Why 30-Day Writing Challenges Are Mostly Useless

Writing isn't a challenge

Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash

I often come across “writing challenges.” In many cases, this is a 30-day challenge. Writing should not be seen as a challenge, it’s something you do or don’t do.

Do or do not there is no try — Yoda

Motivation

I guess a 30-day challenge could be seen as a motivator, but the real motivation should be that you want to write. I can challenge myself every day to play guitar, but if I don’t physically play my guitar, nothing will happen.

We don’t need a challenge, we simply need do the thing we want to do or not do it. The only thing you’re competing against is your brain. It’s your mind that’s telling you not to write.

Challenges Fade

We take a writing challenge, and maybe we succeed. This is actually a good thing. The problem is we’ll only go back to our old ways and never push forward, where we make writing a part of who we are. The whole key to writing is to do it a million times.

When I taught guitar lessons, I would tell my students to go home and practice the song one million times. Of course, you can’t do that physically, but you have to do it over and over and over until you’re so sick of it that the song ingrains into your brain.

The same can be said of writing. Write and then write some more. Forget about the small details like whether someone will like it or not. It holds us back.

Write

Don’t Challenge, Just Do

Maybe a challenge is a motivation you need to put your ass in the chair and bang out words until you’re blue in the face because this is what it takes. There’s no shortcuts, no hacks, and no quick fixes. It all comes down to doing.

I want to improve my financial situation with my writing. So, I’m simply sitting in my chair, fueled with coffee, and writing every day until my fingers give up and my eyes can’t take it anymore (still take breaks, lol).

I don’t need any 30-day

I write because my mind tells me this is what I must do. Nothing else matters.