October Writing Challenge: 1000 Words a Day

For all those who are planning to participate in the National Novel Writing Month challenge in November, you may want to try a warm-up word count challenge with me in October. For anyone who isn’t, but who wants to increase the amount of writing they’re producing, there’s no better time to begin than at this moment. Over the next month, I will document my 1000 words a day challenge. 1000 words a day is a great goal for any writer who wants to begin getting into the habit of writing on a daily basis. As part of the challenge, I will explain some of the methods I’ve developed over the years, and I hope others who are also doing this challenge (or who have done a similar challenge in the past), will contribute their insights and tips to the conservation as well.

As I explained in a previous article, there are a number of steps anyone who decides to take up a challenge like this should consider and answer to better define the challenge. Doing so will make it more likely the challenge is completed. Here are my answers to each step:

Step one: How many words will I write each day? 1000.

Step two: What’s the minimum number of words I must write each day? 100.

Step three: How long will the challenge be? One month (during October).

Step four: Will there be any off days? No.

Step five: How will I let others know about the challenge to keep myself honest? I will be doing this by recording it on this blog throughout the month.

Step six: How will I keep track and record my daily word count throughout the challenge? I will do it here on this blog.

If I’m successful with the challenge, I will have written a minimum of 31,000 words by the end of the month. Going by past experience, even if I don’t reach the goal, I should write more than I would have without the challenge as long as I continue it for the entire 31 days. That’s a vitally important point for all these challenges. While you should do your best to achieve the goal, the true benefit from these type of challenges is to get you writing on a daily basis, and to write more than you would have if you hadn’t undertaken the challenge in the first place.

So I put forth this challenge to all those reading this now. Commit to begin a 1000 word a day challenge for a month and see what you can produce. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask them in the comments of any challenge article. While I’m doing this to keep me accountable for the number of words I write this month, I also want to try and help any writer who is having problems writing consistently over a period of time.

Below are a list of articles I’ve put together as part fo this challenge on tips and hints you may be able to incorporate into your own writing habits to increase your productivity:

• Find Your Quiet Activity
• Set Aside Time in the Morning to Write
• Make Writing a Priority
• Create a Writing Space

(Photo courtesy of Dennis Skley)