Writing Challenges
I usually do one or two challenges a year. StoryStorm is always a go. It’s the perfect way to start the year. The idea of StoryStorm is to come up with 30 picture book ideas in thirty-one days. There are posts, and prizes, each day to help you come up with ideas. This year I finished with thirty-one! I still need to weed through them and figure out what I should prioritize and what I should just put over here…next to the trunk…
The other that I’d done in the past, though not the last two years, was Julie Hedlund’s 12x12 Picture Book Challenge. The idea of 12x12 is to write 12 picture book manuscripts in twelve months. Sounds easy. Sounds hard. And you’re right. It’s easyhard (see Websters? New word! You’re welcome). 12x12 is so much more that just writing 12 manuscripts in a month. There’s a whole group out there doing it with you. I think there’s about 1,000 people this year that signed up for it. There’s a forum to interact with other people, critique each others manuscripts, pitches, query letters, etc. People form critique groups outside of it, and forge friendships that last. I wrote a previous post about rejoining it, and I’m still really glad I did.
I plan on doing more this year. I signed up for NonFiction Fest (aka NFFest) this year to help with a non-fiction idea I’m researching and turning into my first non-fiction picture book manuscript. There are helpful posts each day, as well as prizes, to help you along with writing and researching your NF MS.
I think Reading For Research Month is coming up in March, and I plan on doing that one as well.
There’s always NaNoWriMo in November, but I’ve never accomplished that, or the mini writing related goals that I set for myself. But, I always move forward faster with NaNo.
After that? I’m not sure. I’ll have to dig around and see what ‘s up.
What writing challenges do you partake in? Are there any I missed?