Writing Challenge for December

Do you dream of writing a book? Have you been writing on and off for a while but never managed to finish a project? Or perhaps you already write pretty regularly but would like to take your craft to the next level? Regardless of your level of dedication and achievement, I have a challenge for you.

December can be a hectic time, perhaps the busiest month of the year, between shopping and holiday gatherings, family commitments and the cooking of feasts. Plus don’t forget all that end-of-year panic surrounding work deadlines and so on. Some writers manage to write every day or nearly every day, no matter their schedules, but most writers — particularly newer writers — find keeping that sort of pace to be difficult.

There’s no rule that says you need to write daily to be a good writer; many successful writers work in bursts with time off in between. However, writing every day is still an excellent practice, particularly for someone just learning the craft. It gets your brain into the habit of being creative on demand, while keeping your work in progress fresh in your thoughts. Exercising your writing muscles is just like any other type of exercise; a little each day keeps you limber.

So, my challenge for you all is to write daily during the month of December. This isn’t like NaNoWriMo, where I issue you a word goal. Instead I challenge you to commit to a daily writing practice. Try to carve out an hour each day, but half an hour or even fifteen minutes will do if that is all the time you can find. But make your writing a priority.

I do understand that there are days when you simply won’t be able to pull this off, so I’m offering you two days leeway, to be taken when you need them. Christmas day and New Year’s Eve? A random crazy shopping day? The day you need to pick up family at the airport? Sick day? Your pick. But beyond that, you get 29 days in December to sit down and commit to your writing.

Why daily? Why December? I believe if you can manage to write through the chaos of the end of the year, you will find it so much easier to face your writing resolutions for 2013. Maybe keep those in mind while you’re working through this challenge. See what sort of good habits you can instill and carry forward.

To help you along, I’ll be cheering you on from here and from Twitter, and I’ll also pop in with a few random writing prompts throughout the month. If you don’t need them, terrific, but if you’re between projects or are looking for a little inspiration for a short, one-day project, they might be useful. There are no rules regarding what you write each day; it can all be the same project, or a series of writing exercises, or a number of rotating pieces. Whatever gets your brain and creativity pumping.

Good luck, and happy writing!

26 thoughts on “Writing Challenge for December

  1. I actually couldn’t complete NaNoWriMo for a thousand different reasons, and was thinking of doing something like this during December, so I’m definitely on board!

  2. I’m in! I did NaNo & found that if I “ate” lunch in my office with the door closed, I could crank ot 1700+ words in an hour. By then end of the month, I was ready to channel Zena, Warrior Princess and use my pen to sever the jugulars of some of my more challenging coworkers. I need the mental break of an hour physically away from work. I can still drive to the bookstore, sit in the cafe surrounded by inspiration & visions of seeing MY book on the shelves, and manage 500 + words, 2000+ on the weekends. Thanks, Nephele!

  3. I’m in. I just storyboarded out the rest of a WIP plot so I’ve got lots of options to keep me going. I’ve also got plenty of time challenges and commitments (travel twice, running 5 times a week) but I’m determined to put the writing first.

  4. I’m in! Just saw this, but had already gotten in some yesterday, and a bunch more for today. I did “win” nano this year, so I’m trying for 30,000 in Dec (and another in Jan) to finish the rough draft. I love that you’re trying to keep authors connected to their writing! Thank you 🙂

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