#1000WordsofSummer starts June 1

Thousands of writers the world over plan to take part in Jami Attenberg‘s two-week writing project, 1,000 Words of Summer (or, if hashtags are your thing, #1000WordsofSummer). The big write-a-thon starts this Saturday, June 1.

This marks the seventh year Jami has offered this project to the writing community, and this year, for the first time, I was planning to be one of those thousand-word-a-day scribblers. Alas, some life issues have interfered, so I won’t be able to join the mass writing event when it begins this Saturday, June 1. (As John Lennon put it, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”) I plan to join in spirit, and hope to make up for my absence with a two-week writing journey later this summer.

But I hope you’ll take part. Jami has it all line out for you (see her FAQ and her post on how to prep for the event). The gist is this:

Sign up for Jami’s “Craft Talk” Substack newsletter to be automatically enrolled in the program. Then, starting this Saturday, strive to write 1,000 words a day on your work or works in progress for 14 days straight.

In Jami’s words:

Every day you get a letter from me encouraging you to write. Most days another published author will contribute additional thoughts on creativity, productivity, inspiration and more to the letter. You will write 1000 words each day at home or wherever you write. There is a slack for you to meet other participants and post your daily word count and more. Also people often track their progress on social media with #1000wordsofsummer. I will check in on both twitter (x, sorry, lol) and the slack. There is definitely a community out there if you are interested in accessing it, but it is not required. This is very much about doing your own work. Still, we are all each other’s accountability partners: that is the magic of this project.

At the end of it all, you will have a big pile of words and a sense of accomplishment and hopefully the inspiration to keep going.

I would not get hung up on the number of words you write each day. The point is to write each and every day during that stint, to make progress on whatever work or works in progress you might have.

The 1,000-word guideline has worked well for Jami. “Since I began writing books in earnest, I have used 1000 words a day as my regular writing goal. It’s about four typed pages double-spaced. If I write 1000 words a day, five days a week, give or take time for edits, research, and other job responsibilities, I can finish a messy-as-hell first draft in about six months. It usually takes me another six months to get it in enough shape to be able to share it with other people. …

“One thousand words may not work for your genre, of course. No one expects the poets out there to write one thousand words of poetry, for example. I think it translates across genre simply as a good day’s work.”

I look forward to following along on social media.

Also, if you don’t have Jami’s book, 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round, I heartily recommend it. Whether you write 1,000 words a day or 1,000 words a week, Jami’s book will provide inspiration from her and many other writers.