It may never see the light of day, but it's practice and that is what takes you places. When you experiment with your creativity you learn new ways to write, to express your ideas and to build on something. When you give your writing priority, you learn how important it is to you (or isn't, which is equally valuable!). You will learn more than you know about you, your writing and life itself.When you come across an obstacle to writing, deal with it, know that you can do that, but the next day (or a few days later, or whenever) you get back to writing anyway, that is where real growth and progress happens. The key is how not how you deal with them but how you deal with going back to writing. All of these things are very possible (if not likely!) to happen during a daily creative writing challenge. Maybe life happens and you suddenly don't have enough time to do anything. Maybe you have started something but can't finish it or you run out of time to meet your daily word count goal. Maybe you don't really like what you've written (so are reluctant to share). Maybe you stall in finding an idea you want to write about. There will come a time during any daily creative challenge when it gets hard. This is important to do once in a while and I can no longer make up excuses as to why I can't or shouldn't write. How many of us can honestly say that writing is a priority every single day? I know I currently can't, but when I take part in a creative writing challenge like NaNoWriMo, that changes and writing does become a priority. It's amazing what forcing yourself to produce something every single day can do to push you outside of your comfort zone. Last year I found myself writing poems about things I would never have imagined and it was strange, unsettling and so exciting! I felt so brave and like I was pushing myself in ways I hadn't before. You will try things you may have been reluctant to before.The more you use, the more you have.” I think it's because your brain simply gets more used to thinking, spotting, seeing, hearing new ideas all around you because you know you have to find them! As the wonderfully wise Maya Angelou said “You can't use up creativity. While there's nothing romantic about forcing yourself to write something every day - and yep, it can be a bit stop-start and will occasionally get a bit (or very!) ugly - generally speaking, there is great truth in the fact that the more creative you are the more ideas you will have.
If my above experience hasn't convinced you that a daily writing challenge is worth it, let me list a few reasons why you should consider doing one: Why you should take part in a daily writing challenge I'll also share a bunch of tips on doing a daily creative writing challenge, be it for 100 days or for 30 days, like during NaNoWriMo (which I've now completed six years in a row). I would absolutely encourage any writer searching for a creative challenge to consider taking part in the 100 day project, and I'll highlight some of the reasons why.
No, our craft is not as visual or Instagram-worthy as that of painters, illustrators, crafters, dressmakers, knitters etc., but we do still have a lot of creativity to share. The 100 Day Project is not typically a creative writing challenge but I absolutely believe it can and should be used by writers to give their creativity a little boost.
#30 DAYS WRITING CHALLENGE LIST FULL#
You can read my full debrief of the experience in these lessons learned post. I am hoping to turn these poems into a book later this year. I started the project completely uncertain of what I was doing and I ended it 100 poems richer. It was a thrilling, challenging, eye-opening and highly rewarding experience for me.
Last year I took part in #the100dayproject for the first time and I wrote 100 poems in 100 days. My experience of daily creative writing challenges The question you're probably asking yourself, however, is what has this got to do with writers and writing? And where are these tips for doing a daily writing challenge that you've been promising us? Well, first let me explain a bit about my experience of taking part in a daily creative writing challenge. There's a fun community-spirit to be found among those taking part in this daily creative challenge, regardless of what you are working on, and I urge you to check out the official website to find out more information. Most participants try something arty or crafty and many document their progress and daily creations on Instagram or possibly on other social media. Typically the project starts in early April and ends in July. Last week saw the start of The 100 Day Project, an online movement that sees participants endeavour to create something every single day for 100 days in a row.