Your July Challenge; Day 30

Do You Guys Hear Music, or is That Just Me?

A warm welcome to new ILLUMINATION writers, the Daily Tip, and some fantastic writing prompts

For the month of July I am doing a daily feature that highlights ongoing writing challenges, provides a handy Daily Tip for all Medium writers, provides opportunity for collaboration on the ILLUMINATION Publication, and extends a warm and heartfelt welcome to new writers.

Welcome New Writers!

In June I highlighted existing stories of new writers, but this month I am offering writers, both new and not-so-new, a chance to:

Write your own new story!

This feature has a list of writing prompts, and we want to see your writing. Pen a response to any of the prompts, tag me Timothy Key and also mention if you happen to be one of the new writers on the publication.

The onus is not only on you however, I will be responding to one challenge or prompt for each day as well. I wouldn’t want to ask you to do something I wouldn’t be willing to do.

Regardless of how long you have been with the publication, be it a minute, or since day one, we have a whole team of editors and other writers that are ready to support you and promote your work.

All any of us ask in return, is that you do the same.

Keep on reading to see how you can engage with others, but first:

The Daily Tip!

Use Alternative Text for your pictures! What is alternative text? It is a word description of your pictures that you can provide by clicking on the picture while holding down the Ctrl key. Or, you can enter the information by clicking on the editing feature for the story and enter it there.

But don’t take my word for it, Tree Langdon ♾️ has been doing an excellent job of answering the tough questions about Medium that I didn’t even know about. Read her update to get the exact specifics on how to do this right!

Daily distribution list

Another fantastic way to get engaged with other writers on the ILLUMINATION publication is by checking out Dr Mehmet Yildiz‘s daily distribution list. In it he includes all of the stories in the last 24 hours. When you write something and publish on ILLUMINATION your article will appear there too!

Here is a link to the bulletin:

Create your writer bio

One of the best ways we can get to know you is for you to provide a writer’s bio. When you do, Dr Mehmet Yildiz will highlight it in his daily bulletin and it will be added to our collection of writer bios. Check out the rest here:

Let’s Connect

If you want to connect with me or any of the editors or writers, please consider joining the Illumination Slack workgroup. You can request an invitation to Slack by contacting Dr Mehmet Yildiz from this link. Please type “Request for Slack” on the heading as Dr. Yildiz has many other requests from this link.

I am always willing to answer questions and provide information for anyone. The other editors and writers are as well. Slack is the best way to interact if you have questions.

If you need some tips to get up and running on Slack, this article is a good starting point:

Meet the Editors

And newly published, is our list of Editor bios! Get to know your editors and our backgrounds in this illuminating article:

Today’s Challenge and Response

Paul Myers MBA introduced the idea of rhythmic thinking and harmonized flow. While his article technically wasn’t a challenge per se, it is a pretty darn good writing prompt, so I am including it here: How about create a story using band names and songs to guide your narrative?

And here is my response:

Upcoming Challenges

Free Form Friday! For my last challenge piece, and unless something else comes up in the meantime, for Friday July 31 I am going to make my own challenge. I guess you will just have to wait and see what I come up with! Feel free to do your own for Friday as well.

Rear view mirror

Here is a list of the challenges I have completed:

Weeks 1–3 compiled:

Last stretch:

Dr Mehmet Yildiz suggests that we create at least one testimonial for another writer whom you admire. He offers this one as an example:

Earnest Painter contacted me on Slack and threw out this theme: Emotionally Frustrated Artist. To me it seemed like a call for a little humor, and to keep it especially lighthearted, a little poem. And here is my response:

B. A. Cumberlidge. offered a two-part challenge to write a story on any topic, and then create a short video that supports the written story. Make sure you see his post for all the deets.

Sherry McGuinn is back with a new prompt; What is Your Mantra?

Britni Pepper suggested this one: Finding wisdom among the highlights

Find a story you like. Pick out a sentence you like — the sort you’d normally highlight — and present it as if it were a notable quote from a famous person.

Joe Luca queries us with this one: You have one call to make and only one, to anybody in your past, dead or alive. Dial their number if you know it. Dial their name if you don’t. They will answer. Good luck.

The Gaia Project. Dr John Rose invites us to write about environmental initiatives in your community. Your article can propose a new idea, write about projects in your community, or reveal opportunities for others to explore. Thanks to Tree Langdon ♾️ for pointing this out and clarifying it some in this article, and Dr. Rose’s initial post:

If you are participating in or originating a challenge and you want to include it here for people to find, either respond to this article or hit me up on Slack (@timothykey).

List of New Writers

Each day I will tag one of the more recent groups of new writers added. I hope these stories provide a warm welcome and give some insight into many of the fantastic things happening every day at Illumination!

Devika Joshi, cj lone, Fredrik Holm, Giorgio D.F., Areti Vassou, Drew Sparkman, Bingz Huang, Kevin Picoaga, Turbulent Creek, Hannah Berman, Dr Ludovic Gros, Mark Longhurst, Lon Shapiro, K. Khan, Aaron Vaserman, Yolanda Fleming, Elizabeth Marchetti, Parul Sharma, Jennifer Nelson, Benai San, Janaka Stagnaro, Richard Hough, Kiki Wellington, Thom Booth, Sivena✒️, Daniel Barnes

Illumination is all about being engaged and positive interaction. New writers, we can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

If you want to join our growing, joyful, and supportive publication as a writer, please leave a message via this link. We help you become a successful writer on Medium.

Here is a link to a list of all July’s challenges in one place:

And, you may also like:

Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.