JANUARY:
STORYSTORM (formerly called Picture Book
Idea Month)
Run by author, Tara Lazar, this challenge has encouraged
me to keep a journal of ideas through the month of January. The object of the
challenge is to come up with a story idea every day. I’ve gone through the
challenge for many years now, and no - I have not always won the challenge, but
I don’t let that get me down. Regardless of whether I successfully finished the
challenge, I still ended the month of January with more story ideas than I had
when I started. It’s interesting what happens when you force yourself to come
up with ideas. Most ideas won’t go anywhere, but you are guaranteed at least a
handful of ideas with promise.
This challenge is one
of my personal favorites. Some pitiful ideas I simply jotted down in order to
check that day off, but I would go back to those bad ideas later and find a
smidgen of worthiness that would stem off into another book idea. You just never
know what a bad idea can possibly morph into.
JANUARY through
DECEMBER
12X12 CHALLENGE (12
picture books in 12 months)
This is a paid membership challenge so it could be less appealing for you, but if you are gung ho about really making progress this year (or some year), it’s a good challenge to try. It’s very intensive, but if you are truly dedicated I highly recommend doing it. You receive critiques on your work from your peers and you also receive some perks to have your work looked at by actual publishers. I have tried it myself and never actually finished the challenge, but it was worthwhile to learn what this community is all about and I received some valuable feedback on a book I eventually self published.
APRIL, JULY &
NOVEMBER
NANOWRIMO & CAMP NANOWRIMO (National
Novel Writing Month)
NaNoWriMo is a month-long free writing challenge which is simply to reach a word count goal within the span of a month. Although this challenge is meant for novel writers, you can set any goal you really want for yourself. The standard NaNoWriMo goal is to write 50K words in a month. Personally I have never gotten better than 40K words, but the way I see it, if it wasn’t for the challenge, that is 40K more words than I would have written if I had NOT tried the challenge. There is an online community forum to find peers to help encourage you along the way, and my personal favorite part of it is the opportunity you’ll find in the forum to swap postcards with as many fellow writers as you want to send encouraging words to by snail mail - and even care packages. There are some months that the postcard swaps are all I really do - and it’s inspirational enough just sending encouraging notes to my fellow writers.
Remember, you can join in on these challenges, but try not to judge yourself too harshly if you poop out halfway through them. Have fun with the challenges and simply let your imagination run free. Even the worst idea can be modeled into something, whether it’s a new character, a different story angle, a location you’ve never thought of before - simply because you pushed yourself to think of another idea in order to meet that challenge.
I wish you a
productive new year filled with exciting new story ideas!
Wendy Carrick Fedan is a freelance illustrator working in Amherst, Ohio. She has self published ten books of her own and has designed and illustrated eight books for other self-published authors. Her books have won several awards in recent years including The BookFest Awards, Mom’s Choice Awards, Reader’s Favorite, and Northern Lights Book Award. She has her own publishing label called Create-a-Way Design & Publishing and acts as a Book Shepherd to many other writers looking to self publish. You can find Wendy on her Facebook page, LinkedIn, Instagram, and her website.
