write that essay daily challenge

30 Day Writing Challenge:The Complete Beginner’s Guide

• Post author By Onyemechi Nwakonam
• Post date January 3, 2021
• No Comments on 30 Day Writing Challenge:The Complete Beginner’s Guide

My writing life was a dream I had that never seemed to come true.

It was all filled with a mirage.

The lofty projections I had in every new year resolution.

Still, the goals crumbled from inaction.

Doing a personal 30 day writing challenge was the turning point for me.

I built a writing routine after years of struggling.

Now, I can focus on improving my craft and actionable tips to apply to my writing.

This is what happens when you build a routine.

Maybe you are like me and you want to nail in your writing goals with a thirty day writing challenge.

In this blog post we would look at:

• What is a 30-day Writing Challenge?
• Why you should do a thirty day challenge?
• Types of thirty day challenges
• How to do a thirty day challenge( with tips for starting and finishing)

Let’s get started.

What is a thirty day Writing Challenge?

A 30-day writing challenge is a type of writing challenge that spans over thirty days.

Consistent writing in thirty days.

Keep in mind that some 30 day writing challenge would involve writing a specific 

• Number of works (poetry, short stories, etc)
• Length of work(word count, lines for Poetry)

Why do a 30 day Writing Challenge?

There are many reasons why you should be doing a thirty day challenge

1.Build a writing habit

Research has shown that it takes 18-254 days to build a habit.

This depends on the complexity of the task to the person.

Simple tasks like drinking water at a certain time of the day take less time compared to going to the gym daily.

When getting started as a writer a thirty-day challenge can help you write over a consistent amount of time to allow the task to get ingrained into you.

If your goal is to build a writing habit your focus is different.

What do I mean?

I said earlier that a Writing habit is doing a task regularly.

It could be every day, every week days, etc.

For the purpose of the thirty days challenge, I would take the writing habit as daily Writing.

Your main goal is to show up every day to write not fretting too much about the quality/quantity of work.

Yeah, you have goals, word count targets, and other writing parameters but writing every day is more important than meeting a word count.

Here’s what I mean.

Let’s say your goal in doing a NaNoWriMo challenge is to write a 50000 words novel.

You can reach this target in different ways.

First, you can decide to do long writing sprints to come up with ten thousand words.

With this approach, you would reach your goal with five writing sprints.

But if your goal is to build a habit.

You will be obsessed with writing every single day of the challenge rather than meeting the word count.

What is a writing habit?

A writing habit is writing on a regular or consistent basis.

It is when showing up to write becomes automatic.

It gives you the time to work on tasks that are not automatic like practicing writing tips on craft.

Build your willpower

One of the most common causes of writer’s block is procrastination.

Mr procrastination is the child of low will power.

If you succeed in the challenge emphasis on “If”, you build that willpower that allows you to show up and chase your goals.

This is closely related to habits and routines.

In the grand scheme of things they all connect to help you reach your writing goals.

Produce more works

If you have plans of writing a collection of short stories, full-length poetry books, novels, or a nonfiction piece.

Doing a challenge would help you get the words down so you can focus on rewriting your vomit draft.

For me, writing is more prone to writer’s block compared to rewriting.

In writing, you are working with a scary yet powerful blank page or screen.

While in rewriting you already have something concrete you are working on.

Let me know which ( Writing vs Rewriting ) is more difficult for you and often leads to procrastinating.

If you do a storyaday challenge.

The challenge requires you to write a short story every day for thirty days.

That is about three collections of short stories.

Keep in mind that is if you are using  12 short stories per collection.

Improve craft

While writing a lot over 30 days whether it’s creative writing or nonfiction.

You become better while testing and trying out new ideas.

When Ray Bradbury was asked for his writing advice for young writers he advised them to write a short story weekly as all can’t be that terrible.

In the worst-case scenario, you have a piece of work to edit to life.

It depends on the challenge you are doing. 

If you are doing a poetry 30 day challenge you would have written 30 poems.

Most of the poems will suck.

You can always edit them.

Types of 30 day Writing Challenge

There are many types of 30 day writing challenges depending on the type of work you are writing during the thirty days.

1.Journal Writing Challenge

Journalling is an interactive recording of affairs causing you to reflect and review them.

When the term journalling is used it is often for spiritual/stoic journal.

But that’s just one of the numerous types of journals out there.

I think it’s because a stoic/spiritual journal is one that’s common to many persons.

Compared to a writing journal that only writers keep.

There are also other specific journals like

• Reading Journal

To track your Reading goals and adventures. Using this journal you can also record your action plan from a book you have read.

• Writing Journal(Notebook)

Those ideas that come and go can be trapped in this journal.

It is meant to help you grow your writing skills.

Things you can record are :

• Snippets of dialogues
• Brain dump 
• Sketches of story

It is not written with the intent of publication.

Depending on the specific skills and area of your life you which to grow in you can have a journal to record your progress as well as frustrations, mistakes and lessons learnt.

Poetry Writing Challenge

There are many online 30 day poetry challenge.

The most popular is the national poetry writing month in April.

There is also another one in October called octopowrimo. 

They all work on the same rule. You write a poem daily for thirty days.

The websites post prompts to help you write.

Note: you don’t have to use the Prompts.

Your poem is not restricted to any length. 

You can write short poems and gigantic poems.

Short story Writing Challenge

In this challenge, you write a complete short story in a day.

From planning to putting out the first draft.

Storyaday challenge is a popular writing challenge where you write thirty short stories in a month.

If you fail to write a short story for whatever reason.

You don’t carry the incomplete short story to the next day.

I know I mentioned writing challenges hosted online.

Nothing stops you from doing a personal 30 day challenge. 

Novel Writing Challenge

The most popular example of the 30 day novel writing challenge is the NaNoWriMo challenge.

It is held in November every year.

Where you set out to write 50,000 words in thirty days.

You can set your personal goal.

You don’t have to wait for Nanowrimo in November.

Novella Writing Challenge

I made this one up but it can be done.

Not everyone can write a novel in thirty days.

How about a novel instead.

Instead of 50,000 words, we write 15,000-30,000 words.

Which is achievable for most people.

Nonfiction Writing Challenge

There are various types of nonfiction challenge.

Using the types of nonfiction we can further break the nonfiction writing challenge into:

This is a piece of work that tells the story of one’s life around a particular theme.

It isn’t the recording of one’s entire life like the autobiography.

2.Self help books

In self-help books, you can write a business book, a motivational book,

We have looked at the types of 30-day writing challenge let’s look at how you can do one.

How to do a thirty-day writing challenge?

In November 2020 while the NaNoWriMo buzz was going on I decided to do a writing challenge instead of word count.

I chose to build a writing habit.

I missed some days but I learnt a lot.

All the lessons I will share with you.

Before doing this writing challenge I have had a series of writing challenges I wanted to do.

I never started some.

For others, I started but never completed it.

This might sound silly but in some of the writing challenges, I forgot that I decided to do a writing challenge until the end of the month.

What was the magic approach?

You want to be clear and what you are writing. 

The type of genre of writing.

This doesn’t mean you can’t do a thirty-day creative writing challenge.

Of course, you can but in that case, it would be good if you know what you are doing.

2.Know your why 

Earlier on I talked about the various reasons for doing this challenge.

Find out yours. Your goals.

This would influence how you plan out your challenge.

3.Plan and Prepare

Nothing scares me most as wondering what to write as the writing time draws near.

You want to save your brain the labor of thinking of what to write so you can sit and write.

Having a plan helps you to always move on even if the Muse doesn’t show up.

If inspiration comes overflowing you can go the path.

But if nothing comes you are not stuck wondering what to do.

For the ideas, you can use writing prompt generators.

If you are doing an online challenge most of them would post prompts.

You don’t have to use it.

But you have an idea you can always fall back on when nothing comes.

If you are doing a journalling challenge there are journal prompts to get you writing.

4.Set a time

When it comes to doing a challenge it is not enough to say you are going to write.

Goals without a plan are just mere wishes.

When are you going to be writing most of the time?

But when is the best time to write.

This largely depends on you.

If you are a morning or evening person.

Enough of that.

Let’s be practical.

Do you have the time to show up consistently at that time you have set(chosen)?

The mistake I made when doing those challenges is I set my writing time as though I have just one life, The Writing Life.

The short and simple answer is….

The time you would always have to show up.

5.Prepare for Obstacles

When  I decided to do a writing challenge.

I envisage a smooth ride to that goal.

Well, that’s not often the case.

List out the things, activities, people that might stop you from showing up.

The next step is to think of how you are going to deal with those obstacles.

” We all have a plan until we are punched in the face” – Mohammed Ali

With these obstacles prepared for you won’t be caught off guard as already know they would come.

6.Test challenge

A test challenge is a challenge you do to check, verify your assumptions, and adjust based on real-time feedback.

In the previous step, you have written out the obstacles and how you wish to deal with them.

I bet there are obstacles you didn’t write about.

Solutions that are not practical.

It’s simply because you don’t know of them.

With a testing challenge, you are revealed to those shortcomings.

Let’s say you want to do a 30-day writing challenge where you write for two hours every day.

I will put it in another way.

You want to write a novel in a month and you estimated you would have to write 2,000 words every day to reach this goal.

You estimated it would take you two hours every day to reach this word count.

The test challenge would be to write to that stipulated time and see if you reached the word count.

When you do a testing challenge it would help you see if you are correct with your estimation.

Whether you are underestimating or overestimating.

And you can adjust accordingly.

This saves you the resentment from not reaching your goals because you underestimated what was required.

For me when I saw I couldn’t reach my set goal instead of continuing I gave up.

Here’s why it’s magic.

Your brain knows it’s not the main challenge so if you flop.

It wouldn’t fill your heart with discouraging thoughts.

Simply because it knows that the goal of the test challenge is not to reach your writing goals but to evaluate them.

7.Have a backup (alternate plan)

For me, my set time for writing is 7 pm

but it’s not every day I would have that time to write.

With this understanding I set an alternate plan on what to do so I can reach my daily goal no matter what.

I write before the time.

Sometimes it’s in the morning or later into the night depending on what type of obstacle.

8.Measure progress.

Look our brain loves and craves instant gratification.

This part is a life-changing lesson for me.

To measure your progress you can use a habit tracker or word counter depending on your goal.

What’s a habit tracker?

A habit tracker is a digital or physical tool you use to log in your progress every day.

A word count tracker is what you use to keep track of your daily word count.

What I want you to do is to take an old calendar 📅 and draw out boxes for the month.

You can use the forest app or habitify habit tracker for digital options.

Post the calendar where you can see it without having to go through the stress of looking at it.

For each day you complete you mark a chain that will come together as you complete more days.

There two rules

• Don’t break the chain
• If you ever break the chain don’t break it twice.

For a word count tracker, you can use a spreadsheet to log in the word count daily.

You can also use a physical sheet to do it.

Ilys app is an online app that will give you statistics on word count and time spent.

Seeing the chains gives me an immediate reward to work cause I don’t want to break the chain.

When you start the first day you won’t see the magic until the third and fourth day when the chain starts to connect.

A simple way to trick your brain with instant gratification.

We have talked about a lot of thirty-day challenges.

I believe that action is easy if the steps are not so complex.

Now it’s your turn what is your reason for doing a 30day challenge.

Which of the tactics are you going to apply next.

Let me know in the comments section 🤔.

Thank you for reading this post.

Try these tips out and let me know how it went.

Make sure you don’t miss a post from me by subscribing to my blog for free.

By Onyemechi Nwakonam

Hi ,I write poetry and short prose. I am excited to help you organise your writing journey.

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Hello, welcome to a little thing called 750 Words

Join 857,728 other writers by signing up now →, ★ what is this site about.

It's about learning a new habit: Writing. Every. Day.

