The 2009 Clarion West Write-A-Thon is about a month away, I think. Kate sent me an email about it and I talked to some people at WisCon about it and I’m excited all over again.  For those of you who don’t know about this event, I shall quote from previous years:

“…a write-a-thon is a lot like a marathon. Instead of sponsoring me per mile, you sponsor me per week. If I reach my writing goal for the week, you pledge to send a certain amount of money. There are six weeks of write-a-thoning to mirror the six weeks of workshopping at Clarion West.

Also for those who don’t know, Clarion West is a writing workshop in Seattle where 17 students have the opportunity to spend a week with 6 or 7 professional writers and editors to improve their craft.”

I will most likely again be raising money for both Clarion West and the Butler Scholarship.

This year I’ve decided my Write-A-Thon theme will be Finishing Things. I have more than 6 stories in need of minor to intermediate polishing/editing/whathaveyou in order to get them out to markets and selling like hotcakes. It’s disgraceful how long I’ve let some of these linger! No more. I will choose the 6 I like best and each week I will finish one and send it off to some market.

I’ve been thinking about ways to tempt people to pledge. My current idea is that for every story I complete, I will make a small piece of jewelry. Earrings or a bracelet or a necklace. Something I can complete in a day. For everyone who pledges $20/week or a flat $120, maybe I’ll hold a drawing for the jewelry.

Last year my goal was to get $1000 in pledges. Here’s what I wrote about that:

“It breaks down to about $170/week. If 17 people pledge $10/week, I’ll make my goal. If 8 people pledge $20/week, I’ll make my goal. You can also do a flat amount. $60 only if I reach all of my six week goals. Or $100. If 10 people pledge $100… you get the idea.

I’m looking for 8 – 17 people who can do $10 – $20/week or $60 – $100 overall.”

I’ll let that marinate for a bit.

You will hear a lot more about this as the time gets closer (and Clarion West gets their official Write-A-Thon pages up) so don’t worry yet. Right now I’m brainstorming other cool things I can offer people who pledge.

Did you enjoy this post? You can help me put more of my creative endeavors out into the world by supporting me directly. If you do, you get cool stuff! ☺