Creative challenges are everywhere, Reader.

There are small ones, like writers on social media challenging fellow creatives to writing sprints.

Or month-long word-a-day prompt challenges like Inktober, MerMay, and Smaugust that feed into the “gamification” aspect of creating that some of us crave to get motivated.

There’s short story contests based on genre prompts and word counts like the one that earned me a spot in this anthology.

And then there’s the one that started it all for me. The one that—had I not taken up the challenge—I legit wouldn’t be a professional storyteller today. I’m talking about National Novel Writing Month.

And though NaNo may have gone the way of the dodo, 🦤 other challenges like Novel November and others have stepped in to fill that void.

But you might be thinking, Why do a writing challenge at all?

Well, Reader, I Can Give You 3 Excellent Reasons:

1) To Grow Those Skills

Writing challenges help you stretch those narrative skills and grow as a storyteller.

In fact, before National Novel Writing Month in 2010, I’d only written a handful of random things in my life. Mainly short assignments for English class. Then for NaNoWriMo, I wrote 50K words. Literally half of my first novel.

Yep, I’m talking about Daemons in the Mist, the very first version that released over a decade ago.

2) Fresh Crisp Storytelling

If your verbosity and lack of clarity are dragging the quality of your storytelling down, then a challenge with a max word count is the way to go.

It will teach you how to make those much-needed cuts in record time. That has been my experience, anyway.

For example, each chapter of both my webnovels They Come at Night and ExSpelled clocks in between 500-900 words. And each piece for Fantasmical had a max word count of 1K.

But…you might be wondering what the benefit of attempting such a thing could be? Well, having a hard word-count max teaches you the importance of word economy and conciseness in your storytelling.

3) No More Blank Pages

Writing challenges can also spark your creativity when you’re suffering from Blank Page Syndrome.

Many groups in community spaces like Reddit, World Anvil, Author Threads, and more offer creative prompts for their challenges. And various groups and fellow writers offer prompts on a regular basis. And don’t forget Reader, there’s 2 years worth of Story Writing Prompts in the archive waiting for you to use.

It’s as simple as picking a prompt and seeing where the words take you!

For some, creative challenges like NaNoWriMo gave them permission to try their hand at writing something new. Be it a new genre, style, or a new pen name.

But just remember, Reader: the most important thing for any writing challenge isn’t to win—it’s to start writing. Because with every word, you improve.

Until next time, this is your friendly neighborhood storytelling Kat wishing you a wonderfully creative week.

Your cohort in storytelling,

Kat Vancil

🐱

PS 👉 Short Story Prompt:

The Legendary Character has just been accused of a horrible crime they didn’t commit and is forced to flee from authorities.

PPS 👉 Scrivener is offering an extended trial of their program for November for those who’d like to participate. Just click here.

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Author E Anders @ Fantastic Frog I write fantasy and I like frogs! E. Anders lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, son, two cats and sixty-three fantastic frogs. Her newsletter, FANTASY AND FROGS, features: updates about her published and upcoming romantasy/fantasy novels in THE EARTHEN CALAMITIES series; pictures and videos about her many pet frogs; sharing about other indie authors; and random things she loves that are not limited to but mostly - as you probably already guessed - about books and frogs. Subscribe​

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