Party Time, and Check in: Tour de Writing

I'm still putting together the standings for the Tour de Writing--so bear with me, and look for a post tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to give everyone a chance to post goals for the week.

But first, let's talk about Party Writing. 

You know, hanging out, eating Crab Rangoons, and talking writing? Oh, wait, that's more of a writing meet and greet. 

Party writing is actually when you get together in a virtual social venue, make a plan to go and write for a specified time, write for that specified time, and then come back, and check in. It is effective, because someone is holding you accountable for writing, and because you pledge to do it unplugged from the internet (except for necessary research--and no, twitter almost never qualifies as research).  

Party writing is an excellent way to promote community, and get writing done. Do you exercise more when you do it with a friend? Well, I write more when I do it with a friend. 

The two social venues which we are giving bonuses for party writing for the Tour de Writing are:

1. The Practice Room. Check out the times on posted on my left blogroll, check in at TPR by commenting on the blog post before the unplug, go write for an hour, and when the hour is up, sign in to the chat room to talk about the writing session. It's easy, welcoming, and a there is a writer-in-residence guaranteed to be there to talk with about writing frustrations. Or writing awesomeness. 

2. Twitter. Okay, so I denounced twitter as a research tool, but it can be fun to challenge someone to a word-off on twitter. Here's an example:

"#TourdeWriting challenge on the :30. How many words can you write/revise in 30mins?"

"#1k1hr #TourdeWriting challenge at 12. Who's with me?"

I love the #1k1hr people on twitter. They are so much fun to write with! Can you write 1000 words in an hour?

If you have questions about either of these community writing forums, please email me (hegkelly at gmail dot com) or DM me on twitter. There are Tour de Writing bonus points for using these venues to write well with others. :)

So, this week, keep your eyes and ears open to do some party writing, or create an opportunity yourself. It's fun!

And, tell me in the comments what your goals are for the week, or your general goals for the Tour de Writing. And if you are joining us, welcome! 

My goals--to make some serious headway this week. I'm going for 10,000 words. Think you can beat me?

Oh, and feel free to grab a Tour de Writing badge from my left blogroll! Thanks, J, for creating that!