The Seventy Days of Sweat Writing Challenge was issued on July 6th, 2007. Approximately 275 writers signed up. Since then, Wednesday and Sunday check-ins have given participants a chance to shine and to whine. Challengers have met their goals, come close to their goals, surpassed their goals, lost sight of their goals. Challengers have finished projects, ditched projects, revised projects, started brand new from scratch. Challengers have edited, deleted, written scenes out of order, rewritten others that made no sense. We’ve had so much fun and accomplished so much work, that we’re going to do it all again! Be sure and check back on October 1st for information on round two, including a few changes and a few surprises, and a lot of fun. For now, here are a few final words from your round one sponsors.

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From Larissa Ione . . .

Wow–I can’t believe I did it! I’ve never been one to schedule myself so strictly, and I have to say…I got so much done and learned so much! I always harbored this secret fear that I couldn’t maintain a deadline pace, but I’ve shattered that fear. I confronted it and beat it. And I’m so happy to have had so many people doing the same thing, so many people who made a push to complete a project or just a push to do better than they ever have. You all should be so proud of yourselves, even if all you did is write one more page during this period that you ever have before. Celebrate! You definitely have reason to!

From Stephanie Tyler . . .

Stephanie can’t be here for the final check-in because she’s in Pittsburgh for her daughter’s surgery…but we know she’s still writing. We know she kept up with Sven’s challenges, and every single week, she beat her goals. She enjoyed the challenge, and she talked about how amazing it was that so many people did so well. She wishes you all luck and congratulates everyone who met their goals!

From Jo Leigh . . .

First, a big congratulations to everyone who participated! I think, from the wonderful responses, that everyone learned something, achieved something, even if it was that the challenge thing isn’t what revs the engine. For me, the challenge has been brilliant. I accomplished a lot - words on paper, yes, but more than that, I learned some things about moderation and pacing my writing. Life changing! And I adored reading everyone’s progress. It helped me stay on the ball, showed me how creative, funny, poignant and brave you people are. It’s been a privilege. I hope to see a whole lot of you during the next challenge. I know I’ll be there.

From HelenKay Dimon . . .

We set out to inspire you and, frankly, you inspired us. You worked hard. You checked in. Some of you got discouraged, stopped, and then got started again. Others followed along just to see your progress. In the end, you wrote and wrote…and wrote. There is something special about a positive group dynamic. When I fell behind on my number count - and I did - I looked at your numbers and got moving again. Because of all of you, my single title is done and went off to Kensington on time. Thank you. I look forward to taking the journey together again. See you in a few weeks when we get started with Round 2.

From Alison Kent . . .

I have been verily put to shame because I gave in to distractions and am six days behind you all in my goal of finishing. Seeing the outstanding progress all of you have made . . . do you realize there have been hundreds of thousands of words written here? Books and novellas and proposals and even comic book scripts? Kudos and bravo!

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Now, 70 days later, how many of you met your goals? How many set new ones? How many learned new ways to handle the challenges of writing? How many learned new ways to write? How many conquered hurdles that had always seemed insurmountable?

Let’s celebrate every single word you have written because every single word counts! And be sure to take both of our polls on the sidebar!

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

“The only sensible ends of literature are, first, the pleasurable toil of writing; second, the gratification of one’s family and friends; and lastly, the solid cash.”

“Writing a novel is not merely going on a shopping expedition across the border to an unreal land: it is hours and years spent in the factories, the streets, the cathedrals of the imagination.”

First a note. There will not be a Wednesday check-in this week, but a THURSDAY check-in instead on the 20th - the FINAL day of the challenge! We should have more information on round two available for you then. Or at least be able to tell you when to check back for it!

Now, it’s Sunday and you’ve done what this week?? Hop over to Stephanie Tyler’s blog to see what words of wisdom she has to share!

“The story is not in the plot but in the telling.”

“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

“Writing loves US. Did you know that? I didn’t! Writing wants to be written. First, though we must be willing to LISTEN. We do not control the writing–the writing controls us. It moves us, frees us, becomes us. We have to be ready to hand the reigns over to it, though. Our job is to PAY ATTENTION and write what we HEAR. ARE YOU LISTENING?”

One week left! How close are you?

“People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.”