I've long been inspired by an idea I first learned about in The Artist's Way called morning pages. Morning pages are three pages of writing done every day, typically encouraged to be in "long hand", typically done in the morning, that can be about anything and everything that comes into your head. It's about getting it all out of your head, and is not supposed to be edited or censored in any way. The idea is that if you can get in the habit of writing three pages a day, that it will help clear your mind and get the ideas flowing for the rest of the day. Unlike many of the other exercises in that book, I found that this one actually worked and was really really useful.

I've used the exercise as a great way to think out loud without having to worry about half-formed ideas, random tangents, private stuff, and all the other things in our heads that we often filter out before ever voicing them or writing about them. It's a daily brain dump. Over time, I've found that it's also very helpful as a tool to get thoughts going that have become stuck, or to help get to the bottom of a rotten mood.

750 Words is the online, future-ified, fun-ified translation of this exercise. Here's how it works:

★ All online and private

In the past, looking for a spare notebook was probably easier than looking for a computer. Not anymore. I don't know if my hands even work anymore with pen and paper for any task that takes longer than signing a check or credit card receipt.

★ It's not blogging or status updating

I've tried writing my 750 words a day on Livejournal, Wordpress, PBWorks, Tumblr, and all of these other sites designed around putting content online. It hasn't worked for me. I fear that I might accidentally forget to mark daily pages as private. And it's just weird having my private brain dumps out on various sites that are designed to be more social. I don't need to title my entries, or tag them, or enable comments, or any of that other stuff. This is writing, and it's online, but it's not blogging, or Twittering, or Facebook status updating. This is between you and you.

★ 3 Pages = 750 words

I looked this up. 250 words per page is considered to be the standard accepted number of words per page. So, three standard pages are about 750 words. Of course if 750words.com hadn't been available, I would've totally found a way to prove that 249 words per page was the accepted standard. It really just comes down to the fact that this amount of writing feels about right. You can't just fart out 3 pages without running into your subconscious a little bit... 750 words takes a bit of effort, and it never fails to get me typing things that I have wanted to articulate without realizing it. And that's the point.

Because 750 words is nothing to sneeze at, it's also nice to have an easy way to know how many words you have to go. This site of course tracks your word count at all times and lets you know when you've passed the blessed 750 mark. And it gives you a nice big screen to write on, automatically scrolls as you write (like a typewriter), and automatically saves your writing as you go.

★ It's fun

Every month you get a clean slate. If you write anything at all, you get 1 point. If you write 750 words or more, you get 2 points. If you write two, three or more days in a row, you get even more points. It's fun to try to stay on streaks and the points are a way to play around with that. You can also see how others are doing points-wise if you're at all competitive that way. How I see it, points can motivate early on, and eventually the joy of writing will kick in and you'll be writing without any external motivation at all.

★ Learn about yourself in the process

For example, learn about how often you get distracted, and how fast you write.

Every day you write, you'll get beautiful stats that analyze the feelings, themes, and mindset of your words.

★ It's about writing, and getting into your brain

The rest are just tricks to help get us there.

★ Who made this?

I did , and Kellianne helps keep it running smoothly. Tell us what you think of it or how you want it to improve by talking with us over at on Twitter or Facebook .

The 30-Day Writing Challenge: An Alternative to NaNoWriMo for Writers Who Fear Commitment

#scribendiinc

I don't know about you, but I'm afraid of commitment.

I find it difficult to choose a movie because I think two hours is too long to focus on the same story. I've had three separate Facebook accounts, over 10 different email addresses (five of which are currently active), and I've dyed my hair more colors than I could count on both my fingers and my toes. I'm the person who researches the restaurant ahead of time and still stares at the menu long after everyone has decided what to order.

Okay, so I know the idea is that even moms and full-time employees can find time, that prioritizing writing over other things is important to nurture your artistic self, and that fitting writing into your day every day is what makes a writer, well, a writer. I get it, I do. I get all of it.

Even so, I would like to see my family for more than 30 minutes after I get home from work, and— sue me— but going to new restaurants with my friends is, like, the Olympic sport of my life. I'd still like to write every day; it's just that producing such a high volume in such a short amount of time is what sends single girls like me running and screaming. So what's a whiny writer like me to do?

Luckily, the ability to produce a high volume of good writing doesn't just happen overnight. In reality, writing doesn't have to be so intense. It's all about baby steps. (Like, I guess one date wouldn't hurt, and it might be fun to post that I'm "in a relationship" on Facebook.)

Writing for a few minutes every day doesn't sound so scary, does it? The trick is that it all adds up. That's why we've created a less intense alternative to 50,000 words in 30 days. This is the 30-Day Writing Challenge, where we've provided creative writing exercises for every day of the month. The best part is that you can write as much or as little as you'd like without pressure and without having to feel bad about it. After all, it's all about creation in any volume, right?

The 30-Day Writing Challenge

Take us through a written walk down your street and to your favorite place through the eyes of somebody else.

Think of three people in your life. Give your character the hair and laugh of person 1, the face and bedroom of person 2, and the wardrobe and mannerisms of person 3. This is your new protagonist. Feel free to give him or her any other characteristics you'd like. Give us an idea of who your character is by describing only the first 60 seconds of the character's day.

Now send your character to his or her grumpy grandmother's house for a visit. Write the scene of your character's arrival.

Imagine that your protagonist has just turned into a statue. Describe his or her thoughts.

The last liquid you drank has turned your protagonist into a superhero. What do your character's new powers allow him or her to do?

Think of your favorite food. Try to make it sound as disgusting as possible.

Spoil the ending of your favorite movie without any context.

Take a nondescript sentence such as, "How are you?" Write the same line from at least five different points of view.

Turn a Tweet into a haiku .

Try to convince your reader that the mythological creature of your choosing exists.

You are now a dragon. Describe your hoard.

Take the first line of your favorite novel. Remove and replace the nouns and verbs, and write a story that begins with your new line. Delete the first line.

Think of the worst pain you've ever felt. Now give your protagonist a papercut and over-exaggerate the pain using your own descriptions.

Your character meets somebody new on the bus. His or her opinion about the person is changed by the end of the bus trip. How did this change occur?

Characterize the second-last app on your phone or the last website you've visited (before this one). Send this new character to the supermarket.

The last thing you touched (other than the keyboard, mouse, screen, etc.) is trying to kill your protagonist. Explain why.

A magic trick involving cards has gone horribly wrong. What are the consequences?

Free write about your first protagonist (from Day 1) meeting the new character from Day 15.

Cross an item off your bucket list by doing it in your writing.

Ask somebody you know how his or her day was. Make any kind of poem out of their answer.

Your character's skeleton is trying to escape his or her body. Describe what happens.

Find a cliché you absolutely hate. Rewrite it while keeping the intended meaning intact.

Make an existing protagonist into an antagonist by changing one small thing about him or her. Write a pitch that sells this antagonist's story.

Put your favorite poem through a translator into a different language and then back again. Do this until the poem is no longer recognizable. Rewrite it and turn it into lyrics for a song.

One of your characters has been mistaken for somebody else. Write what happens next.

Write the log line for a mockumentary.

Tell the story of a man who lives in a motel.

Your character picks up a locket or a frame. Explain its contents and their significance.

Think of your greatest fear. If it's an object, person, or place, make it sound loveable. If it's some kind of experience, make it sound fun.

Finish a story with the line, "Nothing ever felt easier to say."

That wasn't so scary, was it?

Which prompts from the 30-Day Writing Challenge were your favorites? Did anything surprise you about your writing? We hope that you've come out of this month no worse for wear than when you started. After all, writing is work, but it's also supposed to be good for the soul. Even if you didn't do all of the challenges, you've written more than you would have if you hadn't taken part in these writing exercises at all. Like I said, it's all about taking baby steps. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some email accounts to close once and for all . . .

Image sources: Nathan Walker/Stocksnap.io, obpia30/Pixabay.com

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30 Day Writing Challenge

The best way to make your writing stronger is to do it every day

Many people dream of “being a writer.” They picture a published book with their name on it, or an article they wrote going out to the masses. But so many of us have difficulty actually putting pen to paper (or, fingers to keyboard) to write. The number one thing a writer needs to do is write. And yet, it can be so challenging for so many of us.

One of the best ways to combat writer’s block is to engage in a writing challenge. For example, each summer, the author Jami Attenberg hosts “1,000 Words of Summer,” a challenge to writers to write 1,000 words every day for two weeks.

Here, you’ll find a 30-day writing challenge. This is 30 short prompts for you to do, doing one a day per day for 30 days.

You don’t have to set aside too much time for these, nor do you have to set a daily word count for yourself, unless a specific prompt calls for it. The most important thing is that you write. No matter how much you produce each day, after a month, you’ll be surprised at how much writing you’ll have done.

• Pick a color, any color. Write about that color as if it were a person. What are its good personality traits? Bad? What’s its name?
• Write about a place you visited yesterday. If you went out, write about somewhere you visited. If you stayed in, focus on one room you spent time in. Describe it in detail.
• Who was your favorite teacher? Why? Write about them.
• Who was your least favorite teacher? Why? Write about them.
• Write at least one page, uninterrupted, about absolutely anything that comes to mind. If nothing at all comes to mind, write about your thoughts on emptiness.
• Grab a book off a bookshelf. Open it to a random page. Close your eyes and point to a random passage. Type up that passage. Now, write something about that passage. Maybe it’s whatever happens next (though, it shouldn’t follow whatever really happens next in that book), or maybe it’s whatever would be the complete opposite of what you’ve just read.
• When was the last time you cried? Why? Write about it.
• Go to Wikipedia’s random article generator page . Read whatever comes up, and then write something short based on it. Maybe a main character comes from the article, or maybe a scenario. You’ll have to see what pops up, but use it as inspiration in some way.
• Write a story that begins with this line: “I kicked off my boots. My socks were wet, my feet were frozen. The fireplace was dark.”
• What is the stupidest argument you’ve ever been a part of? Who was stupider, you or the other person? Write about it.
• In a small town, there’s a dog that keeps getting into a chicken coop and eating the chickens. The owner of the chicken coop is threatening to shoot the dog. Write a story about the conversation that happens between the chicken owner and the dog owner.
• The owner of the dog called the town government on the chicken coop owner. There’s a hearing about it. Write the story of that hearing.
• Imagine a family experience you had. Maybe it’s a holiday, or a vacation, or something more mundane. Pick a family member other than yourself, and write a scene from that memory from their perspective instead of your own.
• Write a story where the first line is: “The sun was burning his nose, and all he could think about was chicken nuggets.”
• Write 200 words about the room you’re sitting in right now.
• Write 400 words about the room you wish you were sitting in right now.
• Disregard whatever you know about the history of PopTarts . Imagine a board meeting where the concept of PopTarts is proposed. Write the scene.
• Who is your favorite movie character? Who is your favorite book character? They just ran into each other. Write the scene.
• Opening line: “She’d never seen a dead body before, but, there he was.”
• Write a scene where Person A wants to get through a door that Person B is on the other side of. How does Person A try to convince Person B? Write the scene.
• Write a scene from the perspective of a fish.
• Write 500 words about a person who means a lot to you. Focus on one or two personality traits the person has, and how they’ve used those traits in a way that’s made you happy.
• Write a scene from the perspective of a toddler who really, really, REALLY wants some fruit snacks. How do you convince the gatekeeper of the fruit snacks to give them to you?
• Opening line: “The moon was bright. Not that he could see it.”
• Closing line: “They’d miss each other, but hey, at least it happened.”
• A famous couple is on their way to an awards show, but they’re in a fight. Write what happens on their limo drive.
• Look through what you’ve written over the past 26 days and pick one prompt that you want to expand upon. Write at least 400 more words about whatever it is.
• Write a scene between a mentor and a mentee in which the mentee has to stand up for him or herself because the mentor isn’t giving him/her enough credit.
• Opening line: “He woke up to the sound of someone breathing, which was startling enough. Things didn’t get less startling when he rolled over to see who was asleep next to him.”
• Opening line: “As they walked through the forest, they heard a branch snap under the weight of a boot. But it was too far away to have been caused by either of them.”

