Making the Most of Writing Challenges

Today is the halfway mark for the #1000wordsofsummer writing challenge, created by Jami Attenberg. How are you doing with the challenge? One day, a migraine kept me away from my writing goal but have managed to catch up this weekend.

How do you feel about writing challenges? Motivate you? Depress you? Depends on how life is at the time?

Yes, yes and yes.

I’m drawn to these types of writing challenges. The energy of everyone on Twitter, Instagram, the Slack group, pushes me to show up on the days I question why I’m doing this. Even though the energy is online, it comes right throughmy fingertips.

But at the same time, don’t push yourself to participate if the timing is not right or you don’t feel inspired by these types of challenges. Or mix it up, change the challenge to #500wordsofsummer for yourself. Let the collective energy push you to achieve whatever goal you can at this point in your writing life.

I recommend signing up for Jami’s newsletter, Craft Talk, as her words and those from other authors are inspirations. Save them, pull them out when you are ready.

Next month, NaNoWriMo hosts their July camp, where you can set your writing goal at whatever word count you wish. Decide now what your goal will be. Announce your project at NaNoWriMo. Use your social media to find others participating in the same challenge as you. I use my social media (Instagram and Twitter) as my accountability checkers. Each day I will post what I did, or didn’t do. Yes I share when I don’t reach my daily goal.

Don’t be afraid to share the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to writing challenges.

And don’t be afraid to jump into a challenge, halfway through. So if you haven’t already, join the #1000wordsofsummer challenge, find your writing peeps on Twitter, Instagram and on Slack.

Share in the comments, your thoughts on writing challenges and the ones that have inspired you. . .

Photo credit: Nick Morrison via Unsplash

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