A Writing Wish Giveaway

(at dozen bake shop; samsung fascinate phone, retro camera app)

UPDATED: Thanks to everyone who shared their writing wish. Congratulations to Heidi, who is the winner of the Writing Wish Coaching Session (chosen via random.org, which picked #2). Anyone else  (whether you commented or not) can sign-up for a half-price session with me. (That's just $30 for a full hour.) Email me by January 8 to scoop up the discounted rate. Happy New Year!

Well, the aforementioned sabbatical hasn't started yet. I should have been winging my way to Vermont right now, but instead I'm sitting on my couch, bleary-eyed from spending half the night and all day trying to right my capsized travel plans. I've finally sorted it out, and now I just need to stay awake so I can go to bed early and then get up early for tomorrow's rejiggered flight plans.

So, in an effort to avoid napping, I've decided to create a little bit of excitement. Plus, the sky has turned blue after a long stretch of washed out grey, and that's cause for a little celebration. So here's an impromptu giveaway and a sweet deal....

Tell me your writing wish for 2011 and be entered to win a one-hour Writing Wish Coaching Session with me via phone or Skype.

What's a Writing Wish Coaching Session? We'll work together on your unique writing wish. Maybe you need to brainstorm ideas about what to write or where to submit your work. Maybe you'd like a few prompts or resources to get you started. Or perhaps you have a particular project in mind that you want to flesh out. Is your wish to learn some nitty-gritty grammar basics? We can cover that, too. Bring it on. Whatever you need. In a Writing Wish Coaching Session, you set the wish and I'll help you figure out how to work toward it. These sessions work for beginners and advanced writers alike.

So leave your writing wish for 2011 in the comments, and I'll choose the winner randomly on New Year's Day.

And to sweeten the deal, if you sign up for a coaching session with me before I get back from school (on January 8), I'll cut the normal price in half. That means you get a whole hour of wish-full coachy magic for $30. Just send me an email (jennifer{at}thewordcellar{dot}com), mention this blog post, and we'll blow those dandelions seeds together.

Whee! I'm feeling jaunty at the thought of it!

(If you'd like to know more about my professional coaching, writing, and editing services, please check out the about, services, and portfolio pages.)

Okay. Writing wishes. Yours. Go!

Comments

[Diana]

At this point, my writing wish is to find a few more agents to approach that work with my tiny, tiny non-fiction genre. I'm not quite ready to give up and pitch publishers directly. I want to feel like I knocked on every (appropriate) door I could.

[heidi2524]

I'm finishing up my urban fantasy (will be done by end of March). Then I need to decide what idea to write next. I have several, all of which I could see following through on, just not sure which one is the way to go. Having someone help me figure that out would be great. Thanks for this great offer! :)

[Kat]

At this point I need to start trying to get published again after taking some time off due to my illness. I need to make a portfolio and get some queries out there. It is difficult to even get started. That's what I would wish for-help to get started again.

[Karen D]

My writing wish for 2011 is to delve more deeply into my writing practice as a way to find the truth of my story.

Safe travels and a happy and healthy New Year to you!

Karen (deldino on Twitter)

[Meg Carter]

Hi Jennifer!
Thanks so much for this wonderful offer. I have never written a book before but have recently had the drive to do so. I would like to write a book about running your own arts business but my talents are more in the creative arts and jewelry side of things and not so much in writing. I am somewhat intimidated by the idea of writing a book but it also seems to be calling to me. I would love the opportunity to get some advice about a direction to start.
Hope all your traveling works out. Thanks again.
Meg Carter

[Amie aka MammaLoves]

Just stopping by to say how wonderful it is that you're providing such a generous opportunity for everyone in the midst of a travel snafu. I love to see the holiday spirit in action.

[Jackie]

Hmmm...my writing wish - is to be able to just do it!! I wrote so much as a kid, but now it gets all tangled up in grown up issues and what to write about and how it all sounds and all that! I think getting into a regular writing practice would be lovely and to have ideas on what to write about would be helpful. Reading-wise, right now I love historical fiction and if I could write anything, it would be something along those lines. This is such a generous offer! I'm glad you got your travel plans worked out - it sounds so bad out there right now (I'm in extremely rainy Northern California).

[Katie @ cakes, tea and dreams]

I wish I could get a handle on this memoir about my time in Oxford - I've got a lot of notes, but no clear direction. Thanks for the generous offer!

[Fiona @ creatediscovery.com]

My writing wish is to take all the scraps of thoughts, words, and ideas about my experiences with riding motorcycles and create a workable theme for them all that makes sense and will actually convey to readers what is in my heart. I'm absolutely terrified to try to make a book out of it, and my fear looms large every time I sit down at the keyboard. So I want to just *get it over with* and put this project to bed so that at worst, it will be done and out of my system, and at best, I might actually get a book out of it that people might even want to read.

What a lovely contest to end the year. Thank you, Jennifer!

[CA]

To get more confident in my writing abilities. And to identify a few areas where I need to improve.

[Debi]

people ask me all the time "where's the book?', and i have nothing. i am not a writer of fiction, not a writer of anything but vignettes, moments of everydayness. my writing wish is to find a way to take those vignettes - the pieces people love - and figure out how to make them into a book. i feel like i can't use things i've already written, don't know if i'm making it harder than it need be. i've been approached by a company wanting to know if i am working on a book, had to say no, but soon - i feel pressured; i want to do it but don't feel ready, don't know if i'm just making excuses. i need a fairy godmother.

[Kerry Bogert]

my writing wish is to learn to let go and let words flow. from alchemy one of the biggest things i learned is what an introverted writier i can be. i won't put words on a page until they are just right in my head. i think it ends up keeping too many stories locked away. i wish i knew how to go of critical thoughts and bring more possibilities to light.

[Elizabeth]

I have the strength to be vulnerable and the courage to be seen. The prose that bubbles up from my soul and swims around in my head excites me. inspires me. makes me laugh when I'm alone in the checkout lane. What I lack is the support and structure that is needed so that my heart can sing as the words flow out my fingers onto the keys. I'm realistic and know that one session would not be enough - but it just might be the pebble that tips the cart....