When you finish this 30 days, applaud yourself. You just created 30 pieces of writing that could now be turned into any number of new projects. You wrote. You are a writer. Good job, friend.

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Lauren Harkawik

Lauren Harkawik is a journalist, essayist, and fiction writer based in Vermont. You can read her writing on her website.

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Develop a Daily Writing Habit with the Write Now! 30-Day Challenge By Jennifer Onorati

Want to strengthen your writing?

Start with a daily routine.

This 30-day challenge is perfect for starting small … and sticking to it!

Get started below … and move one step closer to banishing blank page blues.

For added accountability … post about your daily practice on social media! Remember to tag us @AmericanWritersArtistsInstitute on Facebook and @awaicopywriting on Instagram to show us how you’re doing and to give us permission to re-share your amazing progress!

Write Now! 30-Day Challenge

Day 1: try a before-and-after approach by heather robson.

When writing persuasive copy, you must convince your reader that your product will change his life.

Day 2: Write the Next Chapter of Your Life By Lori Allen

Take control of your life by being responsible for every moment. If you do, each chapter will end the way you want.

Day 3: You Know More Than You Think You Do By Christina Gillick

We’re all full of interesting information and hungry to learn more. Learn something new today and share it wide.

Day 4: Become an Email Subject Line Machine By Pam Foster

Practice writing stronger email subject lines with this video from Pam Foster, Director of Copywriter Training at AWAI.

Day 5: Email a Story with Good Advice By Pam Foster

Collect 7 pieces of advice to share with a college graduate and write a story email. Do the same for a client.

Day 6: Decide When You Really Like to Write By Casey Demchak

Build a strong writing habit by choosing the best time of day for you and sticking to it.

Day 7: Where Do You Generate Your Best Ideas? By Casey Demchak

Like all writers, you must determine when and where you usually come up with your best ideas.

Day 8: Get Unstuck by Going in Reverse By Marcia Yudkin

Trick your mind out of writer’s block by writing deliberately bad copy… you’ll be surprised how many good ideas will grow.

Day 9: Ask Your Prospect 20 Questions By Jim Wright

Have a list of 20 or more questions to ask prospects about your product … both prospects that love it and those that find it useless.

Day 10: How Do You Want to Be Remembered? By Ted Capshaw

Another exercise to build up your storytelling chops… this time doing some soul-searching to define what people will remember about you.

Day 11: Describe Your Perfect Childhood Day By Jen Adams

To build up your storytelling chops, reminisce about your favorite day as a child, teenager, and adult, and write down your stories.

Day 12: Write a Vacation Postcard By Christy Goldfeder

In this exercise from Christy Goldfeder, get your imagination going and create a picture by vividly describing a vacation memory.

Day 13: Interview a Famous Person By Pam Foster

Practice your interview skills by writing a question script for someone you admire.

Day 14: Powerful Proofing Tips By Nick Usborne

Use Nick’s techniques for making your copy stronger.

Day 15: Your Major Marker Event By Ted Capshaw

Ted Capshaw, leader, coach, facilitator encourages all writers to be in touch with their feelings. Listen to Ted’s Truth on how to do that.

Day 16: Your Most Powerful Tool: The Verb By Jen Stevens

Good verbs infuse your writing with more spunk. Listen to copywriter and editor, Jennifer Stevens, and practice using your most powerful tool.

Day 17: Jumpstart Your Headline Writing By Elizabeth Blessing

Copywriter Elizabeth Blessing shows you a simple technique to stimulate your headline writing.

Day 18: Put Your Most Important Word Last By Gordon Graham

It’s a proven fact that people tend to remember the first and last items in a series best. And, the words in the middle always get lost. When writing copy, always save your strongest words for last.

Day 19: Write from Emotion By Carline Anglade-Cole

Spinning yarns and telling stories is an art. And being able to make others get caught up in your story by writing from emotion is a gift.

Day 20: Copy Your Hero’s Copy By Steve Slaunwhite

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned copywriter, practice is the key to long-term success. Steve Slaunwhite, B2B marketing guru, shares a fun and easy way to do just that.

Day 21: Solve a Problem By Li Vasquez-Noone

Murphy’s Law says ‘Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.’ And, it seems to happen most often on vacation or away from home. These events trigger emotions. Learning how to get past those emotions to solve the problem and then telling the whole story makes for strong copy.

Day 22: Tell Me Your Biggest Fear By Christina Gillick

Fear can be paralyzing and brings strong emotion to the heart and mind. Write about your biggest fear and how it makes you feel. Emotions sell and fear is one of the biggest. Practice writing stronger copy with this tip from Christina Gillick.

Day 23: Paint a Vivid Picture By Charlotte Hicks

The 4 P’s of copywriting are vital to the success of any copy. Use this prompt from Charlotte Crockett to develop your skills to help prospects picture your product benefits.

Day 24: List Your Prospect’s Pain and Pleasure Points By Brian Kurtz

In this writing prompt from Brian Kurtz, you’ll dig deep to discover what motivates your prospect.

Day 25: Your Favorite Childhood Storybook By Rebecca Matter

Take a playful approach to your writing practice by describing your favorite childhood story. Watch this video by Rebecca Matter, President, AWAI, to see how you can strengthen your copywriting by writing about the sweet memories that come from recalling a favorite childhood book.

Day 26: Write About Your Best Date Ever By Mindy McHorse

Think about the best date you ever had – or maybe the worst – and write a story about it. Watch this video by copywriter Mindy McHorse, Managing Editor of Barefoot Writer, and turn a great date – or a lousy one – into a compelling story that delves into all the senses.

Day 27: Assessing Your Assets By Brian Kurtz

Put on your thinking cap to figure out what makes your product or service unique. Watch this video by master marketer, Brian Kurtz, to get on your way to writing strong copy.

Day 28: Write a Story About an Object By Heather Robson

Pick an ordinary object and create a story about it … so you can connect with your reader’s senses. Watch this video by Heather Robson, web copywriter and Managing Editor of Wealthy Web Writer, to see how you can get creative and write about an “object d’art” — bringing it to life through a story.

Day 29: Make Benefits Irresistible By Sandy Franks

In this Write Now! exercise, you’ll discover a new way to take ordinary benefits and make them extraordinary … one of the secrets to strengthening the results of your copywriting. Watch this video by Sandy Franks, Copy Chief at AWAI, to see how you can create irresistible benefits and get someone to say yes to your sales letter.

Day 30: Write Every Day By Will Newman

Practice makes perfect in most skills, and writing is no exception.

Congrats! You’ve reached the end of the Write Now! 30-day Challenge!

Tell us how you did below!

Write Now! Persuasive Writing Prompts are presented by The Professional Writers’ Alliance (PWA) — a professional association just for direct-response industry writers. Learn about the many benefits of a PWA membership.

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4 Responses to “Develop a Daily Writing Habit With the Write Now! 30-Day Challenge”

Writing a short paragraph or two about a goal you have set for the day Your content will include a subject and as many details you can spell to best describe your pathway

Dominic Guisti – over a year ago

I have set a new goal to spend time everyday reading, writing, and learning to be a freelance writer, copywriter, and content writer over the next 30 days. My display name is my nickname and the word play with the year to remind me that i am not "working", i am "playing" as writing will be fun and enjoyable to me as I continue following my dream to be a freelance from home writer.

katsplay23 – 9 months ago

I wrote in my journal every single day when I was younger. I remember having stacks of notebooks. I have many notepads and journals to this very day. I know this is my true happy place. Now I get to learn how to write content persuasively and professionally for others. I'm elated to embark on such a profound journey that brings much restoration and peace. And to think this could be a main source of income for generations to come! I'm truly grateful. I'm truly thankful. I'm glad to have AWAI!

MajorFilexServicesLLC – 3 months ago

I've never had a journal, and instead, I always listed what I needed to do in my calendar book. Because of injuries, I took it upon myself to keep track of everything for specific reasons. I could write a book from the written information saved over the years. I started, or should I say, I tried to do that some ten years ago, but unfortunately, my wife became ill, and all my time was taken up in seeing to her needs. She has passed, and I am ready to continue my education through AWAI.

Johnboy5484 – 4 weeks ago

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16 Writing Challenges to Inspire Your Craft

by Gloria Russell | Feb 15, 2024

Writing can get kind of lonely sometimes. 

Not only that, but it can get stale. Sometimes we fall into a formula when we write books, or we can’t get ourselves past the first few chapters of an idea, or we’re stuck in the dreaded middle section of our novel for what feels like forever. It can feel a little like getting stranded, and it’s no wonder some writers jump ship on their projects. 

But it doesn’t need to be so lonely, nor does it need to be boring! Participating in a writing challenge might be your ticket out of that sticky spot. 

What are Writing Challenges?

Writing challenges are exactly what they sound like. They’re challenges created for writers with the intent of getting writers to, well, write! These aren’t writing contests—there often isn’t a cash prize or publication prize for people who participate in writing challenges. 

If there isn’t a prize, why should you bother?  

Why Should I Try a Writing Challenge? 

Writing challenges do a few excellent things for their participants. First and foremost, they connect a participant to a community of writers participating in the same challenge. This sense of community helps writers amp each other up—it’s a team dynamic we don’t often get to experience as writers, and it can make the world of difference powering through a first draft or a difficult round of revisions. 

Writing challenges also encourage writers to practice, often every day. Of course, you don’t need to write every single day to be a “real” writer, but just like athletes do marathons, writers can get a lot out of a good challenge. You can flex your writing muscles, maybe try something new, and have some fellow participants to commiserate with. What more could you need? 

For me, personally, writing challenges often feel a little bit like writing camp. You get to stay in the comfort of your own home, but you’re meeting people online, you’re working on a new project, and the whole enterprise has that fun, novel feeling you get at summer camp. The momentum might not last forever, but you don’t need it to! The goal is to have fun and make something. 

If you’re looking to try something new, power through a difficult draft, or just crank out words, writing challenges might be worth checking out. And lucky for you, we’ve compiled a list of some writing challenges you can participate in! 

Here are Sixteen Writing Challenges to Enter:

1. nanowrimo.

“National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.”

NaNoWriMo is perhaps the best-known writing challenge, and it’s a doozy. Contrary to popular belief, the challenge isn’t really to write an entire novel in a month—it’s to write 50,000 words of a novel, which is not a whole lot less difficult. It’s got a built-in social media system to connect with other writers working in similar genres, a word count tracker that measures your progress, and rewards you with badges as you complete milestones throughout the month.  Here are some other ways to set yourself up for success, too.

If NaNoWriMo happens at a bad time of year for you (for example, I could barely do this challenge in college, since it was exactly when my classes started heating up), check the website for Camp NaNo and other challenges that happen throughout the year. 

2. Write NonFiction in November Challenge (WNFIN) 

“During the Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN) Challenge, also known as National Nonfiction Writing Month (NaNonFiWriMo), you are personally challenged to start and complete a work of nonfiction in 30 days. This can be an article, an essay, a book, a book proposal, a white paper, or a manifesto.”

This challenge is intended as an alternative to NaNoWriMo for Nonfiction writers. Instead of using a word count and word goal to keep track, this challenge encourages the honor system, and the intent is to complete any work of nonfiction. 

3. EBookWriMo

“Your mission (should you choose to accept it): Write an ebook for your audience in 30 days, from November 1 to November 30.” 

