Sorry, the February Challenge Is Officially a Shit-Show

Summary

The author, Keeley, is managing a writing challenge that has become disorganized due to personal life stressors, such as moving houses, and is now attempting to restructure the challenge by combining 28 prompts into a new order to accommodate participants' needs.

Abstract

Keeley, the organizer of a writing challenge, expresses her apologies for the disarray of the current month's challenge, attributing the chaos to personal stressors including the pressure of moving houses by the end of February. The challenge, which was running smoothly in January, has become overwhelming, with daily prompts sent out being inconsistent and all over the place. To rectify the situation, Keeley plans to consolidate the 28 prompts into a single, coherent list, encouraging committed participants to follow the new order while allowing more casual writers to continue as they wish. She emphasizes a 500-word limit for responses to the prompts but allows for creative interpretation. The new order of prompts is provided, focusing on themes of love and personal experiences, and Keeley reassures participants that next month will return to a daily format.

Opinions

Keeley acknowledges her mistake in managing the writing challenge this month and takes full responsibility for the confusion.
She admits to feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, even joking about wanting a week to "decompose" once settled in the new house.
Despite the challenges, Keeley remains committed to the writing community, demonstrating her dedication by working on the new house late into the night and still engaging with the challenge.
The author shows a sense of humor in her writing, such as when she mistakenly says "decompose" instead of "decompress" and when she suggests punching her past self.
Keeley values the connection and community aspect of the writing challenge, as evidenced by her desire to maintain the challenge despite her personal circumstances.
She is determined to improve the situation by reorganizing the prompts and providing clear instructions for participants moving forward.

Sorry, the February Challenge Is Officially a Shit-Show

Please feel free to send me punches instead of claps…

I’m sorry, okay. There I said it.

Who else wants to punch Past Keeley in the face?

I know it can’t just be me.

Last month’s challenge was intense, but I became addicted to the connection, the community, the challenge of writing every single day.

I didn’t want it to end but I also knew that realistically, I didn’t have the time to commit to 28 days of writing and reading.

I thought I was being smart, running a mini-challenge, turns out I was dumb. Oh so dumb that my brain hurts trying to figure out what day it is, or what my name is.

The D date is looming. We have to be out of our rental by the 24th February and we still don’t have a house that’s moveable-innable. No, that’s not a word, but you know what, I don’t care.

I’ve been working on the new house every day and night, painting, cleaning, moving smaller things, and more painting until at least 10pm.

By the time I get home, I collapse into a heap on the lounge to catch up with writing and reading on Medium.

I’m so exhausted that yesterday I said to Mum, ‘When we’re finally in the new place, I’m going to have just one week of doing nothing. A week to decompose.’

‘Decompose?’ She laughed. ‘Do you mean decompress?’

At this rate, I feel like I might decompose. I am beyond exhausted.

But that’s not why I started writing this post…

I’m sorry. This month has been a true shit-show. We got into such a groove in January and it worked really well. It was easy to find and read others’ stories, and we were all on the same page.

Well, thanks to me, we’re on that many different pages now we could fill a library of books.

The prompts popping up in my email are all over the place.

It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I take full responsibilty.

So, how can I rectify this? Other than travelling back to the past and punching myself in the face?

Well, I’m officially combining the prompts. All 28 of them.

How will I combine the posts? Microsoft Excel? I can merge posts, right? (I’m sure I’ll figure it out).

In the meantime, I need to clarify for my own anxiety a new order. If you’re a dabbler, do what you may, write what you want, but if you’re a committed challenger, here are the new prompts in the new official order. Do your best to stick to it ;)

Don’t forget there’s a limit of 500 words but you can interpret the topics anyway you like.

Who is the love(s) of your life?
Name 50 things you love
Your proposal story (past or present)
Your first crush
A romcom you could watch again and again
The most romantic gift you’ve ever received
Do you celebrate valentine’s day?
The most inappropriate sex you’ve had
Your favourite song about love
What do you think is the most romantic animal?
What’s a soppy cliche you love but shouldn’t?
Your favourite way to show yourself love
What is the love language that best defines how you receive love?
Can love overcome all obstacles?
If you were a protagonist from any love story (film or book), who would you be and why?
What is the dog breed you love most?
Your first kiss
Are you a lover or a fighter?
Your ideal date night
A time you were rejected
If you had to choose between sex or food, which would it be?
Do you believe in happily ever after?
Has your parents’ relationship affected the way you love your partner?
A time in your life where you felt most loved?
The moment you realised you were/weren’t straight?
Do you consider yourself an easily lovable person?
Someone from your past you’d love to see again
What is the holiday you love celebrating most?

Again, I apologise for the mess this month. Next month, we’ll go back to daily, yeah?

Adrienne Beaumont, The Sturg, Autistic Widower (“AJ”), Robert G. Longpré — [he/him] — Canadian métis, Bernie Pullen, NancyO, Karen Schwartz, Katie Michaelson, Brett Jenae Tomlin, Trisha Faye, Laure Dorsemaine, Michelle Jimerson Morris, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, Marilyn Flower, Amy Frances, Julia A. Keirns, Ravyne Hawke, Pamela Oglesby, Toni the Talker, Cathy Cremer, Harry Hogg, Tina