Here are some other ways to set yourself up for success, too. It’s got a built-in social media system to connect with other writers working in similar genres, a word count tracker that measures your progress, and rewards you with badges as you complete milestones throughout the month. Contrary to popular belief, the challenge isn’t really to write an entire novel in a month-it’s to write 50,000 words of a novel, which is not a whole lot less difficult. NaNoWriMo is perhaps the best-known writing challenge, and it’s a doozy. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. “National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Here are Nine Writing Challenges to Enter: 1. And lucky for you, we’ve compiled a list of some writing challenges you can participate in! If you’re looking to try something new, power through a difficult draft, or just crank out words, writing challenges might be worth checking out. The momentum might not last forever, but you don’t need it to! The goal is to have fun and make something.

You get to stay in the comfort of your own home, but you’re meeting people online, you’re working on a new project, and the whole enterprise has that fun, novel feeling you get at summer camp. What more could you need?įor me, personally, writing challenges often feel a little bit like writing camp. You can flex your writing muscles, maybe try something new, and have some fellow participants to commiserate with.

Of course, you don’t need to write every single day to be a “real” writer, but just like athletes do marathons, writers can get a lot out of a good challenge. Writing challenges also encourage writers to practice, often every day. This sense of community helps writers amp each other up-it’s a team dynamic we don’t often get to experience as writers, and it can make the world of difference powering through a first draft or a difficult round of revisions. First and foremost, they connect a participant to a community of writers participating in the same challenge. Writing challenges do a few excellent things for their participants. If there isn’t a prize, why should you bother? Why Should I Try a Writing Challenge?

They’re challenges created for writers with the intent of getting writers to, well, write! These aren’t writing contests-there often isn’t a cash prize or publication prize for people who participate in writing challenges. Writing challenges are exactly what they sound like. It can feel a little like getting stranded, and it’s no wonder some writers jump ship on their projects.īut it doesn’t need to be so lonely, nor does it need to be boring! Participating in a writing challenge might be your ticket out of that sticky spot. Sometimes we fall into a formula when we write books, or we can’t get ourselves past the first few chapters of an idea, or we’re stuck in the dreaded middle section of our novel for what feels like forever. Writing can get kind of lonely sometimes.

Month long writing challenge prompts