This challenge encourages its participants to complete a polished ebook in thirty days. The premise is simple: novels are huge, and ebooks are generally smaller. This challenge takes you through actionable steps to write and polish an ebook, with the goal being to have a completely finished ebook for your audience by the end. 

4. StoryADay

“StoryADay is a creativity challenge:

Write (and finish) a short story every day during May and/or September.

(or on your own schedule!)

StoryADay exists to promote creativity, not to teach you how to ‘be a published writer’.

(And sometimes we do it all over again in September.)”

If novels aren’t your bag, or the thought of working on a single project for a month feels too daunting, StoryADay might be for you! StoryADay challenges you to write a story every day during May or September—you don’t have to post or publish it, and they give you prompts each day to keep your gears turning.  There are a handful of ways that writing stories can make you a better writer , so don’t sleep on this one.

5. 12 x 12 Challenge 

“12 x 12 is a year-long writing challenge where members aim to write 12 complete picture book drafts, one per month, for each 12 months of the year.

A draft means a story with a beginning, middle, and end—NOT a submission-ready piece. Founded by picture book author Julie Hedlund, 12 x 12 has been supporting, encouraging, and educating writers since 2012.”

12×12 is a great resource for picture book authors. One of the biggest perks of this challenge is its community—participating in this will connect you to lots of other authors, as well as resources for writing, revising, and submitting your work. 

6. Chapter Book Challenge 

“The Chapter Book Challenge, otherwise known as ‘ChaBooCha,’ was created by Rebecca Fyfe and first ran in 2012. It runs every year in the month of March. The challenge is to write one completed first draft of an early reader, chapter book, middle grade book or YA novel in the month of March, starting on the 1 st  of March and finishing on the 31 st  of March.”

During the month, you’ll find a helpful community to engage with, original articles from published authors and successful agents, and giveaways throughout.

7. Yeah Write Super Challenge 

“The Super Challenge is typically run in two rounds. During each round, we’ll release the prompt on Friday at 10pm US Eastern time. That’s right—you don’t have to stay up all night to get your prompt! Writers then have 48 hours to write a story or essay responsive to that prompt.

Once the writing phase is complete, our judges go to work. Each piece is scored and given positive and critical feedback by each judge. Writers will receive their feedback 12-24 hours before we announce who will advance to the next round. For more information about this phase of the challenge, check out our FAQ.

Roughly ten writers from the first round of competition advance to the second round to compete for first, second and third place prizes.”

If you’re looking for a writing challenge with a little incentive, look no further! This challenge uses prompts to get writers in a variety of different genres competing for cash. This takes place once a quarter and lasts for six weeks, so check in every now and again to see if they’re running a challenge that looks like it’s for you! 

8. 365 Writing Challenge 

“What is 365 Writing Challenge?  It’s an organized group of writers who encourages and supports each other as they try to write consistently for a calendar year.”

This challenge is a subgroup of the 10 Minute Novelists group —just link up with their Facebook page to join! For this one, you and your fellow novelists can cheer each other on as you work a little every day on your novel. Momentum can really build after a while, and this challenge can have you cranking out hundreds of thousands of words by the end of the year. 

9. Writer’s Games 202 4

“The Writer’s Games is a two-month, challenge-based competition that can seem daunting until you dive in. It’s not your ordinary writing competition for several reasons. First, all participants must register in advance to participate. Second, competition writing begins only after Events are announced. Third, Events are kept secret until the start of the Event. Fourth, every entry submitted on time receives honest, unbiased feedback from a team of future editors, professors, and literary agents, regardless of placement!”

If you want a challenge with a little pizzazz, here’s your pick! This is another prize-winning option. Find the prompt on their site, take a look at the core concepts, and respond with a short story within their parameters (750-6,000 words) for a chance to win! 

10. Scribophile

Scribophile is a vibrant online writing community that offers a plethora of writing challenges and opportunities for writers of all levels to hone their craft. With a user-friendly platform designed for constructive feedback and collaboration, Scribophile hosts various writing challenges throughout the year, catering to diverse genres and writing styles.

Writers can participate in themed contests, flash fiction challenges, or even set personal writing goals within the supportive environment of Scribophile’s community. These challenges not only encourage writers to explore new ideas and techniques but also foster connections with fellow writers, providing invaluable support and encouragement on the journey toward literary excellence.

Whether you’re looking to flex your creative muscles, receive feedback on your work, or simply connect with like-minded writers, Scribophile offers a dynamic space where writers can grow and thrive.

11. The Writer’s Workout

The Writers’ Workout is an engaging online platform that provides a range of writing challenges and competitions tailored to writers seeking to enhance their skills and creativity.

With monthly challenges designed to prompt writers to explore different genres, styles, and themes, The Writers’ Workout offers a supportive environment where participants can push their boundaries and experiment with new techniques. From flash fiction contests to poetry challenges and everything in between, writers can find a variety of prompts and exercises to spark their imagination and inspire their next literary masterpiece.

With opportunities to receive feedback from peers and professional writers, The Writers’ Workout encourages writers to develop their craft, build confidence, and ultimately become more proficient storytellers.

12. The Poetry Marathon

The Poetry Marathon is an exhilarating annual event that invites poets from around the world to embark on a challenging yet rewarding journey of creativity and expression.

Held over the course of 24 hours, participants endeavor to write 24 poems, each within a designated hour, pushing the boundaries of their imagination and poetic prowess.

With prompts provided throughout the marathon and a supportive online community rallying behind them, poets have the opportunity to explore diverse themes, experiment with various forms and styles, and delve deep into the art of poetry.

The Poetry Marathon not only fosters a sense of camaraderie among poets but also encourages personal growth, resilience, and the celebration of the written word.

13. Writer’s Digest

Writer’s Digest is a renowned resource for writers of all levels, offering a wealth of information, advice, and inspiration to help them navigate the world of writing and publishing. In addition to its comprehensive collection of articles, workshops, and writing guides, Writer’s Digest also hosts various writing challenges and competitions throughout the year.

These challenges cover a wide range of genres and formats, including short stories, poetry, memoirs, and more, providing writers with opportunities to showcase their talent, receive feedback from industry professionals, and even win prizes. Whether it’s the annual Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition, themed contests, or prompt-driven challenges, Writer’s Digest offers a supportive platform for writers to hone their skills, gain recognition for their work, and connect with a vibrant community of fellow writers.

With its longstanding reputation as a trusted resource for writers, Writer’s Digest continues to inspire and empower writers to pursue their literary aspirations and achieve their writing goals.

Reedsy is a dynamic online platform dedicated to supporting writers on their creative journey, offering a range of resources, tools, and opportunities to help them thrive in the world of writing.

Among its offerings, Reedsy hosts a weekly series of writing prompts and challenges designed to spark creativity and encourage writers to explore new ideas and styles. These prompts cover various genres and themes, providing writers with a steady stream of inspiration and opportunities to flex their creative muscles.

With a supportive community of writers and editors, Reedsy’s writing challenges offer a space for writers to experiment, improve their craft, and connect with fellow creatives.

15. Jerico Writers

Jericho Writers is a comprehensive online platform dedicated to empowering writers with the tools, resources, and support they need to succeed in their writing journey.

Amongst this, Jericho Writers hosts monthly writing challenges designed to inspire writers, encourage creativity, and provide opportunities for growth.

These challenges cover a wide range of genres, styles, and themes, allowing writers to explore new ideas, experiment with different techniques, and hone their craft in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Jericho Writers’ writing challenges offer writers the chance to connect with peers, receive constructive criticism, and push themselves to new heights of creativity and excellence.

16. NYC Midnight

NYC Midnight offers a great platform for writers to engage in creative challenges and showcase their storytelling prowess.

Through their writing challenges, participants are assigned prompts within specific genres and have a limited time frame to craft compelling stories or screenplays.

These challenges provide a wonderful opportunity for writers to test their skills under pressure, explore diverse genres, and receive feedback from peers and judges.

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Everything You Should Know About Conquering a 30-Day Writing Challenge

When the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) was first launched in 1999 by freelance writer Chris Baty, no one could have guessed how much traction it would gain over the following decades. With 21 writers participating in the original event, within ten years, over 200,000 people would compose a total of over 2.8 billion words. By 2015, 431,626 people participated from 633 different regions.

The challenge asks participants to write a 50,000-word manuscript between November 1 and November 30. This is not to be considered a final draft but to meet the contest rules, you have to write 50,000 words in 30 days, and there are checks and balances within the challenge to make sure writers do just that.

Basically, it's a crash course in helping writers understand the amount of discipline required for productivity and getting a novel completed. The focus is on hitting 50,000 words and writers are encouraged to finish their first draft quickly so that it can later be edited when the challenge is complete. There is no fee to participate in NaNoWriMo. You only have to register and put your best effort into completing it successfully.

30-day challenges that led to book deals

The results of a 30-day writing challenge speak for themselves. Since 2006, nearly 400 NaNoWriMo novels have been published via traditional publishing houses and over 200 novels have been published by smaller presses or self-published. Among these titles are books like:

• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen , published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
• Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, published by Delacorte Press
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, published by Dutton Juvenile
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, published by Doubleday
• Wool by Hugh Howey, published by Simon & Schuster
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer, published by Square Fish
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, published by St. Martin's Press
• The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough, published by Del Rey Books
• Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy, published by HarperCollins Publishers
• Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers, published by HarperCollins Publishers
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, published by Gollancz
• The Cut Out by Jack Heath, published by Allen & Unwin
• The Beautiful Land , by Alan Averill, published by Ace Books

I want to participate, what should I know to prepare?

If you plan to participate in the 2010 NaNoWriMo Challenge, here are a few tips to prepare for the enormous task ahead.

Be organized

As with any task, the better organized you are, the more likely you'll be to be successful and achieve your goal. So, on the front end, you'll need to set a daily word count goal, just like bestselling authors do .

November 2019 has 30 days. This means that if you're writing every day, you need to hit a daily word count goal of approximately 1,667 words, which is right under what Stephen King sets for himself as a daily word count goal. If you know that there will be days during the month you won't be able to write (Thanksgiving, for example), you'll need to factor that in.

Don't edit, just write

In her book Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within , which has sold over a million copies, bestselling author Natalie Goldberg advises:

Don't cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn't mean to write, leave it.) Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don't even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.) Lose control. Don't think. Don't get logical. Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy. Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

This advice has been repeated by other bestselling authors, and it's well-known within author circles that the best way to approach writing a book is to write first, edit later. There's a very logical, scientific reason for it, too. Writers create, using the right side of the brain, while editors analyze, using the left side of the brain. It's two different processes and needs to occur at two different phases of development in your creative endeavors. Since the NaNoWriMo challenge only requires 50,000 words to be written within a month, there is no need to edit yourself. The focus should be placed entirely on the creative process of writing.

Do the prep work now

If you plan to write a fantasy manuscript, the amount of work that goes into worldbuilding on the front-end is daunting, to say the least. This video can get you started on some of the core aspects of worldbuilding .

Regardless of genre, if you're not quite sure how to build your main character, this article is a good starting point for learning about the Hero's Journey and the steps that are traditionally included in it. Since all great stories follow a similar heroic arc, it's a good idea to know this arc before creating your own hero.

Additionally, a lot of writers have seen a lot of success with using The Snowflake Method. If you don't have a ton of experience in story drafting or plotting, the Snowflake Method is an easy way to get your story on the page. This article is a basic tutorial on how to approach the Snowflake Method to get your story outlined before the NaNoWriMo challenge gets started, and is good information to know on the front-end of any attempt at writing a story.

Consider creating a scene list

While a scene list is not required for writing a novel, some writers, like author J.K. Rowling , swear by them. If you want to create a scene list before your 30-day writing challenge, this article is a great resource for learning what a scene list is and how to make one .

