Illuminating Lessons From My 30-Day Writing Challenge
What I learned, and what happens next.
“A writer’s life and work are not a gift to mankind; they are its necessity.” — Toni Morrison
What a month. From the closing of our country, school systems, and libraries, to my son’s birthday and the coming of spring, it’s been a time laden with love, laughter, and — on some days — tears.
But without a lot of time to reflect on my writing itself, I’ll reflect now as I share lessons from a full month of writing an article every day.
I had heard about 30-day writing challenges on Medium, but was pretty comfortable in my 2-to-3 articles-per-week habit. That was until I joined Illumination and saw the 30-day writing challenge put forth by Dr. Yildiz.
I wanted to practice freewriting, so I altered the challenge to fit my writing style and goals. I really just wanted to write, experiment, learn, and grow. I tend to be a free spirit that way, and I love bringing a new piece into existence with no preconceived agenda, but through inspiration and living.
What I learned from the 30-day challenge
One of my biggest takeaways was the importance of rest for cultivating a habit. I learned that I am capable of writing each day for 30 days without burning out or sacrificing my health. And it took a lot of balancing and trying to type with my son also hitting the keyboard, but it worked.
This was in large part because I took a three-day weekend each week during which I only posted articles with an hour or two of work on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I needed that downtime to keep my back and neck as healthy as possible, do physical therapy, and take a break from sitting or standing at my desk. It wasn’t always easy and there were many days that it was too painful to sit, so I stood to write and when that became painful, I sat again.
I also learned that, if I want to continue writing each day, I must take care of my physical body with ideally-daily physical therapy and yoga to remain as pain-free as possible. Of course, the mental and spiritual aspects of one’s health are also of utmost importance, but if you can’t move without pain, it’s difficult to create. I think that I found a balance even though it sometimes feels frivolous to spend so much time on physical therapy and yoga, when in actuality it’s life-sustaining and life-giving.
Authenticity is paramount
I’ve been writing on Medium for about five months now, but I feel like I learned more about different ways to structure articles and different styles of writing during my 30-day challenge. I took more risks and added stylized elements to my articles. I experimented with quotes, lists, and pictures to enhance my writing, and worked on a few pieces like this and this that filled my heart with such joy that I was grateful for taking those risks.
I also noticed that the pieces that I enjoyed writing the most almost always were viewed the most. This gave me more motivation to create from the heart and be authentic.
I learned to embrace creative pieces and different styles of writing. It was all a big experiment. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, and that was OK. It really is all about the journey.
Stats have a purpose
I learned that keeping an eye on stats can be helpful. In the past, I haven’t checked my stats much at all, because I feel like it doesn’t work for my overall writing process, as the things that I enjoy the most tend to do the best, and checking a stat doesn’t really affect that. I also didn’t want the stats to negatively impact my writing by promoting authenticity.
But when I checked my stats this month, I found it helpful to see an analysis of the last month, and it inspired me to write more and to focus on my strengths. I learned that stats do have their benefits and it’s wise to check them every so often.
An unexpected benefit
About halfway through the challenge, something peculiar happened: all of a sudden, I was able to write and post faster than the previous months. It became easier because I had repetitively practiced it every day. I love progress and growth, so this was one of the most worthwhile rewards to come out of the challenge.
Community
It was also wonderful beyond words to meet and engage with so many kind and talented writers. I felt like the isolation of working from home was easier to manage, because I never felt lonely. I learned so much from the diverse articles presented on Illumination, and felt love and support each day. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Challenges
The main challenge I had was brainstorming and writing long-form self-help articles. Those take longer and take much more of my creative juice. As a result, I didn’t write as many of those types of articles, because my creativity needed a break.
And I sometimes had trouble keeping momentum, especially on the weekends, and that affected the type of stories that I wrote. But the good news was that this compelled me to experiment with different styles of articles and break out of my comfort zone. If I felt like writing about Stoicism and Pit Bulls, I did it. If I felt like featuring 10 Pit Bulls in my article, I went with it.
Looking ahead
I already have several articles that I want to write. In particular, I am going to return to writing some long-form research articles featuring self-help, philosophy, and healing, along with animal advocacy and writing tips. I’ll keep the momentum going, but at a much more relaxed pace to make space for longer articles, preparing my son for Kindergarten, and animal rescue.
Thank you, Dr. Yildiz, for inspiring this challenge. It was a beneficial endeavor, I am certain. And thank you all for motivating and inspiring me each day to forge ahead and continue to create. It’s been a very worthwhile journey and one that continues as we learn and grow and support each other.
With great love and gratitude, Aurora
