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    Writing Challenge Finale ( Day 31 )

    Last Day of the Writing Challenge I cannot believe it, I’ve managed to complete the Jeff Goins 500 Words 31 Day Writing Challenge. You might think that doesn’t rate highly in life achievements and I guess you would be right. Still, for me, it’s a celebration. So many times I tried stuff like this in the past but didn’t follow through. I credit Jeff with making the challenge clear, interesting and achievable with effort. It was difficult at times. Maybe the theme was uncomfortable, like writing your own eulogy. Or called for thinking outside the box, like writing in someone else’s voice. But I always gave it my best shot…

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    Bookends ( Day 23 )

    The Challenge for Day 23 Today’s Challenge is to write the end of a piece of work, whether it’s fiction, non-fiction or memoir. This is not going to be easy, but that’s why it’s called a challenge, I guess. Since I wrote the preface to my memoir yesterday, I thought I may as well go with the ending today. I’m calling it “Bookends” because that’s what I’m going to end up with…A start, an ending and a whole lot of work to do to fill in the missing pages. But, do you know what, I’m grateful for these prompts because they’re teaching me how to focus on outcomes and not just…

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    Memoir Preface ( Day 22 )

    The Challenge for Day 22 Today’s challenge is to write about “Fear”. Will you give in or fight it? What will you do with it? The funny thing is that I’ve just started a course on Memoir Writing with Pauline Clooney. My assignment for this weekend was to write the preface for my memoir, even though I haven’t even started the book yet! Anyway, out of laziness or practicality, I decided I’d combine the two prompts into this post for Day 22. It’s just an outline, a work in progress, but at least it’s a start.   Memoir Preface   The blank page can be a scary thing. I’ve just…

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    Journalling ( Day 17 )

      The Challenge for Day 17: Pick a Fight The challenge for Day 17 is to write about something you are passionate about, promoting it as beneficial to society. If this involves annoying some people, all the better. Hmm. Not usually one to pick a fight, but some things are worth taking a risk for. So here goes, my thoughts on the importance of journalling in this modern day galloping world.   Journals and Diaries In the past, everyone seemed to keep a journal, most often in the form of a daily diary. Many of these have been lost, but those that remain provide us with great insight into the…

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    Dream, Hope, Fly ( Day 16 )

    The Challenge for Day 16. The challenge for Day 16 is to write about hope, that thing which pushes us forward even ( Or especially ) when the going gets tough. It came up in a previous post of mine, Hope, so it’s obviously something close to my heart. This time I thought I’d expand it a bit and talk about hope in relation to following a dream. The quote below is by Jonas Salk, author and medical practitioner, the man who developed the polio vaccine.   There is hope in dreams, imagination, and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality.  Jonas Salk      Dream…

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    Writing Evaluation ( Day 15 )

    The Challenge for Day 15:  Writing Evaluation We are just at the half-way mark of the challenge and today Jeff Goins asks us to record our thoughts on our progress. Are we feeling overwhelmed or energized? Has your writing improved? Have you noticed any changes in how you approach your writing?   Overwhelmed or Energized? Sometimes it can be difficult to churn out 500 words a day, especially something fit to put in a blog post. The irony is that publishing is not part of the challenge, but many of us add it to the list ourselves. Why is that? Well, I can only answer for myself, but I know…

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    Happy Mars Day ( Day 10 )

    The Challenge for Day 9 The prompt today for my 500 Word Challenge is to ” Write about Writing.” The joys, the pitfalls and how I’m coping with the Challenge. We seem to have days for everything now, so why not have a Happy Mars Day? And I mean the planet, not the chocolate, but I guess both could work at this stage. Just check out Twitter!   Happy Mars Day Why am I calling today Happy Mars Day? As you might know, I’m currently taking part in a Creative Writing course with Pauline Clooney. Each week we get a story prompt, usually quite open to interpretation. One particular week the…

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    Ten Writing Tips ( Day 8 )

    Day 8 of my 500 Words Challenge ” Make a List” I’m reading my email from Jeff Goins and I do a double take. A list? That’s all he wants today? And me on a roll with all that creative writing? I’m joking, of course. It is such a relief to wind down the dial a bit for today. Gives my brain a chance to paddle along the ocean edge. The big waves are fun, but you can’t keep that pace up constantly, you just might get rolled over. With that in mind, I thought I’d share these ten writing tips with you. Stuff that I’ve learned during my six-month…

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    Free Writing ( Day 4 )

    Free Writing The email from Jeff Goins today is to do some free writing. Now, this is a concept I’m quite familiar with because it’s something I do regularly as part of my creative writing course. Basically, you just keep writing for a set period of time, usually on a suggested prompt. You are supposed to keep going no matter what. No self-editing or revisions, the grammar police are banned. The aim is to encourage creativity. This is how Jeff describes it:   “Master the art of silencing the inner critic, letting go of perfectionism, and embracing your art.” Jeff Goins   So, if you can’t think of anything, you…

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    Before Coffee (Day 3)

    Before Coffee Help! The latest email from Jeff Goins suggests that the best time for writing is first thing in the morning. He even recommends getting up an hour or two earlier each day, just to write. Before coffee, before food, before anything.  Now, anyone who knows me can testify that I am not an early riser.  And to make it worse, it takes me ages to tune into life. But, maybe that’s the whole point…Perhaps waiting for the fog to clear is the wrong approach? Tomorrow, I am going to find out one way or another because I intend to take up this part of the challenge in the same…