Hello, everyone! Welcome to your FIRST check-in post of 2022. I love the shiny, new feeling we all still have at this stage. So much to look forward to! I sat down this morning and wrote a terrible, no good, very bad draft. I doubt it will amount to anything, but I wanted to start the year off with a draft in my pocket, especially since I didn’t write too many new ones last year. I didn’t get a revision in, though, which is unusual for me. Luckily, I am taking myself off to a cabin on a personal retreat in February, and I plan to dive in deep up there.
Tell us YOUR progress. Did you complete a draft and/or revision in January? Let us know in the Rafflecopter and in the comments. January Featured Author Dane Liu is giving away a copy of her picture book FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS, FOREVER! Thanks, Dane!
Here’s what you need to do to check in for a chance to win:
- See the Rafflecopter widget at the end of this post.
- Click on the “Comment on Dane’s post” button. Commenting on Dane’s post is mandatory for this giveaway and you can enter the Rafflecopter even if you didn’t write a draft this month. Click ENTER.
- If you haven’t commented on Dane’s post yet, go to the post here to comment. Then come back to this post to enter the Rafflecopter. (Commenting won’t enter you in the drawing automatically, you have enter the Rafflecopter by following step 2.)
- Click on the “Wrote a PB Draft” button. This will ask if you completed a PB draft in January. If you did, click ENTER, if not, click cancel and move on to the next step.
- Click on the last “Revised a PB Draft” button. This will ask if you revised a PB in January If you did, click ENTER. If not, click cancel.
- That’s it! There is no overall submit button or email confirmation. Rafflecopter will track your points. (The top of the Rafflecopter will say X/3 with X being the number of entries you currently have in the drawing.)
Here’s a video tutorial on the forum to walk you through these steps as well. Click here for the monthly check-in tutorial.
You have until midnight Eastern on February 6th to enter your results. Rafflecopter will draw a winner and it will be announced on the blog on February 7th.
Remember, badges are not awarded automatically and must be requested in the forum. If you haven’t requested your January 2022 badges yet, you may do so HERE. Not sure how to request a badge? Check out this tutorial.
51 Responses
The negative inner voice, the voice that tells you your writing is terrible, that you’ll never make it as a writer is the hardest to defeat. A great post by Dane about tenacity and persistence.
Isn’t it exciting? I’ve just completed a draft too. I’d better go and grab a badge. Yay for badges
Congratulations on completing your first draft of the year!!!
I hope you have a very fruitful retreat!!
A personal writing retreat in a cabin sounds great!
2022 is alive with kid lit activity! I wrote a draft and revised in January. Wishing everyone a happy writing adventure!
Sweet! A quiet cabin getaway sounds perfect right about now! I’ve basically been pretending my house is a cabin in the woods rather than a house in the city. It does help to get some writing done. Managed a rough draft and a revision. So many high-hopes in January. I really hope I can keep it going throughout 2022. Being off to a good start certainly helps.
Off to a good start!
Off to a good start with a draft and revision this month! This is also a great book! I purchased it as a birthday gift for a friends daughter.
This book looks adorable, and I actually wrote and revised four stories this month!
New year, new notebook, new pens! I got two drafts this month, I couldn’t believe it.
The hugging children remind me of my grandkids. But the snow and cabin? So different from my home here in Mililani, Hawaiiʻi 🙂
Your book sounds very sweet! Thank you!
Dina, Friends are Friends Forever looks beautiful and the title speaks an important message. I’m going to get copies for a few special friends.
I did it. I finished my draft just now, after noodling on it all month. I haven’t been able to get to the end of a first draft in MONTHS. This feels good. very good. gonna keep at it. yeah.
Dane Lie’s book looks wonderful, and I look forward to reading it! I’m pleased to share that I have shared one version of my picture book draft and one revision of the same draft under manuscript makeover.
Yay! for cabin retreats and everyone’s January drafts!!
I wrote a funny, lyrical new PB draft and a new poem. I’m so grateful to 12×12, and Tara Lazar for the motivation & inspiration I needed.🤩🥳
First draft in the books – and first weekend away from my toddler in two years. Related … yes!
I wrote a funny story I’m calling The Easy Way. I’m in the process of revising 1 other manuscript.
