What does Writing Quest provide?

This week, we are diving into What does Writing Quest Provide?, How to’s (for QGs) Rules for how Prep for Preptober, Tips for Reverse Outlining, Prompts and more.

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Aug 26, 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 Does Writing Quest Provide?

So, what exactly does Writing Quest provide? For starters, Writing Quest is meant to enable Quest Guides (or a region’s leaders) to facilitate writing challenges. There is a framework to use as well as resources to help a Quest Guide run a smooth challenge. One such resource will be The Write Recipe Book which is chock full of good ideas. Another idea in the works is to create printable worksheets.

A secondary major feature will be providing a tracker for participants. This tracker is versatile where the participant gets to choose the type of Quest they are going on, to either plan, write, edit, or draw for their project. In many challenges, you are offered trackers that only track word count with percentage complete. Writing Quest understands that writing is just one aspect of a participant’s creative endeavors and having a means to track other goals is not only helpful, but unique.

What would a writing challenge be without fun badges to commemorate and encourage you to keep going? A badge feature will also be coming, if not initially, then in the future.

Writing Quest strives to encourage community and connect participants to communities. As Writing Quest begins to grow, we will work towards creating a directory of writing groups in various regions. The hope is that everyone finds a region that best fits them geographically.

Writing Guides have a lot of resources in Writer’s Quest, but we can do one better; there’s also a challenge to host. Writing Quest goes hand-in-hand with Novel Quest. Novel Quest is a template for a monthly challenge that a Quest Guide can run any time during the year, whatever works for your group. Novel Quest will be hosting a challenge this coming November. More details will be forthcoming, and we hope you join us!

One thing to remember is that we at Writing Quest have so many ideas. Just like all creative types, we have plans for more aspects and look forward to providing a platform where needs are met.

Volunteer Spotlight- Melanie

Melanie Francisco is a servant-led leader with thousands of hours of volunteer service under her belt. In addition to her work on Writing Quests, she co-leads a local writing group in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago. She is a co-founder and co-organizer of Grayslake AuthorFest, a local outdoor book festival that takes place every summer in downtown Grayslake. She currently serves as a trustee for her local public library and has spent five years as an AYSO soccer coach.

Somehow, she still has time to write fiction in the middle of all this volunteer work. She loves mysteries and writes puzzle mysteries. She publishes under her pen name, Ansley Ashe. Her most recently published work is a novella titled The Big Intersection, which was entered into the 2022 Black Orchid Novella Award. If you love mysteries and want some freebies, feel free to follow her Substack.

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.

We actively need people with technical skills in website design/coding (our writingquests.org site is created with Hugo) and web application design/development (e.g., using Vue.js to create our rules generator or Laravel to work on a web-based progress tracker).

How to Prep for Preptober

It’s almost September. As a Guide using Writing Quests, you may be wondering how to get ready for the big event, Novel Quests in November (or whatever you decide to call your quest, whenever it may be). And how do you prepare your writers?

Many of us refer to October’s events and planning as Preptober (“Prepare” + “October”). It’s a great time to fire up your writing group and get your brains working on planning and plotting. As a guide, you should probably start preparing now.

If you’re holding events in public venues, now is the time to reserve your space if you have not done so already (the August 13 issue of the newsletter discusses how to do so in libraries). Depending on your motivation and the size of your writing community, you might just hold one Preptober event or wish to hold multiple. You might also want to hold an online event of some sort or a hybrid.

Plan what will happen at your event. If it’s in person, will you provide snacks or other incentives? Consider your budget, as well as any restrictions that the venue might require. Ice-breakers are also something you can offer as part of the event if there are newcomers. What sorts of motivators will you offer? Last year, I ran a little writing challenge - jot down plot hooks for a little while, then write about one of them for 15 minutes. The participants enjoyed it. Some participants may be willing to share their ideas or even a bit of their writing; allow time for discussion.

Will your writing sessions during your Quest be open to the public? The Preptober event is also a chance to speak to the media. Write a simple press release now and get it to your local media outlets (newspaper, TV, radio). Be sure to include your event's time, date, and place, as well as how to reach you with inquiries. If you have personal connections with a member of the media, reach out and invite them!

Tips for Restarting an Old WIP

It happens to us all. You were working on a project; something came up, and maybe you had writer’s block. Here you sit with an unfinished project. What do you even do first?

Step 1: Read what you do have as a reader. Make notes in the margin if something pops out at you, but get a feel of the project.

Step 2: Reverse Outline what you just read. Make a 1-2 sentence summary of essential plot points and a 1-2 sentence summary of the main character arcs. This is what you read, not what you meant to write.

Step 3: Brain dump possible options for plot points to add to the story. You don’t have to keep what you already wrote, but if you like it, add it.

Step 4: Write/ Rewrite your story from the beginning.

Remember, your outline is a guide. It can be rewritten as many times as you need to.

Now a prompt: Your protagonist takes a class! What is it? Is it part of school or university, or for workforce training, or for personal enrichment? Does it meet in-person, online, or by correspondence? Describe the course. What does your protagonist think of it?

Upcoming events

Due to the amazing Alpha Testers, we have some changes to make to our Framework, so our Beta Testing has been moved to September.

In October, we will start prepping for November’s Novel Quest, a fun writing challenge run by Writing Quests. We will release templates for the challenge and include social media banners for writing groups and participants. More information to come as we get closer to the month.

Coming September:

Sep 1: Beta Testing Starts

Coming October:

Oct 1: Preptober for November’s Novel Quest Starts

Oct 15: Midpoint Touch Base

Coming November:

Nov 1: Novel Quest Begins!