A New Writing Challenge

by Stephanie Morrill

With school underway for just about everybody now, it's common for writing time to get squeezed out. As a teen writer, I could only take a break from writing for so long. Any more than a week away from my story, and I would get irritable and start doing things like plotting chapters in Geometry class instead of my assigned charts.

Yet it was simply impossible for me to devote much time to writing during the semester ... so what's a girl to do?

The answer didn't come to me until a few years later, when I was a part of a writing group that did a "100 for 100" challenge. Which means you vow to write 100 words a day for the next 100 days. It takes hardly any time at all to write 100 words, just 10 or so minutes, but it means at the bare minimum you're going to have 10,000 words in 100 days.

Think you're interested? Great - because Go Teen Writers is hosting one! (9/11/12 - *Sign-ups have closed for this event*)

Here's how it'll work:

1. The challenge will begin Monday, September 10th. That means you have between now and next Monday to decide if you want in. No exceptions - if you don't sign up by next Monday, you can't participate.

2. The challenge will end (if my feeble math skills can be trusted) on Wednesday, December 19th.

3. There aren't many rules but here they are:

• The idea is for it to be a gradual trickle of words, not a geyser of them, so you must write 100 words every day for it to count. You can't write 10k on November 4th and call it good.
• There is 1 "grace day" per week (meaning if you miss 1 day a week, that's okay) but you still must have 700 words completed by the end of the week.
• The words should all be for one manuscript, not spread out over a variety of stories.
• Yes, the above rules exist, but we're not going to police this heavily or anything. Not only would it be virtually impossible to do so, but this falls under the rule of "you get out of it what you put into it." Yeah, you could just write 100 words of nonsense everyday and still win the challenge ... but what benefit is there really?

4. Writers of all ages are welcome to join. Whether you're 9, 99, or somewhere in-between, this is a writing challenge available to you! Just for fun we're going to do some competitions between the age groups. More details on that later.

Here are some questions you might have:

Can I write more than 100 words per day?

Absolutely. You can write 4,000 words on Monday and 103 words on Tuesday and 2,000 words on Wednesday, etc. It just has to be at least 100 words for 100 days.

Are there prizes?

Other than adding 10,000 words to your manuscript by December? Yes, there are!

For those who finish the challenge, you'll receive a special writerly badge for your blog, and a chance to win this darling necklace from Inspired Novelties:

Designed just for writers, Susie Finkbeiner calls these "What's your story?" necklaces. You can check out other literature-inspired jewelry - everything from Shakespeare to Suzanne Collins - at her Etsy store.

Also, those who complete the challenge will be entered to win a 10,000 word critique. 

*Sign-ups have closed for this event.*