between finishing your draft or allowing your excuses to get in the way.
If you’re like me, then having a checklist helps you stay accountable and keep track of progress. Even though the daily tasks are simple (seriously, just watch the videos and do the homework. Two checkmarks per day), having a checklist can help to keep us on track. (Physical checklist is included FOR FREE when you take the physical challenge, not virtually.)
This is one of my favorite parts! If you can rally enough tenacity to finish your book in 60 days, you’ll receive a one-of-a-kind, metal winner’s pin to commemorate your accomplishment – FOR FREE!
BUT!
You can only get the pin if you finish your book by the end of the challenge. How’s that for motivation?
Obstacle 3: "I Don't Know How."
“Overwhelming goals can be made attainable when broken into smaller steps.”
The reason a blank page can feel so overwhelming is because it reminds us we have about six thousand story-elements to work out. It can be difficult to figure out where to start, and that’s where the challenge can help!
The 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge Workbook is a guide of the highest quality – like nothing you’ve seen before. It will help you get the most out of every daily lesson and assignment, and is included FOR FREE when you take the challenge. If you prefer, you can choose to take the challenge virtually. All this means is the workbook will be delivered as a PDF and NOT a physical book.
I’m not here to write your book for you, but to help spark more of your own unique ideas. With a heavy dose of thought-invoking inspiration each day, your story will finally be able to thrive.
No matter how long you’ve been writing, there will always be more to learn. The 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge will not only help you to finish the book you’ve been envisioning, but will leave you with lasting skills to improve your storytelling and writing habits for years to come.
Can it Really Be Done?
Absolutely! Take these examples!
“Kova Killian” took full advantage of last year’s 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge, and she already has her book published and in hand!
By showing up every day, watching the 5-10 minute video, and completing each daily homework assignment, she was able to finish her entire novel in sixty days. Then she edited and published within the year!
“I loved the challenge and plan to do it again!”
Shanna P. Lowe’s middle grade urban fantasy Candy Sky Tells a Lie released on September 20th, 2022!
“I cannot believe how much my story changed because of this challenge–in a good way! I also never thought I’d be excited to scrap 20,000 words to fix a sagging middle, but I am. My story is so much stronger thanks to the videos and Zoom calls. Furthermore, I found an amazing editing team!”
Our very own Colleen Mitchell used the challenge to finally write her YA Fantasy novel which officially launched in the fall of 2021, and she is active in the challenge community as she writes her sequels.
“Being a writer is an identity. We are what we repeatedly do. If you want to be a writer, you must write. It doesn’t matter how much or what your frequency is, as long as you do write.”
So... How Does it Work?
The challenge consists of 30 days of planning and then 30 days of writing, broken down into these steps:
The first fifteen days of the challenge are each designed to help you brainstorm tons of story ideas. Together, we’ll come up with pages and pages of scenes, characters, history, and plot.
Once we create a gigantic list of ideas, it’s time to sort them into chronological order and spot the places they may conflict. Some will stay, some will go, and some will have to change drastically – but we WILL put those ideas in order.
Once all our plot points are in order, it’s time to make the real lifeblood of the book – a full outline of every scene, every conflict, every story arc, and every transition between ideas.
It’s time to go crazy and write every scene we’ve been planning. Our goal is 50,000 words in 30 days – but we’ll break it down so every day has an attainable goal, and I’ll help keep you motivated.
Are You Ready to Take the Challenge & Write Your Book?
Once you sign up for the challenge, you’ll have to choose when you want to start:
STARTING ON A QUARTERLY START DATE
We do this so you can take the challenge amidst a community of fellow writers taking it at the same time.
The group start dates are January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1. These group start dates also overlap with our Professional Premium group coaching and critique offer.
STARTING ON A DAY OF YOUR CHOOSING
This means you can pick up the challenge whenever you want—as soon as you order your workbook, even! Having this option means you don’t have to wait for the start of a new quarter to dive into your story.
***We recommend purchasing the challenge a few weeks before you plan to begin so you have time to receive your workbook in the mail and get yourself in the right mindset to write a book!***
The videos are usually around 10 minutes each (give or take) and include a daily lesson about writing as well as instructions for the daily assignment.
