Sunday, March 24, 2019

Oliver's NEW 30 Day Writing Challenge



I have to admit, this last year has been pretty tough on my creativity. A combination of a hectic workload, plus a bout of ill health, means that it's only been fairly recently that I've felt like I can surface and catch a breath. Sure, I managed to get my novel and a collection of short stories out last autumn, but they were things that I'd written previously and it was just a case of editing. But new stuff? Genuinely new stuff? That has proven a lot harder to deal with...

So, in order to shock myself into a creative frame of mind, I decided that it was time I pulled together another 30 Day Writing Challenge. I made one in 2012 that went pretty well (which is to say, I finished it), while the one I put together in 2015 wad a little less successful (life got in the way by the time I hit Day 13), but - in my humble opinion - it's about trying, it's about being prepared to try and write something every day (and let everyone else read it).

Therefore, April is going to be the month for my latest 30 Day Writing Challenge - meaning you have a full week to gird your mental loins and prepare yourself, should you wish to take part. And, if you're wondering how this works, well, it's pretty simple; each day there is a different title and you're free to interpret that title any way you see fit. Then you write something inspired by the title. It could be twenty pages, it could be twenty words. But you write. And that's pretty much it. Now, if you'd like to share what you've written with me (and others), you can feel free to post a reply (with a link) in the comments here on the blog. I'll do my best to read anything anyone sends...

So, without further ado, here are the titles for the 30 day challenge:

Day 1:   A place you've never been
Day 2:   Interactive
Day 3:   Detente
Day 4:   Inspired by The Hero's Journey
Day 5:   The Night Bus
Day 6:   Your first job
Day 7:   We will return
Day 8:   A childhood memory
Day 9:   Create an urban legend
Day 10:  The Placater
Day 11:  Where you live
Day 12:  Deep Dive
Day 13:  What if?
Day 14:  The Graveyard
Day 15:  Eight word sentences
Day 16:  Augmented Reality
Day 17:  Someone you saw today
Day 18:  Rhyming couplets
Day 19:  Rinse, repeat
Day 20:  Second person train journey
Day 21:  Every breath you take
Day 22:  Dialogue only, please
Day 23:  Last orders
Day 24:  School days
Day 25:  Daybreak
Day 26:  A scary story that might be true
Day 27:  Fragments
Day 28:  The day of randomness - use a random page from Wikipedia to inspire you.
Day 29:  The rain
Day 30:  Whispers


So, there you go; thirty daily writing challenges. Make of them what you will. It's going to be fun...