Let your friends and family know what you're doing

American author Jessamyn West once said, Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking.

There is a lot of truth in this statement, and it's perhaps a reason why writers throughout history have been notoriously crummy spouses and parents. In fact, being able to balance one's work and family life as a writer is an obstacle many writers admit to facing, so to prepare yourself for any 30-day writing challenge, you'll need to understand this simple truth on the front-end. Especially if you have a full-time job outside of your writing endeavors, you should have the conversation with your significant other and family members so they understand the amount of privacy you'll need to get 50,000 words on the page within 30 days.

Anyone who has ever attempted to write a novel with multiple distractions around them understands that it's simply difficult—if not impossible—to do. Writing takes focus, and when you're not given the space and time to make that happen, you'll only be frustrated with the whole process and likely fall short of your goals.

Since the 30-day writing challenge is incredibly brief in the scheme of things (most writers take many months, even years, to complete a novel), this shouldn't be a difficult sacrifice for your friends and loved ones—especially if they understand how important writing is to you and the passion you have for accomplishing the personal goal of getting a book written and published. A little communication goes a long way in preempting any potential problems that could arise during the middle of your 30-day writing challenge, so make sure you take the time to explain to everyone why this is important to you and how they can help you succeed.

A final thought

If you're serious about getting a book written and published, taking on a challenge like the NaNoWriteMo is better than any writing class you could take. It will show you the enormous amount of discipline and creative effort that goes into writing a novel and set you on the path to better writing habits in the future.

Even if your manuscript is incredibly rough around the edges and needs a lot of editing, you've still done the hardest part of getting a book written, which is making that first rough draft. You'll end the 30-day challenge with a fresh perspective on your abilities as a writer and more passion to continue your goal of finding success in your creative efforts. So—what are you waiting for?

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Alana Chase

With over 10 years’ experience in editing and editorial team management, Alana serves as Eleven's Head of Editing, aiding editors in creating top-quality content and overseeing recruitment to ensure only the best of the best join Eleven’s ranks. A seasoned digital journalist and writer, Alana holds an MA in Creative Writing and is accomplished in spearheading content strategy at high-growth media startups.

At Eleven, we’re big fans of 30-day writing challenges. Our writers, editors, and account managers all have their favorites — from the National Novel Writing Month challenge (which our Head of Editing has completed three times!) to the month-long microblogging challenge (which captivated our Head of SEO). 

The beauty of these challenges is that they each target different skills and push you in different ways. And they all help you become a stronger, more self-assured, more consistent writer.

In this article, we’ve rounded up our favorite 30-day writing challenges — 12 total so you can complete one ‌each month of the year. You’ll find challenges to clear the creative cobwebs in your mind, refine your persuasive writing skills, experiment with new genres and styles, master narrative structure, and more. 

Let’s dive in!

List of challenges 

• ‍ January : That’s So Random! ‍
• February : Devil’s Advocate ‍
• March : Microblogging Madness ‍
• April : A Poem a Day ‍
• May : First and Last Lines ‍
• June : Journaling Challenge ‍
• July : Parrot Challenge ‍
• August : Paragraph-a-Day AcWriMo ‍
• September : Writing in Reverse ‍
• October : Facing Fears ‍
• November : NaNoWriMo Challenge ‍
• December : Rewriting Challenge

Tips and best practices

Thirty-day writing challenges are marathons, not sprints. Follow these tips to finish challenges without burning out:

• Warm up with writing exercises before the challenge begins . For ideas, check out our favorite writing exercises .
• Schedule writing time into your calendar so you’re more likely to commit to the challenge each day.
• Eliminate distractions by decluttering your writing space and turning off all device notifications. 
• Have the right mindset. Writing coach and author Nina Amir calls this the “secret sauce” that turns good writers into great ones . Be willing to commit, go outside your comfort zone, and remain optimistic and determined.
• Write how and where you’re most comfortable — in your bedroom, on the couch, or out in nature, using a notebook and pencil, your computer, or even your phone or tablet. 
• Get support. Let your friends and family know you’re completing a writing challenge so they can cheer you on — and not interrupt during writing time. Also, consider joining an online writing community like Eleven’s (coming soon!) to seek advice from other writers.
• If you miss a day, jump back in the next. Life happens, but don’t let one interruption derail your goal.

30-day writing challenges for 2024

January: that’s so random.

Skills it targets: Creativity and improvisation.

For January’s challenge, you’ll write in response to random prompts, incorporate random words into your writing, and use existing text as a jumping-off point for new work. 

Aim to write 500 words each day — about any topic you’d like — and follow this schedule:

• January 1-10: Learn The New York Times ’ Word of the Day and write in response to it or use it in your writing each day.
• January 11-20: Use Semrush’s Free Title Generator to generate headlines based on a topic or keyword you input — like “Everything You Need to Know About Flower Care.” Each day, write an article based on a headline Semrush suggests. 
• January 21-31: Choose a piece of writing — a book, blog article, short story, academic paper, etc. — and select a random line from it. Use that as the first line of your new work each day.

February: Devil’s Advocate

Skills it targets: Using persuasion, argumentation, and logic effectively in your writing.

Each day, take an opinion and write a piece that argues against it. For example, write 500 words on why pepperoni isn’t the tastiest pizza topping or why making your bed every morning isn’t actually necessary. 

The point of this challenge is to get you thinking about topics from new perspectives and refine your ability to create convincing arguments. 

Choosing a subject you feel passionate about and then writing a persuasive argument from the opposite side of the debate is also a great way to understand others’ perspectives and see the world in new ways. This is a wonderful exercise, not just for writing, but also for personal growth. 

March: Microblogging Madness

Skills it targets: Writing concisely and capturing readers’ attention quickly. 

In March, challenge yourself to write a microblog post each day. Pick any topic you’d like (use BlogSpot’s Blog Ideas Generator if you need inspiration) and explain it in 100 words or fewer. 

If the 100-word limit sounds too daunting, try the “Ship 30 for 30” Challenge instead. Each day, you’ll write an “Atomic Essay”: an essay focused on a single idea, written in under 250 words, and able to fit into a smartphone screenshot.

And if blogging isn’t your style but creative writing is, modify this challenge to a microfiction one: Write a new 100-word story each day in March. ServiceScape has a fantastic prompt generator (based on dozens of genres), and Reedsy can give you a plot outline, if you get stuck.

April: A Poem a Day

Skills it targets: ​​Using imagery and metaphorical expressions and conveying emotion in your writing.

​​​​Celebrate National Poetry Month by writing a poem every day in April. 

Write about whatever you want, in whatever poetic form — anything goes! Just challenge yourself to use strong imagery, metaphors, and emotions in your poems.

Even if you don’t plan to become the next poet laureate, improving your poetry can make you an all-around better writer in many unexpected ways. 

If you’re new to poetry or want more guidance throughout this challenge, check out these resources:

• Escapril on Instagram . Created by best-selling poet and novelist Savannah Brown, Escapril is a 30-day poetry writing challenge with unique daily prompts. 
• Squibler’s list of 132 poetry prompts .
• Reedsy’s poetry writing prompts .
• Jericho Writers’ list of 100 poetry prompts . 
• The Poetry Society UK’s National Poetry Writing Competition writing prompts .

May: First and Last Lines

Skills it targets: ​​Crafting memorable beginnings and endings and experimenting with narrative structures.

On May 1, you have total freedom: write anything you want in as many words as you like. Then, on May 2, you’ll use the last line of your writing from May 1 as the first line of a new piece of writing. Continue this method each day for the rest of the month.

June: Journaling Challenge

Skills it targets: Injecting personality and authenticity into your writing.

​​For June, you’ll focus on self-expression by writing a daily journal entry. Reflect on your emotions, experiences, thoughts, and opinions. Write in your own unique voice, and be as authentic as possible. 

By the end of the month, you’ll have done what prolific writer Joyce Carol Oates has for decades. She’s ‌kept a journal since her early 20s and recommends regular journaling to writers of all levels . 

July: Parrot Challenge

Skills it targets: Understanding tone of voice and adapting your writing for various audiences.

Each day in July, pick any topic you'd like, choose a random author, and write about your chosen topic in their tone of voice. You can even explore new genres. 

The goal is to “parrot” the writing you’ve chosen each day. For example, if you mainly write horror stories, pick a romance novelist and emulate their tone of voice in a new piece of writing. Or, if you do most of your writing in an academic setting, try writing in a casual tone for a digital audience.

August: Paragraph-a-Day AcWriMo

Skills it targets: Academic writing, research skills, and communicating ideas clearly. 

Academic Writing Month (AcWriMo) takes place in November, but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate it early. (We have something else lined up for November!)

AcWriMo’s central premise is simple: Set a daily goal for your academic writing project and share progress updates on social media using #AcWriMo. For more structure, though, the University of Oxford runs a Paragraph-a-Day AcWriMo challenge . 

Complete the challenge by selecting a topic that interests you, researching it, and writing one paragraph (200-300 words) about it per day. 

Craft 30 paragraphs on the same topic, or shake things up by writing 30 paragraphs on 30 different topics. Either way, use a formal, academic tone and explain your ideas clearly. 

September: Writing in Reverse

Skills it targets: Structuring your writing well and ensuring all your ideas support your main narrative.

Start by choosing something you’d like to write: a short story, an essay, a blog article, etc. On September 1, write the last paragraph of your new writing project. Then, move backward until you pen the first paragraph on September 30. 

Pay attention to how each new paragraph builds on the ones before it and how they all contribute to your overall story or argument. 

October: Facing Fears

Skills it targets: Writing in different genres and using different forms.

Embrace the spooky season by writing about a different fear — yours, someone else’s, or one totally new to you — every day in October. ( Forbes has a master list of common phobias to help you brainstorm.)

Write about each fear differently. For example, one day, craft a short story featuring a character with aquaphobia (a fear of water). The next, pen a 500-word article explaining the history of bathmophobia (the fear of escalators). You could even get meta and write something on graphophobia — the fear of writing!

November: NaNoWriMo Challenge

Skills it targets: Novel writing and maintaining a daily writing habit with a high word count goal.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) tasks writers with penning a 50,000-word novel in November. That amounts to 1,667 words per day. 

Many best-selling books were drafted during NaNoWriMo — including Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants , Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing , Emily X.R. Pan’s The Astonishing Color of After, and many more.

To participate, sign up for an account on the NaNoWriMo website , enter details about your novel-in-progress, and log your word count at the end of each day. You can even connect with other participants and attend in-person and virtual NaNoWriMo events with writers in your area. 

If you hit 50,000 words by November 30, you’ll earn a colorful badge and certificate of completion.

Novels not your thing? No problem. Simply write 1,667 words per day every day in November. (That’s close to novelist Stephen King’s daily commitment of 2,000 words !) You’ll still end up with 50,000 words by the end of the month, just like regular NaNoWriMo participants.

December: Rewriting Challenge

Skills it targets: Self-editing, self-critique, using different perspectives, and writing concisely. 

December’s challenge is all about reworking your drafts. It’s split into two parts:

• Each day from December 1-17 , rewrite a draft from another point of view. For example, if you originally wrote your draft in the second person (using you/your/yours pronouns), rewrite it in the first person with yourself as the narrator (using I/me/my pronouns). 
• Each day from December 18-31 , focus on concision. Take something you’ve written and cut its word count in half — without sacrificing clarity or meaning.

Month-long writing challenges are a great way to establish consistency and discipline, unleash your creativity, and steadily improve your writing. 

You have plenty of challenges to choose from, but our top recommendations are compiled in this guide. Mix and match the ones that interest you most, or complete all 12 in a year to really test (and impress) yourself.

For more info on leveling up as a writer, check out our writing and editing guides , visit our Grammar Hub , and sign up for our Freelance Writing Mastery course .

