50/90: A songwriting challenge

[robynmackenzie]

Hallooo! I'm putting this out there for all us songwriters. There are two songwriting challenges I participate in every year: February Album Writing Month and 50/90. FAWM is during the month of February, obviously, but 50/90 is right around the corner. 50/90 is a challenge to write 50 songs in 90 days. Yes, that is an INSANE amount of writing, but lots of people do it, and lots of people make it to 50 every year. It starts on July 4th and goes through September 30th. It's a lot like NaNoWriMo for songwriters.

FAWM and 50/90 are run by a non-profit organization, are totally free to join, and are a personal challenge, not a contest. I do these challenges every year and they are awesome. It's a small online community and it is extremely supportive--no flame wars and no spam.

If you're interested, check out these sites:
February Album Writing Month: http://fawm.org (please please PLEASE do NOT go to FAWM.com, you will lose your appetite and possibly your hard drive)
50/90: http://fiftyninety.fawmers.org

(As a disclaimer, I don't run these sites, and I'm not paid to tell people about them. I'm just spreading the word! )

 

[Caitlin Black]

I did both of those a few years back, and it was a lot of fun.

I thought they had stopped doing 50/90 though, because they couldn't afford to keep it running? *clicks link* Nope, apparently I misheard.

I won't be doing it this year, though. My July is dedicated to 2 novels, and after that I'll be full-throttle at Uni doing study and homework and stuff. I barely made it to 50 songs even when I was unemployed and not studying!

But I can definitely attest that the members are a great bunch to chat with, and most of them make really awesome music. My favourite was always Sapient - a one-person death metal machine! Seriously, how he could write, sing, and play an entire song every couple of days that was so beautifully mastered and entertaining, I have no idea.

 

[robynmackenzie]

Sapient is awesome! Your username sounds familiar...what years did you do them? Good luck with your novels and uni!

As a side note, I've never made it to 50, although I've made it to 14 a few times in feb.

 

[Caitlin Black]

Thanks. Yeah, Sapient's a powerhouse.

My username there was a variant on Cliff Face (maybe Cliff.Face or CliffFace, I can't remember). I *think* I did them both in 2011, and I might have done 2 FAWMs, I honestly can't remember. If I did a second one, it would've been in 2010.

Yeah, because I was too busy with Uni last year, so it must've been 2010/2011.

I know for 50/90, I only wrote lyrics, and for FAWM I recorded acappella metal vocals which were quite well received. I tried recording guitar to go along with the vocals, but, erm, I'm not good enough (yet!) to get anything worth sharing recorded.

Mmm, so 50/90 will start tomorrow where I am (it's nearly 5pm on the 3rd in South Australia). I'm kind of regretting that I can't do it... But I know I wouldn't have time. Maybe once I've finished my degree I'll be able to... Maybe.