Cheeks to Chair (C to C)

In the past GVC has periodically offered a "BIAW" challenge. BIAW stands for "book in a week" which is an incredibly misleading name—at least the way we practiced BIAW in the Greater Vancouver Chapter! The original concept was that you'd set aside a week of your life and blast through as much original writing as you could, attempting to get something like 100 pages written on a book, and never going back to re-read or edit. But that's not how we've been interpreting it, and so the name has now been changed to Cheeks to Chair (C to C).

Here's what C to C is all about:

• It's a week where we put a high priority on our writing, and reinforce the fact that, whatever else is happening in our lives, we really are writers.
   
• You challenge yourself by setting goals in advance. The goals should be achievable, but demanding. You email your goals to the C to C coordinator and, at the beginning of the C to C, the coordinator emails all participants, listing everyone's goals.
   
• Past goals have been things like: write so many pages a day, write for so much time a day, write between certain hours a day, edit a chapter a day, plot a story, write a short story, prepare a contest submission, write 3 query letters, etc.
   
• At the end of each day you email your day's progress to the coordinator, along with any  insights, joys, setbacks, frus-trations, or other comments you want to share with the other participants. "Reporting in" each day provides amazingly strong motivation.
   
• The coordinator compiles all the progress reports and comments for a day, and emails the group at the beginning of the next day.
   
• The people who participate become a mutually supportive team, facilitated and organized by the coordinator. They share progress, root for each other, cheer each other's triumphs, share insights and suggestions, and commiserate over setbacks.

If you're contemplating doing a C to C, be aware that preparation is key to success. Not only should you plan out your writing goals, but also try to structure your life to give yourself the best chance possible of succeeding. Tell the important people in your life (the ones who think they have a call on your time!) that this is what you're going to be doing, and ask them to respect your time and your goals. Ask your significant other and kids to do more of the chores around the house—and, most importantly, to not bother you during your writing during your writing time. Don't schedule social engagements, hairdresser appointments, anything that isn't urgent, for the C to C week. Prepare meals in advance and freeze them. Stock the fridge and cupboards. If you work on a shared computer, stake your claim for the hours you need it—and be gutsy about reinforcing that schedule. Stock some treats to encourage and reward yourself (this one's very important!). Do anything you possibly can, in advance, to give yourself the best chance of meeting your week's goals. Most importantly, believe that your writing is a top priority and make sure you and others respect that priority.

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