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Essays About Challenges: Top 11 Examples and Prompts

We come across many challenges we must endure throughout life. If you want to write essays about challenges, start by reading some of our top essay examples.

Everyone has had to deal with obstacles or challenges at some point. Some people can overcome hurdles with confidence and bravery, while many others have difficulty trying to face them. However, the challenges we have faced are, without a doubt, a central part of who we are today. Overcoming challenges can make you a better person. The lessons you learn from them are essential for future success, and as with all other experiences, these challenges help form you into the person you are today. They can also be exciting to some, as they test your skills and capabilities. 

If you are writing essays about challenges, look at our featured essay examples below. 

1. Personal Challenges by Delores Goodwin

2. life’s struggles make us stronger – and happier – if we let them by helen g. rousseau, 3. how to overcome your challenges with openness and courage by tony fahkry.

• 4.  ​​Life: full of challenges by Vaibhav Jain

5. Challenges Facing Public Schools by Lewis Rios

1. challenges i have faced, 2. lessons learned from challenges, 3. how to change your attitude towards challenge, 4. helping others overcome challenges and adversity, 5. challenges faced in your home country, 6. challenges the world currently faces.

“A challenge will tell an individual more about themselves than anything else in life. Am I a quitter? How much adversity can I take? How badly do I want this? What is my breaking point? Where does my loyalty end? Challenge can ask us hundreds of questions and forces us to answer honestly. Challenges end the talk and make one walk the walk. Create challenges for yourself, it will cause you to see who you really are.”

Challenges are a necessity of life despite the hardship and stress they come with, and Goodwin discusses this in her essay. A great accomplishment cannot be made without a challenge. Without challenges, one becomes complacent, so we must keep facing challenges to keep us mentally and physically strong. Goodwin encourages readers to challenge themselves more to help them delve deeper into who they are. For more, check out these essays about life challenges .

“Every human being has been in this place at one time or another. Sometimes depression can make it more difficult to get away from the edge but any spark of light or encouragement should be used to seek help physically, emotionally or spiritually. When we face a crisis, it effects the all of who we are and thus must be met with our total beings.”

Rousseau reflects on overcoming adversity, recalling when she met with two former coworkers. They talked about their lives, families, and struggles during lunch. They could bond over their shared positive, confident mindset, allowing them to overcome challenges. Rousseau clarifies that if you put your mind to it, you can overcome anything and closes her essay with two of her poems about resilience. 

“Instead of running away from your emotions, lean into them and experience them fully. This transforms your fears and anxiety into empowering emotions. Let go of what you believe life owes you. It owes you nothing since you are the expression of life. Rise to your challenges armed with courage and an open mind. Remain confident that your experiences are serving your personal growth.”

Fahkry explains how to face challenges without stress and suffering. He reminds us that, first of all, we have free will, so we do not have to feel the way we do if we put our minds to it. We cannot change our reality once it is already there, so feeling sad or angry for prolonged periods is useless. If we change our mindsets for the better, we can overcome all adversity. Our fear and anxiety can be turned into confidence, empowerment, and courage. Check out these essays about competition .

4.  ​​ Life: full of challenges by Vaibhav Jain

“A person who has not encountered difficulties in life can never achieve success. Difficulties test the courage, patience, perseverance, and true character of a human being. Adversity and hardships make a person strong and ready to face the challenges of life with equanimity. There is no doubt that there can be no gain without pain. It is only when one toils and sweats it out that success is nourished and sustained.”

In his short essay, Jain writes about the wonders of life as well as its challenges. He likens life to a bed of roses, complete with painful thorns. In general, life is good, but adversity and challenges are prevalent. These two concepts seem different, but one cannot exist without the other. As with the previous essays, Jain explains that challenges make us stronger and help us feel successful and relieved: “there can be no gain without pain.” Without challenges, we take the better parts of life for granted; if we accept and overcome our struggles, we can live life to the fullest.

“In conclusion, public educational institutions experience many challenges ranging from budgetary constraints, student violence and low parental involvement. Much research needs to be done to establish why these problems exist in the first place and lasting solutions for these institutions.”

Rios’ essay explores challenges in an education system; he proposes research on the constraints of the U.S. public school system. Public schools face several economic and social challenges, such as insufficient funding and lack of parental involvement due to many students’ working-class backgrounds. Rios wishes for more research on these problems and possible solutions. 

Writing Prompts On Essays about Challenges

In this essay, write about a challenge you previously encountered and how you dealt with it. Provide context by describing the events leading up to it, how it happened, and, most importantly, how you overcame it. Then, describe how you felt after- were you relieved, stressed, or tired? You can also discuss how this experience has affected you today. 

Challenges can teach us a lot about life and the world. Reflect on a challenge you faced previously and what you learned from it, whether positive or negative. As with the previous prompt, feel free to include ways in which the lesson you learned affects you today. 

How can you best handle the challenges you may face? Describe the ideal attitude one would need to overcome complex challenges. For example, what qualities would you need to have- courage, prudence, or sensibility? Regardless of what type of attitude you choose to write about, your essay will be substantive if you can adequately support your argument. 

In your essay, you can write about a time you were able to help someone facing a challenge. Who did you help- a friend, family member, or someone else? Then, write about how you helped them, how it made you feel, and how it has impacted your life. 

Research one particular challenge your country is facing today, whether that be an economic, social, or political issue. Discuss how this challenge occurred and what began the difficulties. If applicable, include multiple viewpoints on the issue and include information from credible sources. You can also propose possible solutions to this issue. 

Humanity faces challenges on a massive scale, from a climate change crisis to possible third world war to a global pandemic. Choose one challenge the world faces today and write your essay about it. As with the previous prompt, write about the causes and responses to this challenge, and feel free to propose a solution. 

Check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays .

ProWritingAid is one of our top grammar checkers. Find out why in this ProWritingAid review .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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8 Overcoming Challenges College Essay Examples

The purpose of the Overcoming Challenges essay is for schools to see how you might handle the difficulties of college. They want to know how you grow, evolve, and learn when you face adversity. For this topic, there are many clichés , such as getting a bad grade or losing a sports game, so be sure to steer clear of those and focus on a topic that’s unique to you. (See our full guide on the Overcoming Challenges Essay for more tips).

These overcoming challenges essay examples were all written by real students. Read through them to get a sense of what makes a strong essay. At the end, we’ll present the revision process for the first essay and share some resources for improving your essay.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Essay 1: Becoming a Coach

“Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we competed with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

This essay begins with an in-the-moment narrative that really illustrates the chaos of looking for a coach last-minute. We feel the writer’s emotions, particularly their dejectedness, at not being able to compete.

Through this essay, we can see how gutsy and determined the student is in deciding to become a coach themselves. The writer shows us these characteristics through their actions, rather than explicitly telling us: To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side.

One area of improvement of this essay would be the “attack” wording. The author likely uses this word as a metaphor for martial arts, but it feels too strong to describe the adults’ doubt of the student’s abilities as a coach, and can even be confusing at first.

Still, we see the student’s resilience as they are able to move past the disbelieving looks to help their team. The essay is kept real and vulnerable, however, as the writer admits having doubts: Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

The essay comes full circle as the author recalls the frantic situations in seeking out a coach, but this is no longer a concern for them and their team. Overall, this essay is extremely effective in painting this student as mature, bold, and compassionate.

Essay 2: Starting a Fire

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire. 

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family. 

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt. 

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame. 

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him. 

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses. 

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This essay is an excellent example because the writer turns an everyday challenge—starting a fire—into an exploration of her identity. The writer was once “a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes,” but has since traded her love of the outdoors for a love of music, writing, and reading. 

The story begins in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. One of the essay’s biggest strengths is its use of imagery. We can easily visualize the writer’s childhood and the present day. For instance, she states that she “rubbed and rubbed [the twigs] until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers.”

The writing has an extremely literary quality, particularly with its wordplay. The writer reappropriates words and meanings, and even appeals to the senses: “My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.” She later uses a parallelism to cleverly juxtapose her changed interests: “instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano.”

One of the essay’s main areas of improvement is its overemphasis on the “story” and lack of emphasis on the reflection. The second to last paragraph about changing perspective is crucial to the essay, as it ties the anecdote to larger lessons in the writer’s life. She states that she hasn’t changed, but has only shifted perspective. Yet, we don’t get a good sense of where this realization comes from and how it impacts her life going forward. 

The end of the essay offers a satisfying return to the fire imagery, and highlights the writer’s passion—the one thing that has remained constant in her life.

Essay 3: Last-Minute Switch

The morning of the Model United Nation conference, I walked into Committee feeling confident about my research. We were simulating the Nuremberg Trials – a series of post-World War II proceedings for war crimes – and my portfolio was of the Soviet Judge Major General Iona Nikitchenko. Until that day, the infamous Nazi regime had only been a chapter in my history textbook; however, the conference’s unveiling of each defendant’s crimes brought those horrors to life. The previous night, I had organized my research, proofread my position paper and gone over Judge Nikitchenko’s pertinent statements. I aimed to find the perfect balance between his stance and my own.

As I walked into committee anticipating a battle of wits, my director abruptly called out to me. “I’m afraid we’ve received a late confirmation from another delegate who will be representing Judge Nikitchenko. You, on the other hand, are now the defense attorney, Otto Stahmer.” Everyone around me buzzed around the room in excitement, coordinating with their allies and developing strategies against their enemies, oblivious to the bomb that had just dropped on me. I felt frozen in my tracks, and it seemed that only rage against the careless delegate who had confirmed her presence so late could pull me out of my trance. After having spent a month painstakingly crafting my verdicts and gathering evidence against the Nazis, I now needed to reverse my stance only three hours before the first session.

Gradually, anger gave way to utter panic. My research was fundamental to my performance, and without it, I knew I could add little to the Trials. But confident in my ability, my director optimistically recommended constructing an impromptu defense. Nervously, I began my research anew. Despite feeling hopeless, as I read through the prosecution’s arguments, I uncovered substantial loopholes. I noticed a lack of conclusive evidence against the defendants and certain inconsistencies in testimonies. My discovery energized me, inspiring me to revisit the historical overview in my conference “Background Guide” and to search the web for other relevant articles. Some Nazi prisoners had been treated as “guilty” before their court dates. While I had brushed this information under the carpet while developing my position as a judge, i t now became the focus of my defense. I began scratching out a new argument, centered on the premise that the allied countries had violated the fundamental rule that, a defendant was “not guilty” until proven otherwise.

At the end of the three hours, I felt better prepared. The first session began, and with bravado, I raised my placard to speak. Microphone in hand, I turned to face my audience. “Greetings delegates. I, Otto Stahmer would like to…….” I suddenly blanked. Utter dread permeated my body as I tried to recall my thoughts in vain. “Defence Attorney, Stahmer we’ll come back to you,” my Committee Director broke the silence as I tottered back to my seat, flushed with embarrassment. Despite my shame, I was undeterred. I needed to vindicate my director’s faith in me. I pulled out my notes, refocused, and began outlining my arguments in a more clear and direct manner. Thereafter, I spoke articulately, confidently putting forth my points. I was overjoyed when Secretariat members congratulated me on my fine performance.

Going into the conference, I believed that preparation was the key to success. I wouldn’t say I disagree with that statement now, but I believe adaptability is equally important. My ability to problem-solve in the face of an unforeseen challenge proved advantageous in the art of diplomacy. Not only did this experience transform me into a confident and eloquent delegate at that conference, but it also helped me become a more flexible and creative thinker in a variety of other capacities. Now that I know I can adapt under pressure, I look forward to engaging in activities that will push me to be even quicker on my feet.

This essay is an excellent example because it focuses on a unique challenge and is highly engaging. The writer details their experience reversing their stance in a Model UN trial with only a few hours notice, after having researched and prepared to argue the opposite perspective for a month. 

