This week: Taking on a Big Challenge Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Contests & Activities Newsletter by Dawn
While the quick daily, weekly or even month based prompt contests can be fun to enter (story or poetry), there is also something to be said for a long term and individual activity or contest to really give the writer a challenge. |
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There are many activities and challenges that come up during the year. November has the most obvious one with National Novel Writing Month and people trying to write a novel (50,000 words) in one month. Connected to that is October Novel Prep Challenge that helps people get ready to attempt their novel. Both are great challenges for those wanting to write a novel but they aren't the only ones.
I've been on WDC for many, many, many years. I have a seen a fair number of different challenges to help with writing and that boost community connections/interactions. There was one contest called the Joust, where authors write stories to prompts and competed against each other with each round knocking off one until only a single writing stood on the podium (metaphorical) as the winner. It was fun and I still plan to use an idea from one of those prompts even though that challenge was like 7+ years ago.
Then there was 15 in 15. Had to write 15 entries over 15 days and didn't need to take very long to write them. Those were fun times and similar to a couple of the blog or poetry challenges that post a prompt for each day but don't require a long time of writing. Resurrection Jukebox is a good example of something that was a little more recent that had a round where during a set amount of time, people had to post 18 blog posts based on a set parameter of music inspired topics.
For a year long approach in attempt to be consistent in writing, there is a little/big challenge known as I Write. The challenge encourages contest/activity entries and has the added bonus of requiring reviews. Each year that it is held, a fair number of people take part and work on writing something every single week for a year.
Whether current or present, there has been and will be writing challenges on WDC since one of the main focuses of the site is that word: writing.
What are the benefits of taking part in a challenge?
There are many reasons to take part in these different challenges and contests. The main one for that drives me, and probably others, is the motivation to write something. Deadlines are helpful too. Each challenge will have a set time frame not only for the whole event, but often individual parts or sections. This way it's not only a matter of writing, but getting said writing done by a certain day and time. I don't know about anyone else but I tend to procrastinate. The entry at the start of this month for a contest is a fluke cause I am more the type to enter on the last days allowed. Resurrection Jukebox is a good example since I did a few posts at the very end of the challenge. But having a deadline helped me to get that writing done.
Social benefits also exist because with a big challenge, you aren't the only one taking part. For the few people who use the scroll function here on WDC, we often talk about the activities and things we are writing on that chat feature. Forums are another good place to promote, discuss and ask for help when needed. These challenges help give WDC an element of community.
So, if you have never taken part in one of these challenges make sure to check out the WDC contests or activities items where people promote, look at newsletters and check out newsfeeds or even scroll to find an activity or challenge you might enjoy. You could write 50,000 words this month. You could dedicate 2025 to write every week and enter contests. You have options and all of them are to help with the goal of writing. What will you pick?
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Here are some activities, forums and contests that are big. A couple of them are no longer running but take them as a good example to spark other ideas.
NaNoWriMo is the most obvious. WDC has a forum but there are also groups and other events that one can take part in when trying to write a novel during November
One of the classic and best challenges I've done is I Write. Each year that it is held has been a challenge that helped with my writing and gave me chances to help contests get entries. This year was possibly the last year but surprise, we are going to have one for 2025. I will see you there.
Contests or Activities no longer open but good ideas to consider include blog challenges and contests.
| | Resurrection Jukebox (E)
A yearly blogging challenge featuring cover songs and/or dead artists! Runs every October.
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Have you ever taken on a big writing challenge? Which one has been your favorite?
Last month, I wrote a contests and activities newsletter about reading groups. This is the comment sent for that newsletter:
Comment by Elisa: Snowman Stik  :
I admit I haven't had quite as much time to read (although I have a DSLR technique book in the bathroom for reading). That said, in my mission to beef up Little Free Libraries, I have been reading a decent share of kids' books. It's been a surprisingly useful exercise, as I get some insight into what kids are (or could be) learning these days.
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Contests & Activities: November 06, 2024 Issue [#12824]
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