You can truly make the challenge work with any amount of time you can commit to. Some people will watch the ten minute video as they get ready in the morning and then think on the assignment throughout the day so they can write their thoughts out on a quick, 30 minute lunch break.
Others will spend hours at the computer deliberating and brainstorming.
A safe bet, to be able to finish the challenge within 60 days, would be around 1-2 hours per day, but people’s experiences vary greatly.
Just keep moving forward! If you made progress on your book, learned about writing along the way, connected with a community, and kept yourself motivated throughout the 60 days, then you’re still a winner.
Yes! After signup, you’ll receive a unique activation code by email, and a workbook by regular mail. Feel free to use that code to activate the challenge for yourself, or pass it along to somebody else. (Just not both. The code is only good for a one time use.)
At the end of the challenge, you’ll receive instructions to claim your winner’s pin if you met your own personal goals, and we’ll mail it to you free of charge! (Anywhere in the US.)
We want to shoot for 50,000 words by the end of 60 days, but we encourage people to set their own goals at the beginning so everybody can work toward something attainable.
Sometimes people commit to higher word counts, or sometimes they just have a goal of sitting down to write every single day. The goals are up to you.
We don’t! This one is on the honor system. If you feel that you reached your own personal goals during the challenge, then you get your pin.
Don’t worry, it happens. The videos are all YouTube links and don’t expire if you miss a day, so just go back and catch up. (Just try not to miss several days, or it becomes really difficult to get back on track.)
You’ll retain access to those YouTube Videos for as long as they remain on YouTube (AKA, for the foreseeable future.) If the day ever comes that we switch them to a new platform, I’ll give you plenty of notice that they’re coming down.
Unfortunately, the workbook can only be purchased with the challenge itself, since it was purely designed to compliment the challenge videos and assignments.
We invite all ages to take The 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge! We tend to see mostly adults in the challenge since it does include a fair amount of commitment to finish, but the videos are kept family appropriate so all ages are welcome to join.
Halie herself was 12 when she first started her Tally Series, and she loves when younger writers join!
However, if you are interested in joining Professional Premium, you must be at least 16 years old due to the variety of genres our authors write and share.
The 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge is great for all types of plot-driven genre fiction, including sci-fi, fantasy, romance, mysteries, westerns, thrillers, young adult, middle grade, etc.
We are NOT so great for any type of non fiction, business or self-help books, or historical texts. Autobiographies and memoirs could work, but the challenge was not designed with non-fiction in mind.
Actually, we’ve seen this work really well! Not everything in the challenge will apply (for example, you won’t be using extensive scenery and imagery in a screen play), but most elements of story stay the same, and we’ve seen multiple participants use The 60 Day Novel Writing challenge as motivation for other story-based projects — even videogames!
If you’re alright modifying a few of the goals and instructions, and you understand that not everything will apply directly to your project, then we welcome you to come take the challenge too!
Absolutely. We’ve had quite a few challenge participants take this route as well, and we’ve received great feedback from those who have used the challenge to rewrite books they’ve already finished.
During the idea generation phase, they just use the daily assignments to expand upon and refine the ideas they already had. When it comes time to write the book, they just set goals for rewriting and editing.
They have invariably reported liking the rewritten version much better once it’s finished.
This challenge won’t be the best fit for works of non-fiction. While a few of the lessons will cross over to non-fiction, and the challenge could still generally help improve your craft, most of the lessons and assignments will not be relevant.
Yes. You will never be forced to share your work with us, and everything you create during the course of the challenge remains yours.
We’re just here to give you that extra accountability, motivation, and direction to help get you to the finish line and feel confident in your work!
Once you’ve scheduled your start date, your challenge will include:
If we sold all of the above components separately, the challenge would come out to cost $1,497.99.
(Seriously, the videos alone contain over seven hours of instruction from an author with eighteen years of experience.)
But we want MORE books in the world, which is why we’ve decided to slash $1,497.99 by 94%, and offer the challenge for the super low price of $99.99.
It’s just an additional $19.99 in shipping and handling to get the physical workbook with the challenge!
What do you say?
Are you ready to write your book?