If the month of May rolled around and there were no prompts, no daily email encouraging you to write, no friendly community to welcome your “Yay! I did it” posts at the blog, would there be a gap in your writing practice?

Would you have fewer first drafts to work on the rest of the year?

Would another month go by without a focus on your writing?

And, if this is your first year contemplating the challenge, what do you hope to get out of it?

Leave a comment below, and let me know!

Should I Do This, Again?

Every year, as the organizer of StoryADay May, I face the question: am I going to do this again?

(It’s a lot of work!)

And every year, I look at the comments and emails from past years to help me make my decision.

Comments like:

“I noticed something this month that’s been scarce while I was focused on my novel, story sparks! Sparks just started popping up out of no where…I feel like I’ve been freed!
Thank you, Julie, for the inspiration!! Yay for May!”

Christina

“My heartfelt thanks …for letting me enjoy every single one of the prompts for the last month.”

Rathin

“I have loved all the story prompts this month, especially the flexibility and possibilities they have, meaning I can return to them many times to write new and varied stories into the future.
I step towards more writing, more creativity and more ideas.”

Ran

“You’ve helped me hold my faith in my writing.
This is a spectacular achievement for me as I struggle to prioritise time for myself. Thank you for the motivation. It’s been awesome.”

Wendy

“I have learned so much not just about short stories, but writing in general.”

Calla

“I feel proud of myself!”

Grace

“ I discovered … how easily I could come up with new story ideas. Also, I feel more motivated to go back and revise the stories I wrote. I… feel more motivated to continue writing.”

Natalie

“I didn’t write for forty years…The horrible part was that I knew writing was my calling, and that I was capable of it. But I just didn’t do it…This has been a truly life-altering experience. It is huge. A titanic breakthrough. A door opening, chains falling away. I’m shocked and humbled and amazed, … I’m telling you the truth. This has changed my life.”

Dawn

And that’s why, every year, I find myself I find myself arguing with my coach about what is and is not a good investment of my time 😉

I’d love it if you would take a moment to think about what you hope to get out of the StoryADay May challenge, what rules you are setting for yourself (will you write every day? Once a week? Only on weekends?) and how you hope to feel at the end of the month.

Then leave a comment here. It’ll help crystalize your goals, which will, in turn, help keep your motivation high.

(And I can show them to my coach!!)

If you have questions for me, post them here, too.

Here’s to another May of ridiculous, glorious creativity!

Keep writing,

Julie Duffy

P. S. If you want me to send writing prompts to your email inbox every day of the challenge, make sure you’re signed up here (yes, even if you’ve signed up in the past)