Here in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn will be here before we know it, and with it comes the urge to wrap ourselves in a cozy blanket, unbox the writing supplies we bought during those huge back-to-school sales, and dedicate ourselves to writing.
This year, we hope autumn also gets you thinking about joining us for the Write Brave Challenge!
What is the Write Brave Challenge?
The Write Brave Challenge is a free 30-day writing challenge where a writer sets a daily goal in order to achieve a specific intention at the end of those 30 days. 2024 is its inaugural year, and the challenge will take place between September 15 and October 15. You can learn more by clicking here!
What is the Intention?
In the context of the Write Brave Challenge, your intention is your desired result. We add emphasis on your because we want you to know that this challenge is exactly what you make of it. No matter what stage of the writing process you’re in, and no matter what you write, you can participate!
Below are a few examples of intentions to give you an idea of what you could do within these 30 days.
- Write 60,000 words of a new novel.
- Write the final 18,000 words of your current WIP.
- Outline a new novel.
- Edit a 45-chapter novel.
- Compile a chapbook.
- Write 30 poems.
- Create a world, city, or magic system for an upcoming series.
What is the Daily Goal?
In the context of the Write Brave Challenge, your daily goal is the task you will complete every day in order to realize the intention you chose. You may be used to writing challenges that demand a certain number of words from you every day, but that doesn’t have to be your yardstick if you don’t want it to be!
The following daily goals directly correspond to the intentions above.
- Write 2,000 words a day.
- Write 600 words a day.
- Spend 45 uninterrupted minutes a day on plotting, worldbuilding, and crafting character arcs.
- Read through and mark up a chapter and a half per day.
- Write a new flash fiction piece or poem every day, or select one piece a day from your archives to revise for inclusion in the chapbook.
- Write a new poem every day.
- Spend 25 minutes a day building a Google Sites wiki to house all your notes.
How to Choose an Intention
If You’re in the Middle of a WIP Right Now
This is probably the safest intention to choose. You won’t have to switch gears, and you won’t have to do too much planning between now and our start date of September 15. Even if you’re not necessarily excited about your project at the moment, the Write Brave Challenge’s daily check-ins and weekly dares are the perfect way to get motivated to finish!
Is your WIP in a state that makes it hard for you to tell up from down? Maybe finishing isn’t the intention you want to set—maybe you should instead focus on unraveling the knots in your plot threads, rewriting character arcs, or creating a Google Sites wiki to house your worldbuilding notes.
If You Want to Return to One of Your Shelved WIPs
We get it—returning to an older WIP can be both thrilling and intimidating. Been there! But this is a great choice if, again, you need that push that only checking in with your writing friends daily can give you.
Multiple WIPs crying for your attention? Jot all their titles (or working titles) down and rate your excitement for them from one through ten. Why excitement and not another metric? Because it’s always easier to work on things you want to do than it is to convince yourself to do something you don’t feel like doing. If you’re not really feeling any of them, read this blog post about what to do when none of your story ideas spark joy.
If You’re Starting a New WIP
What a delicious feeling it is to sit down and decide on your next project! I’m jealous!
If you’ve already got multiple ideas stirring, do the same exercise I suggested above and make a list of all the working titles, then rate them based on your excitement to start them.
If, on the other hand, you have absolutely no idea what you want to write, here are a few brainstorming questions to get you thinking about what you might want to write.
- What kinds of protagonists and problems do I love to read about?
- What used to excite me about reading and writing when I was younger?
- What media is engrossing me nowadays, and why am I so fascinated by it?
- What questions do I want to explore, and what kind of character could be naturally guided through that exploration?
- What do I want to be known for as a writer?
You might also want to check out the writing prompts included in your participant kit or our mega list of writing resources (note that these are from our blog post archives and may be out of date).
If You’re on the Fence
Feeling like you’re getting pulled in different directions is no fun. Luckily, we have a blog post with techniques you can use to test each of your story ideas before committing.
You also have our permission to choose the “shiniest” idea, even if that’s not the one you “should” choose. It’s just 30 days—you can go back to “shoulds” later!
How to Choose a Daily Goal
Some intentions will naturally lend themselves to a daily goal. You probably knew what your daily goal would be as soon as you landed on an intention! Nevertheless, take a pause before you decide on it and ask yourself the following questions.
- What will be the best numerical measure of progress for this intention?
- Quick list of potential answers: words, pages, lines, chapters, minutes, hours.
- Also remember that you have the flexibility to use the number as a floor, a ceiling, or an average.
- How will my life look between September 15 and October 15?
- Make sure to take into account any birthdays or special occasions!
- What does my productivity look like on a bad day, on a so-so day, and on a stellar day?
- Do I want to really push myself to make a lot of progress in 30 days, or am I more interested in maintaining the consistency and developing a rhythm?
What to Do After You Choose an Intention and a Daily Goal
If you’re reading this post the week it goes up, great news! You’re just in time to join your fellow participants in announcing intentions and daily goals on Announcement Day, which falls on Monday, August 19. Once you join the WBC group within our online community, you’ll find a Google Form to submit and social media graphics in your participant kit to help you share your intention and daily goal with the world! Your participant kit will also have a list of relevant upcoming dates.
Finding this after August 19, or even sometime between September 15 and October 15? Join us anyway! Just be sure to adjust your intention, daily goal, and expectations accordingly.
Finding this after 2024’s Write Brave Challenge? Join the community now, so you’ll be ready for next year, and sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop!
