THE WEEK BEFORE:
Personal:
Set a date and begin telling those close to you that you will be unavailable for everything during that day. No phone calls, no cooking, cleaning, diaper changing, pet care, no errands or other chores that we typically do. Prepare your loved ones by delegating your regular responsibilities to them and explaining what needs to be done without you. Whatever you can accomplish before the designated day to lighten their load, plan on scheduling time to do this.

Writing:
Decide which work you want to expand on during the 10,000-word marathon. Once you've decided, begin gathering the materials and researching anything you believe will be necessary for the writing; location, names, characters, plot. If you outline, then complete the outline during this week. It's not necessary to polish it, just have it prepared for your own use. Print off as much of this information as you think you'll need.

THE DAY BEFORE:
Personal:
Reiterate to family and friends that although you'll be home, it will be as if you're on the moon: totally unavailable. This is the day to help prepare your loved ones to take over. Shop for quick 'nuke 'em' foods (if you are the usual meal preparer and shopper for your home) and for your own personal menu for the next day, such as coffee and chocolate. Clean as much as you can so they will be able to maintain the home without you (if you are the usual house cleaner).

Make a list of all the stuff that MUST be taken care of the next day (anything not utterly important can wait until the day after) and then assign those chores or errands to family members (if applicable).

Writing:
During the day, make yourself familiar with all the research from the past week; review what you've gathered, make sure there isn't anything you've overlooked--but also remember that anything that isn't extremely important to the story can wait for the editing process. Gather the last of the materials. Make sure it's printed--there will be no opening of files during the marathon so this is important to have in hard copy. Clean and prepare your work area for the next day. Finish any 'busy' work you have--such as answering emails, doing critiques and any other computer work that needs to be done. Make sure you go to bed early and set your alarm for the designated time you decide to begin.

10K DAY!
Personal:
Make sure to dress as comfortable as you can. Flannel pajama's work great and keep you from leaving the house. Gather your drink, snacks, and anything else to fortify yourself while you write. Eat a good breakfast and take a few moments to care for yourself so you feel fresh and ready to go. Kiss your loved ones goodbye, thank them, and wish them a good day. If you have a phone near your computer, unplug it (unless you use this as access to the internet--which will be needed for GROUP writing only--if you're doing this on your own, then UNPLUG it, because you will not be using the internet at all.) Get comfortable and take a deep breath! It's time to begin!

Writing:
Make sure you have the printed materials neatly laid out on your work area. Have working pen(s) and scrap paper handy. Post-it notes are efficient. Hide the dictionary and the thesaurus from yourself if you use printed copies of either. In your computer, open the document or a fresh document for your work. If possible, turn off spellcheck, grammar check, and the thesaurus options (don't want the computer interfering with your stream of thought). Eliminate as much as you can until it's simply you and the blank page--your imagination and the story, nothing else.

If this is a group effort, email those who are joining you with your start time and a SHORT note on what your hopes for the day are. Close your email program once done.

RULES FOR THE DAY:

1. NO EDITING!--this means no fixing typos, no rewriting at all. You should write as fast as you can and go with the flow of the story (using your outline if you have one).


2. NO Rules: Meaning don't concern yourself with the craft of writing rules you struggle with or with choices you want to make because you think they may be incorrect--such as brand names appearing in the manuscript--language you're not sure will fit guidelines (as in cursing and such)--if you're not certain which character's POV should be for the scene, then head hop if you want to (this can be changed in editing later.)


3. NO Research: This should have all been done the week before. Anything you find yourself needing to know, use your imagination and give the details that you THINK would work. If you like, place *** in the manuscript to easily find that section later and replace once you've had a chance to discover the actual facts. The research notes you prepared can be 'glanced' at, but not studied. Don't waste time shuffling through papers to find something, you already know what's there, just make your best guess at the facts.


4. NO Scrolling Back: Once you've written it, that's all for this day. Don't go back and add things, move things, or switch things. This is what your pen and paper are for. If you think, "I'll need to change that." or, "I should go back and add this part in" write a few memory cementing phrases on the paper regarding what you want to fix later and continue on with the work AS IF you've already changed it.


5. NO Struggling: When we write on our 'regular' days, we have a tendency to search for the perfect description, the perfect word choice, or to create the perfect scene/moment. Forget all that. Allow yourself to be crappy! This isn't going to be seen by anyone but yourself. This is a 'for your eyes only' type of work.
   
   Remember to write as fast as you can, close your eyes if it's too difficult to watch. Make sure that you NEVER second guess yourself. Part of the excitement of doing this marathon is making friends with your own writing voice. Too often we tend to strangle ourselves with our perception of the 'perfect' work.


6. NO Structure: Don't concern yourself with chapter breaks, scene breaks, page count, any of that. Of course you can add these as you write, but they aren't set in stone and should NOT be a CONCERN. They are secondary to the free-writing and stream of consciousness (following your outline if you use one) writing that you are doing today. Anything and EVERYTHING can be changed in the editing phase.


7. NO Searching: Don't open other files for that tidbit you wrote months ago. Don't go into other parts of the computer for information you think you want to read. If it's in the computer, it will be there during the editing phase and you can search for it then. This includes email programs and the internet! The only time you'll use any of this is to communicate in a group setting. Other than that, you should be completely cut-off from the world.


8. Work in two hour increments--this can only be broken by bathroom breaks and if absolutely necessary, a refresh on the drink or snack of your choice, but that should be avoided and taken care of only every two hours if possible. At the two hour mark, take 10-15 minutes for yourself and make yourself as comfortable as you can for the following two hours. This includes meals. Don't break for lunch any longer than you did for the regular breaks. Eating every two hours (snacks-healthy ones or not--that's your choice!) should be enough to keep hunger at bay for the entire time you're writing.
   
   Group note: At the two hour break, send a quick, short email with your word count to the group, read/respond to any emails pertaining to the group if you like. Close the email program.

Once you reach 10,000 words, you're finished for the day. Hopefully you've discovered not only your own talent for relating a tale, but how much of the craft of writing 'rules' have become second nature to you. Conversely, this will also show you what you need to brush up on, where your focus should be. Too often we get lost in our own insecurities about what we know--what we should be studying--or what path we need to follow. The first time I did this, I discovered that I was weak in word choice (I tended to use the same ones over and over again) and that I loved to use cliches. But I also discovered that I had some great character development skills that I'd been neglecting within my regular writing, simply because my focus was more on plot. This new recognition of my work helped me develop a lot faster than if I'd never done this.

Look through your freewriting and know that a lot of it will most likely end up on the cutting room floor, as they say in Hollywood. But also recognize the strengths you see and how much you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. As you evolve as a writer, more and more of this type of freewriting will be useable, but the only way to achieve that is to really learn how to let yourself be crappy as often as you need to.

Great authors are great storytellers at heart, they have a knack for connecting with the reader in a very personal way. The only way we can emulate that gift is to write from our creative core, not our left-brain perfecting mechanisms. Clean copy is easy to read, but if it’s too clean, it becomes sterile.

Good luck with the day and remember to relax, enjoy this pursuit of what you love, and allow yourself to be who you are, let your own personality shape your work--for that is where the strength of your voice lies.