What are Writing Quests?

This week, we are diving into What are Writing Quests, How to... do word crawls, Writing Tips, plus more... and don't miss the comic at the end.

, and

Jul 01, 2024

Writing Quests is a writing community that strives to connect writers with writing challenges to foster a continued flow of words for your preferred genre.

What are Writing Quests?

Quest is the Writing Quests term for a writing challenge. Writing Quests is primarily for the organizers of writing groups and writing communities who seek to host a writing challenge. We are providing the rule framework and necessary supporting pieces to hosts to make it easier and more fulfilling for them and their groups to enjoy a better writing challenge experience.

To that effect, we will provide:

A flexible rules generator to allow hosts to customize their writing challenge (or quest, as we call it).
A guide for hosts built on years of experience from former NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaisons (or Quests Guides, as we call them).
Graphical assets such as inspirational badges (which will play a bigger motivational role in the WQ framework).
A tracker for the progress of the quest participant.

How to volunteer/contribute

We have three different ways to get involved:

Quest Guides- The people who host the Writing Quests are called Quest Guides. They help creatives through the process of setting goals, prepping for the quests, and providing encouragement during the event. Click on Get Involved> The Framework to get started.

Participants- Anyone can participate, even if you are not a writer. Visit our website to find a participating group near you.

Volunteers- Writing Quests is an all-volunteer organization. If you want to volunteer, please email info@writingquests.org and let us know your experience and if applicable, what you want to help with.

Let’s talk Word Crawls.

When one thinks about running an effective writing group session where all the participants can be productive in their writing project, you may have heard people say to run a writing crawl. A writing crawl is a collection of various word sprints that follow a theme and become interactive in nature. These range from a starter writing prompt, friendly word wars between participants that revs up those with a competitive nature, timed sprints, whether it be 5, 10, 15, or 30-minute sprints, or dice rolling sprints where you have 3 dice and roll for a 3 digit number and everyone writes until they hit the goal. You can find dice generators to help with this as well.

The fun part about the crawls is that as the guide continues to the next challenge, they read the next part of whatever the theme of the crawl is. So, while a participant is working on their story to increase word count, they listen to a fun story with the sole purpose of increasing word count.

The word crawls can vary in complexity. Some are easy and are meant for small word count increases or limited times. Others can be more complex and be meant to go over longer times and sometimes days, which are usually more personal in nature. When running a crawl with a group, the latter wouldn’t be recommended. Usually, you ensure that the theme is engaging to your members and fits the allotted time frame. When you find a crawl that hits the sweet spot, the members feel a sense of accomplishment in their writing and completing the storyline.

Many word crawls have been created with all sorts of themes. These themes range from a pub crawl, Harry Potter, holiday themes, pirates, you name it. If you can’t find a good crawl for you, many writers have created their own. It is really up to you.

Your goal as a guide is to move the writers along in a fun and engaging way, and word crawls are a strong tool for that.

Research Before You Write

By Jessica, the DancinLibrarian

You’re working on a draft of your novel during a Writing Quest, making good progress, when suddenly, it occurs to you that you really should have researched whether food x was eaten by the culture you’re portraying in time y. Stopping to ponder this, you lose your momentum and have to do research before you can continue. While putting a note in your document to research later can work in a pinch, preparation is better.

Whether you come at your writing with outlines and scenes plotted out, or you have an idea percolating in your mind, researching before setting out on a project can be very beneficial. Regardless of your material, there will be a basis of facts that can be verified. When was the Family Video that you frequented as a child built? When was the potato introduced to Europe, and did people readily take to eating it? How fast does a quasar travel - does a quasar travel? What is the velocity of an unladen African swallow?

Be sure to verify facts, too. There is plenty of misinformation out there, particularly on the Internet. Find articles that link to other sources. Use books with bibliographies. Check with research experts—your local librarians.

The more research you can do ahead of time, the more you’ll be able to concentrate on your project. (Barring getting lost in fascinating rabbit holes.)

Now a prompt: Write a scene where your protagonist deals with an extreme weather condition (such as unseasonable heat/cold, torrential downpour/heavy snowfall/hail, or a natural disaster).

Upcoming events

We have some exciting new changes coming in July. On the first, we will open up for Alpha testing and we are excited to get feedback on The Framework, The Quest Tracker, and The Guidebook. Then in August, we hope to start Beta testing and will have a mini unveiling event where we will walk through The Framework. This event will be open to all, but will be primarily for Quest Guides to understand how to use The Framework.

Coming July:

July 1: Alpha Testing Starts

July 1: The Framework is Live

July 1: The Quest Tracker is Live

July 7: The Guidebook is Live

Coming August:

Aug 1: Beta Testing Starts

Aug 1: Framework Walkthrough Event