Hey all, Sam here.
I almost feel like I have to get this post up. Last night I did something that was a bit of an impulsive splurge. Well…I guess it wasn’t all that impulsive. I’ve been staring at the Freewrite Traveler device for a year or so now, and telling myself that it was a purchase I could justify once I started writing regularly again. However, the place I work was bought up by a different company back in January, and this new company does quarterly profit sharing bonuses….and last night when I went to work, I was given the check for our first quarter. I had just planned to use it for a trip David and I have planned for next week, but then I saw that Freewrite was doing a warehouse sale with 25% off several of their devices. One thing led to another and I ended up buying a Freewrite Traveler that is just a little scratched and dinged. It basically still cost me the entirety of my bonus check, and it won’t arrive until probably next Thursday, but it means that I now need to make sure that this purchase is worth it.
That means I need to get writing. Thankfully, I know of a writing challenge that’s about to start, so I guess I should probably figure out a goal and share that info with all of you now. This is not my first time doing this writing challenge; actually, I think this will be my third attempt, but maybe this will be the year where I finally succeed in reaching my personal goals.
Let’s talk about it.
What is the Write Brave Challenge?
The Write Brave Challenge is a 30-day writing challenge where a writer sets a daily goal in order to achieve an intention at the end of the 30 days.
For example, if your chosen intention is to complete a 60,000-word first draft of a novel, you would need a daily goal of 2,000 words. Every day while the challenge runs, you’ll be invited to report on your progress within the community for all your fellow participants to see. This will hold you accountable, and seeing other writers report on their progress will inspire you to match their energy!
Important to note: this challenge is in no way limited to novelists—it’s completely flexible while still allowing for the structure needed to focus on getting the writing done.
When is the Write Brave Challenge?
The Write Brave Challenge takes place twice per year:
April 15th – May 15th (Spring)
September 15th – October 15th (Fall)
If you’re finding this after the event’s begun and before it ends—jump right in! Better late than never!
If you’ve found this after the event’s ended, sign up anyway. We plan to host the challenges twice per year.
Who Can Participate in the Write Brave Challenge, and How Much Does it Cost?
We invite writers of all skill levels to join in on the fun, whether this will be your first attempt at a 30-day writing challenge or your tenth!
Because we want this event to be as inclusive as possible, this challenge is absolutely free to participate in from start to finish.
How to Participate in the Write Brave Challenge
1
Join the club within our free online community. There, you’ll be in a group of like-minded writers all working on their own daily goals and intentions.
2
Download your free participant kit. Inside the kit, you’ll find free resources, social media graphics, and a worksheet for brainstorming what you’ll challenge yourself to write during the challenge.
3
Commit to your intention and daily goal. After you’ve chosen your intention for the challenge, you’ll commit to your intention and daily goal using the Google Form available inside the community. You’ll also have the chance to share it, and once the challenge begins, you’ll be encouraged to share your daily progress!
4
Mark your calendar. Once you’re signed up, you’re all set! Tell your loved ones you’ll be taking on a project from September 15 through October 15, and keep your daily goal in mind as you make plans.
5
Spread the word! We believe writing bravely means owning the fact that you’re a writer. Mention the challenge in your other writing communities and group chats, and use the graphics in your participant kit to post about it on social media. When it comes to events like the Write Brave Challenge, the more, the merrier!
What Are the Write Brave Challenge Guidelines?
Be supportive. Encourage and support your fellow participants. No one here is looking for your criticism, cynicism, advice, or judgement. (We can get those things on the rest of the Internet).
Share generously. Your stories and experiences may be exactly what another writer needs to hear today to solve a problem or seize an opportunity.
Be constructive. We’re here to push each other forward and lift each other up. Find ways to help each other think bigger, reframe challenges, and stay curious.
Don’t spam, promote, or troll. The Write Brave Challenge exists to help you learn. It’s not a place to spam or bully anyone else. We also ask that you keep any self-promotion to the designated post. This will help prevent our feed from getting cluttered!
Okay, I’m trying to ease myself back into writing again. I’ve been very bad about keeping up with my goals when it comes to creative pursuits, so I don’t want to set my bar too high and risk setting myself up for failure.
So, I guess I’m just shooting for 500 words a day. This could be working on a short story (I have several loosely D&D related short stories I started and never finished), it could be working on one of my novels (I have a few projects I’m in the middle of), or it could be something completely new (who knows what inspiration might strike?). The point is that I just want to try and get myself writing again.
My goal is to build up a writing habit again, and I am trying to do that with a daily writing goal of at least 500 words. Back when I was writing fairly regularly, 500 words would take me like 15 minutes. I’m sure if I was really focused I could probably still manage that, but even without being focused, I would think that 500 words a day is something I could definitely achieve with no more than a half-hour of writing time.
Obviously if I write more than that in a day, that’s wonderful and I’ll be very excited about it. But the main point is to work on blocking out some time so I can write a little bit every single day.
And, hopefully, with my new Freewrite Traveler that eliminates the dependency on my laptop (AKA a device with the internet), I might be able to focus better. And the Freewrite Traveler should also allow me to go out on the porch, or walk to the park, or just go hang out at the bookstore or the coffee shop.
I’m really hoping I can get back into my writing habit again. Oh, and I do have some mostly finished blog posts (book reviews, mostly), so hopefully I can get some more content up for you really soon.
All right, well I think that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
Free State of Geek 