Welcome to the Life Writing Challenge!

We are so happy you've joined us for this adventure! We sincerely hope that this challenge will be an opportunity for you to break through some brick walls and make incremental progress in capturing some of your life's best stories. 

If you want a refresher on what this is all about, read this.

TODAY'S 15-MINUTE CHALLENGE

Take a few minutes to think about why you want to write your life stories. Then grab a sheet of paper (or other chosen method) and answer the following questions:

  • Why do you want to write these stories? What do you hope to accomplish? You may want to pass wisdom to your children, or inspire your descendants not yet born. You might want to set a story straight, or get some emotions out on paper, or just gain some insight into yourself. Whatever your reason, write it down. It may guide your efforts. Or your reasons may change as you progress. It's all good.
  • Who are you writing them for? Who do you hope will eventually read your stories? Your progeny? Friends? The general public? Or just yourself?
  • What scope of time or experience do I want to cover? Do you want to give an overview or highlights of your whole life? Or focus on a particular time period (childhood, war  years), relationship (grandmother, significant other), or experience (battle with cancer, humanitarian mission)?

The questions in this challenge, over the year, will be broad in scope. Some of them may not apply to you or your purpose. That's okay. If that's the case, just pick something else from the archive, finish a previous writing you started, or write about whatever you want.

(Supplemental reading: check out this post for some sample purpose statements.) 

IN A NUTSHELL

  • Just joined us? Jump in where you are. Don't feel you have to catch up, or to go back and start at the beginning. Just work on today's assignment. 
  • Don't like today's topic? Not everything in the challenge will fit your life or circumstances. Pick something else from the archive, this question list, or write more on something you wrote earlier.
  • Don't judge yourself. Don't edit. Just write. You will edit later. Now it's just about getting it down, for your eyes only.
  • If you want to keep going after the 15 minutes are up, go for it! 
  • Have a question or challenge or triumph to share? Feel free to comment below.