I wrote two new drafts, revised an existing draft, and worked on dummy book art as well. Feeling pretty good about January! Thanks to everyone who has helped me out with feedback on the draft I posted—super helpful!
This was harder than usual to get into this year. I finally entered my details. Do we enter this on Facebook 12 x 12 log in page?
My first draft of 2022 is called STRAY CAT, STAY about a stray cat teaching his BFF boy that best friends don’t have to come it twos. It’s funny and heartfelt since it happened to me…when I was a younger grown-up. Haven’t revised it yet since the draft itself is a mess. Thank you, 12 x 12, for kickstarting my writing!
off to a good start with a revised MS looking good and a new draft in the works.
Sue
I have written a PB story and rewritten another.
trying my best to develop good work habits.
I completed one new draft and revised two drafts in January!
Any time spent writing is inspiring. A chance to keep moving FORWARD!
Ready, set, go! 2022 here we come!
I completed a draft and revision this month! What a great and inspirational start to the year and 12×12!
Hooray! I was able to complete a draft and revise a story this month. This year is off to a great start.
Starting off the year with a bang, two new stories, and two revisions. Glad to be back!
Wonderful post and good reminder about how the first draft can be terrible and that’s okay. I love the idea of writing in a cabin in the snow! I wrote and revised a draft in January! I also have a new notebook and pens and a calendar book to keep me on track. I’m very excited for 2022!
Ignore that negative inner voice — it’s up to no good. I’m excited to be back again this year and am thrilled to have a solid draft of something new and a couple rough revisions of two other ideas. I’m also happy to be starting out with a bunch of new ideas (and several older ones too), thanks to Storystorm. Write on!
January was a good month…..two revisions, and more importantly, doing at least a bit of writing every day. Not just thinking about writing…. putting words on paper!
My year as started out with many ideas and titles on my list. I also have written first drafts on some ideas and have done a few revisions. I can see my work as a writer progressing in the right directions thanks to 12×12 Challenge and 2022’s Storystorm with Tara. I am feeling one with my craft! My critique group rocks!
Thank you for your encouraging words. I commit to quieting the negative voice/thoughts and raising my “Yes” voice in the new year!
Completed one draft – hopefully on a roll. Challenging to manage writing and working but the structure that 12×12 is providing is helpful.
Hooray for a great start to the year! I’ve written and revised a new manuscript and I’m feeling great!
As a former ESL teacher to immigrant adults in the USA and now an immigrant myself, I found Dane’s blog post fascinating. I look forward to reading her book! Some of the stories I want to write are from my grandmother, who emigrated to the USA as a child.
yay~finally revised a long-ago draft. i like it! go me!
go us!
One draft in for 2022 – it’s a “drafty-draft” with many holes in it, but it feels good to start a fresh idea after much revision on another.
I jumped into the new year just thrilled and eager. Plowed through Storystorm, completed First Draft Friday! and got a MS done, then did another first draft of a different idea! And then started plowing through revisions. January was productive but now I am feeling a bit halted…. not in ideas but stuck in revision process a bit.
Last year I didn’t get much writing on picture books done, but I feel like this year is off to a better start. I actually generated 31+ ideas for Storystorm, and I wrote a January draft. Woo hoo!
This month was all about revising, revising, revising. I got a lot of great critique input and ready to move some in progress to polished!
One revision and one draft for January! Forget the voice and pick up the pencil!
This is so exciting. I was able to complete a draft and one revision. I love how encouraging people are here. Thank you.
Thank you for the excellent community and the motivation! For January, I was able to complete two first drafts, critiqued six manuscripts and got one of my complete manuscripts from last year critiqued. Thank you, Julie and 12×12!
One revision and one draft for January! This year is off to a great start!
I completed one PB draft and continued to revise my MG novel. A cabin retreat sounds WONDERFUL!!
I finished one draft in January. It felt soooooo good!
Love all the little extra incentives to encourage us to write and revise! The badges are fun. Thank You!
Thanks for all the encouragement and sharing your writing journeys. I completed a draft this month. Glad to get 2022 started with some PB writing!
Congratulations on getting that first draft in your pocket! I wrote one new draft and revised an old one – way more than I’ve done in the preceding months. Thank you, Julie and 12×12!