Their essay is written in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. The student openly shares their internal thoughts with us — we feel their anger and panic upon the reversal of roles. We empathize with their emotions of “utter dread” and embarrassment when they’re unable to speak. 

From the essay, we learn that the student believes in thorough preparation, but can also adapt to unforeseen obstacles. They’re able to rise to the challenge and put together an impromptu argument, think critically under pressure, and recover after their initial inability to speak. 

Essay 4: Music as a Coping Mechanism

CW: This essay mentions self-harm.

Sobbing uncontrollably, I parked around the corner from my best friend’s house. As I sat in the driver’s seat, I whispered the most earnest prayer I had ever offered.

Minutes before, I had driven to Colin’s house to pick up a prop for our upcoming spring musical. When I got there, his older brother, Tom, came to the door and informed me that no one else was home. “No,” I corrected, “Colin is here. He’s got a migraine.” Tom shook his head and gently told me where Colin actually was: the psychiatric unit of the local hospital. I felt a weight on my chest as I connected the dots; the terrifying picture rocked my safe little world. Tom’s words blurred as he explained Colin’s self-harm, but all I could think of was whether I could have stopped him. Those cuts on his arms had never been accidents. Colin had lied, very convincingly, many times. How could I have ignored the signs in front of me? Somehow, I managed to ask Tom whether I could see him, but he told me that visiting hours for non-family members were over for the day. I would have to move on with my afternoon.

Once my tears had subsided a little, I drove to the theater, trying to pull myself together and warm up to sing. How would I rehearse? I couldn’t sing three notes without bursting into tears. “I can’t do this,” I thought. But then I realized that the question wasn’t whether I could do it. I knew Colin would want me to push through, and something deep inside told me that music was the best way for me to process my grief. I needed to sing.

I practiced the lyrics throughout my whole drive. The first few times, I broke down in sobs. By the time I reached the theater, however, the music had calmed me. While Colin would never be far from my mind, I had to focus on the task ahead: recording vocals and then producing the video trailer that would be shown to my high school classmates. I fought to channel my worry into my recording. If my voice shook during the particularly heartfelt moments, it only added emotion and depth to my performance. I felt Colin’s absence next to me, but even before I listened to that first take, I knew it was a keeper.

With one of my hurdles behind me, I steeled myself again and prepared for the musical’s trailer. In a floor-length black cape and purple dress, I swept regally down the steps to my director, who waited outside. Under a gloomy sky that threatened to turn stormy, I boldly strode across the street, tossed a dainty yellow bouquet, and flashed confident grins at all those staring. My grief lurched inside, but I felt powerful. Despite my sadness, I could still make art.

To my own surprise, I successfully took back the day. I had felt pain, but I had not let it drown me – making music was a productive way to express my feelings than worrying. Since then, I have been learning to take better care of myself in difficult situations. That day before rehearsal, I found myself in the most troubling circumstances of my life thus far, but they did not sink me because I refused to sink. When my aunt developed cancer several months later, I knew that resolution would not come quickly, but that I could rely on music to cope with the agony, even when it would be easier to fall apart. Thankfully, Colin recovered from his injuries and was home within days. The next week, we stood together on stage at our show’s opening night. As our eyes met and our voices joined in song, I knew that music would always be our greatest mechanism for transforming pain into strength.

This essay is well-written, as we can feel the writer’s emotions through the thoughts they share, and visualize the night of the performance through their rich descriptions. Their varied sentence length also makes the essay more engaging.

That said, this essay is not a great example because of the framing of the topic. The writer can come off as insensitive since they make their friend’s struggle about themself and their emotions (and this is only worsened by the mention of their aunt’s cancer and how it was tough on them ). The essay would’ve been stronger if it focused on their guilt of not recognizing their friend’s struggles and spanned a longer period of time to demonstrate gradual relationship building and reflection. Still, this would’ve been difficult to do well.

In general, you should try to choose a challenge that is undeniably your own, and you should get at least one or two people to read your essay to give you candid feedback.

Essay 5: Dedicating a Track

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

While the writer didn’t succeed in getting the track dedicated to Coach Stark, their essay is certainly successful in showing their willingness to push themselves and take initiative.

The essay opens with a quote from Coach Stark that later comes full circle at the end of the essay. We learn about Stark’s impact and the motivation for trying to get the track dedicated to him.

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The essay goes on to explain how the writer overcame their apprehension of public speaking, and likens the process of submitting an appeal to the school board to running a race. This metaphor makes the writing more engaging and allows us to feel the student’s emotions.

While the student didn’t ultimately succeed in getting the track dedicated, we learn about their resilience and initiative: I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Overall, this essay is well-done. It demonstrates growth despite failing to meet a goal, which is a unique essay structure. The running metaphor and full-circle intro/ending also elevate the writing in this essay.

Essay 6: Body Image

CW: This essay mentions eating disorders.

I press the “discover” button on my Instagram app, hoping to find enticing pictures to satisfy my boredom. Scrolling through, I see funny videos and mouth-watering pictures of food. However, one image stops me immediately. A fit teenage girl with a “perfect body” relaxes in a bikini on a beach. Beneath it, I see a slew of flattering comments. I shake with disapproval over the image’s unrealistic quality. However, part of me still wants to have a body like hers so that others will make similar comments to me.

I would like to resolve a silent issue that harms many teenagers and adults: negative self image and low self-esteem in a world where social media shapes how people view each other. When people see the façades others wear to create an “ideal” image, they can develop poor thought patterns rooted in negative self-talk. The constant comparisons to “perfect” others make people feel small. In this new digital age, it is hard to distinguish authentic from artificial representations.

When I was 11, I developed anorexia nervosa. Though I was already thin, I wanted to be skinny like the models that I saw on the magazine covers on the grocery store stands. Little did I know that those models probably also suffered from disorders, and that photoshop erased their flaws. I preferred being underweight to being healthy. No matter how little I ate or how thin I was, I always thought that I was too fat. I became obsessed with the number on the scale and would try to eat the least that I could without my parents urging me to take more. Fortunately, I stopped engaging in anorexic behaviors before middle school. However, my underlying mental habits did not change. The images that had provoked my disorder in the first place were still a constant presence in my life.

By age 15, I was in recovery from anorexia, but suffered from depression. While I used to only compare myself to models, the growth of social media meant I also compared myself to my friends and acquaintances. I felt left out when I saw my friends’ excitement about lake trips they had taken without me. As I scrolled past endless photos of my flawless, thin classmates with hundreds of likes and affirming comments, I felt my jealousy spiral. I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.” When that didn’t work, I started to feel too anxious to post anything at all.  

Body image insecurities and social media comparisons affect thousands of people – men, women, children, and adults – every day. I am lucky – after a few months of my destructive social media habits, I came across a video that pointed out the illusory nature of social media; many Instagram posts only show off good things while people hide their flaws. I began going to therapy, and recovered from my depression. To address the problem of self-image and social media, we can all focus on what matters on the inside and not what is on the surface. As an effort to become healthy internally, I started a club at my school to promote clean eating and radiating beauty from within. It has helped me grow in my confidence, and today I’m not afraid to show others my struggles by sharing my experience with eating disorders. Someday, I hope to make this club a national organization to help teenagers and adults across the country. I support the idea of body positivity and embracing difference, not “perfection.” After all, how can we be ourselves if we all look the same?

This essay covers the difficult topics of eating disorders and mental health. If you’re thinking about covering similar topics in your essay, we recommend reading our post Should You Talk About Mental Health in College Essays?

The short answer is that, yes, you can talk about mental health, but it can be risky. If you do go that route, it’s important to focus on what you learned from the experience.

We can see that the writer of this essay has been through a lot, and a strength of their essay is their vulnerability, in excerpts such as this: I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.”

The student goes on to share how they recovered from their depression through an eye-opening video and therapy sessions, and they’re now helping others find their self-worth as well. It’s great that this essay looks towards the future and shares the writer’s goals of making their club a national organization; we can see their ambition and compassion.

The main weakness of this essay is that it doesn’t focus enough on their recovery process, which is arguably the most important part. They could’ve told us more about the video they watched or the process of starting their club and the interactions they’ve had with other members.

Still, this essay shows us that this student is honest, self-aware, and caring, which are all qualities admissions officer are looking for.

Essay 7: Health Crisis

Tears streamed down my face and my mind was paralyzed with fear. Sirens blared, but the silent panic in my own head was deafening. I was muted by shock. A few hours earlier, I had anticipated a vacation in Washington, D.C., but unexpectedly, I was rushing to the hospital behind an ambulance carrying my mother. As a fourteen-year-old from a single mother household, without a driver’s license, and seven hours from home, I was distraught over the prospect of losing the only parent I had. My fear turned into action as I made some of the bravest decisions of my life. 

Three blood transfusions later, my mother’s condition was stable, but we were still states away from home, so I coordinated with my mother’s doctors in North Carolina to schedule the emergency operation that would save her life. Throughout her surgery, I anxiously awaited any word from her surgeon, but each time I asked, I was told that there had been another complication or delay. Relying on my faith and positive attitude, I remained optimistic that my mother would survive and that I could embrace new responsibilities.

My mother had been a source of strength for me, and now I would be strong for her through her long recovery ahead. As I started high school, everyone thought the crisis was over, but it had really just started to impact my life. My mother was often fatigued, so I assumed more responsibility, juggling family duties, school, athletics, and work. I made countless trips to the neighborhood pharmacy, cooked dinner, biked to the grocery store, supported my concerned sister, and provided the loving care my mother needed to recover. I didn’t know I was capable of such maturity and resourcefulness until it was called upon. Each day was a stage in my gradual transformation from dependence to relative independence.

Throughout my mother’s health crisis, I matured by learning to put others’ needs before my own. As I worried about my mother’s health, I took nothing for granted, cherished what I had, and used my daily activities as motivation to move forward. I now take ownership over small decisions such as scheduling daily appointments and managing my time but also over major decisions involving my future, including the college admissions process. Although I have become more independent, my mother and I are inseparably close, and the realization that I almost lost her affects me daily. Each morning, I wake up ten minutes early simply to eat breakfast with my mother and spend time with her before our busy days begin. I am aware of how quickly life can change. My mother remains a guiding force in my life, but the feeling of empowerment I discovered within myself is the ultimate form of my independence. Though I thought the summer before my freshman year would be a transition from middle school to high school, it was a transformation from childhood to adulthood.

This essay feels real and tells readers a lot about the writer. To start at the beginning, the intro is 10/10. It has drama, it has emotions, and it has the reader wanting more.

And, when you keep going, you get to learn a lot about a very resilient and mature student. Through sentences like “I made countless trips to the neighborhood pharmacy, cooked dinner, biked to the grocery store, supported my concerned sister, and provided the loving care my mother needed to recover” and “Relying on my faith and positive attitude, I remained optimistic that my mother would survive and that I could embrace new responsibilities,” the reader shows us that they are aware of their resilience and maturity, but are not arrogant about it. It is simply a fact that they have proven through their actions!

This essay makes us want to cheer for the writer, and they certainly seem like someone who would thrive in a more independent college environment.

Essay 8: Turned Tables

“You ruined my life!” After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain.

Despite being twins, Max and I are profoundly different. Having intellectual interests from a young age that, well, interested very few of my peers, I often felt out of step in comparison with my highly-social brother. Everything appeared to come effortlessly for Max and, while we share an extremely tight bond, his frequent time away with friends left me feeling more and more alone as we grew older.

When my parents learned about The Green Academy, we hoped it would be an opportunity for me to find not only an academically challenging environment, but also – perhaps more importantly – a community. This meant transferring the family from Drumfield to Kingston. And while there was concern about Max, we all believed that given his sociable nature, moving would be far less impactful on him than staying put might be on me.

As it turned out, Green Academy was everything I’d hoped for. I was ecstatic to discover a group of students with whom I shared interests and could truly engage. Preoccupied with new friends and a rigorous course load, I failed to notice that the tables had turned. Max, lost in the fray and grappling with how to make connections in his enormous new high school, had become withdrawn and lonely. It took me until Christmas time – and a massive argument – to recognize how difficult the transition had been for my brother, let alone that he blamed me for it.

Through my own journey of searching for academic peers, in addition to coming out as gay when I was 12, I had developed deep empathy for those who had trouble fitting in. It was a pain I knew well and could easily relate to. Yet after Max’s outburst, my first response was to protest that our parents – not I – had chosen to move us here. In my heart, though, I knew that regardless of who had made the decision, we ended up in Kingston for my benefit. I was ashamed that, while I saw myself as genuinely compassionate, I had been oblivious to the heartache of the person closest to me. I could no longer ignore it – and I didn’t want to.

We stayed up half the night talking, and the conversation took an unexpected turn. Max opened up and shared that it wasn’t just about the move. He told me how challenging school had always been for him, due to his dyslexia, and that the ever-present comparison to me had only deepened his pain.

We had been in parallel battles the whole time and, yet, I only saw that Max was in distress once he experienced problems with which I directly identified. I’d long thought Max had it so easy – all because he had friends. The truth was, he didn’t need to experience my personal brand of sorrow in order for me to relate – he had felt plenty of his own.

My failure to recognize Max’s suffering brought home for me the profound universality and diversity of personal struggle; everyone has insecurities, everyone has woes, and everyone – most certainly – has pain. I am acutely grateful for the conversations he and I shared around all of this, because I believe our relationship has been fundamentally strengthened by a deeper understanding of one another. Further, this experience has reinforced the value of constantly striving for deeper sensitivity to the hidden struggles of those around me. I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story.

Here you can find a prime example that you don’t have to have fabulous imagery or flowery prose to write a successful essay. You just have to be clear and say something that matters. This essay is simple and beautiful. It almost feels like having a conversation with a friend and learning that they are an even better person than you already thought they were.

Through this narrative, readers learn a lot about the writer—where they’re from, what their family life is like, what their challenges were as a kid, and even their sexuality. We also learn a lot about their values—notably, the value they place on awareness, improvement, and consideration of others. Though they never explicitly state it (which is great because it is still crystal clear!), this student’s ending of “I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story” shows that they are constantly striving for improvement and finding lessons anywhere they can get them in life.

Where to Get Your Overcoming Challenges Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Overcoming Challenges essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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I'm working on writing a 'overcoming a challenge' essay for one of my college applications. Does anyone have any examples or advice on how to approach this type of essay? I'd really appreciate some guidance here!

How's it going! Here are a few pointers on how to approach this kind of essay:

1. Choose a significant challenge: Select an experience that was truly challenging for you, and not just a minor inconvenience. The challenge could be personal, academic, or related to an extracurricular activity. It should be something that genuinely impacted your life and required you to grow in order to overcome it.

2. Be specific and descriptive: Detail the challenge and provide context for the reader. Use vivid language to paint a picture of the situation, sharing how you felt and what you were going through at the time. This will help the reader understand the significance of the challenge and empathize with you.

3. Focus on your response and growth: When describing how you overcame the challenge, emphasize the steps you took and the strategies you employed. Explain what you learned from the experience and how it changed you. Show how you grew as a person and developed new skills or perspectives as a result of facing the challenge.

4. Highlight your resilience: Illustrate your resilience by describing how you persevered through difficulties and setbacks. Show how you were able to adapt and find solutions, even when the path was not clear. This will demonstrate your determination and ability to withstand adversity.

5. Share lessons you learned: Consider the broader implications of your experience. What life lessons did you learn from this challenge? How has it shaped your understanding of yourself and the world around you? By reflecting on these lessons, you can provide a meaningful conclusion that showcases your growth.

For example, let's say you faced a significant health issue during high school. You might start by describing the day you were diagnosed, how it affected your daily life, and the challenges you faced in maintaining your grades and extracurricular activities. Then, you could discuss the steps you took to manage your health, such as adopting new routines, finding resources, and learning to prioritize your well-being. You would explain how the experience taught you about resilience, self-advocacy, and the importance of health and wellness in your life. Finally, you might connect this personal growth to your future endeavors, explaining how this experience has prepared you to overcome obstacles and seize opportunities in college and beyond.

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Blog > Essay Advice , Supplementals > How to Write a Personal Challenge Essay (with Examples)

How to Write a Personal Challenge Essay (with Examples)

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Kylie Kistner, MA Former Willamette University Admissions

Key Takeaway

This post is one in a series of posts about the supplemental essays. You can read our core “how-to” supplemental post here .

What is a Personal Challenge supplemental essay?

Personal Challenge supplemental essays ask you to pick a personal challenge you’ve faced, detail how the problem affected you, and describe the action steps you took to overcome it.

These essays can be challenging for students for two main reasons. First, many students feel like they haven’t faced a problem significant enough to talk about. And second, other students have faced a significant problem but may not feel comfortable discussing it in a college essay.

So why do colleges want to know about a challenge you’ve faced anyway?

Well, admissions offices know that life in college and beyond doesn’t always go as expected. Colleges want to see that you’re resourceful, resilient, and capable of thinking critically to solve problems.

At their core, Personal Challenge essay prompts let you to strategically pick a problem you’ve faced and write about how you worked to solve it.

Before we continue, it’s worth saying explicitly: you do not have to talk about trauma you’ve experienced to get into college. No admissions officer will ever want to read anything you’re not ready to share. In fact, sharing negative experiences before you’re ready can actually work against you. Writing about a situation that you haven’t yet come to terms with can result in an essay that is overall too negative and not forward-looking enough to meet the requirements of Personal Challenge essay prompts.

That caveat out of the way, let’s look at three Personal Challenge supplemental essay prompt examples.

1: Brown University

Brown’s culture fosters a community in which students challenge the ideas of others and have their ideas challenged in return, promoting a deeper and clearer understanding of the complex issues confronting society. This active engagement in dialogue is as present outside the classroom as it is in academic spaces. Tell us about a time you were challenged by a perspective that differed from your own. How did you respond? (200-250 words)

2: Colorado School of Mines

Florence Caldwell was the first woman to graduate from Mines. She enrolled in 1895 and found that her fellow classmates discouraged her attendance. She persevered through that discouragement and graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1898. She was described as a problem-solver, who was loyal, kind, and sympathetic to others and displayed unwavering courage. Describe a time when you overcame an obstacle, persevered through a situation, or displayed characteristics similar to Florence Caldwell. (500 words)

3: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tell us about a significant challenge you’ve faced (that you feel comfortable sharing) or something that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?

Personal Challenge Essay Strategy

When an admissions officer reads your essay among thousands of others , your supplemental essays are one of the main tools you have to stand out. The key to writing a strong Personal Challenge essay is picking the right challenge to talk about.

Personal Challenge essays are all about finding a delicate balance. While your challenge should be a genuine one that you’ve had to wrestle with, it shouldn’t be so challenging that you can’t write about it in a way that is ultimately positive.

While you don’t have to reveal anything you don’t want to, you should choose a genuine challenge.

“Genuine” problems are those that present real challenges to you, your way of thinking, or your overall lived experience.

They are significant. That means that a genuine problem is more than sleeping in late and missing a test. It’s more than losing your big baseball game or forgetting to put gas in the car before a road trip.

Genuine problems don’t necessarily have to be life-changing, but they do have to be deeply meaningful.

Significant challenges might include:

• conflict or disagreements with friends or loved ones
• information or an event that challenged your worldview
• a significant change or loss
• reconciling with differences
• Dealing with a disadvantage that sets you apart from others

Pick a challenge that lets you refer to one of your strengths.

Personal Challenge essay questions are actually questions about your strengths in the face of adversity. Since all college essays should be rooted in strengths, your supplemental essays should be no different.

The challenge you pick shouldn’t be a covert way to brag about yourself, but it should represent one of your personal characteristics that is ultimately positive.

Whether your goal is to show your resilience, problem-solving abilities, compassion, understanding, fortitude, or something else, your Personal Challenge essay should work to showcase one of your strengths.

Take the “more phoenix, less ashes” approach.

This is one of the most difficult parts of writing Personal Challenge essays. By nature, Personal Challenge essays are about a challenge. That means that you’re inevitably going to be writing about something difficult.

But essays that only focus on the negative aren’t ultimately serving your college admissions goals. The ultimate goal of a personal challenge essay is to demonstrate how you’ve grown, developed, and changed through dealing with a problem.

The essay isn’t about the problem itself. It’s about your growth.

“More phoenix, less ashes” is a helpful way to remember to focus on the positivity. The phrase refers to the mythology of the phoenix, which rises from the ashes of a predecessor. By focusing more on the phoenix and less on the ashes, you’re focusing on the life, hope, and resilience that comes in the aftermath of a challenge.

How to Write a Personal Challenge Supplemental Essay

Step 1: Read the prompt.

As you’ve seen from the example Personal Challenge prompts, there are a few ways schools ask these kinds of questions.

Some ask you to focus on a time your perspective was challenged, others ask you to discuss a time you overcame a challenge, and others yet give you the freedom to discuss any personal challenge you want.

You’ll need to know which kind of prompt you’re responding to before you begin brainstorming, so analyzing the prompt closely should always be your first step.

Step 2: Brainstorm some challenges.

Since picking the right kind of challenge is important to writing a good Personal Challenge supplemental essay, it’s probably a good idea to brainstorm a few different options.

This structured brainstorming chart might help you sort through different areas of your life to identify particular challenges.

Step 3: List your action steps, think about what’s at stake, and find a positive focus.

To maintain sight of “more phoenix, less ashes,” it may be helpful to list out a few specific details for each challenge you’re considering writing about.

Specifically, think about three criteria:

• Action Steps: What specific actions did you take to confront the challenge?
• What’s at stake?: Why is this challenge one of genuine concern? What implications did it (or its solution) have to your life?
• Resolution & Lessons: How was the challenge resolved? What were the positive lessons or outcomes that you learned as a result?

Step 4: Pay special attention to your essay structure.

“More phoenix, less ashes” also means structuring your essay in a way that keeps the focus on the positive outcome rather than the challenge.

If the story about your challenge or difficulty takes up 80% of your essay, then there’s a good chance that you haven’t written enough to address the phoenix instead of the ashes. The best way to structure a Personal Challenge essay is to quickly pivot from discussing the challenge to discussing your actions, solutions, and reflections.

Depending on the prompt you’re responding to, your outline may look something like this:

I. Introduce the challenge

II. Describe inciting incident (what caused things to change for the better?)

III. Detail the action steps you took

IV. Expand on your solution

IV. Reflect on the lessons you learned and relate them to the prompt

Personal Challenge Essay Mistakes

Writing about a fake problem.

Since Personal Challenge essays should be about genuine challenges, few things are worse than writing about a fake problem.

“Fake” problems are those that didn’t actually affect you very much. The stakes were relatively low, and your worldview wasn’t significantly altered.

An example of a fake problem would be

Writing about a “convenient” problem.

A “convenient” problem is like a “fake” problem, but it’s one that conveniently allows you to talk about an accomplishment.

Here’s an example:

The biggest obstacle I’ve faced was when my team was down 88-90 in the state basketball finals. There was only one second left on the clock. My team was really starting to get discouraged, so I called everyone together to rally them back up. When the clock started back up, I sunk a three-pointer.

While that obstacle was obviously important in the writer’s life, the story itself comes across as a convenient way to talk about their team leadership and athletic abilities.

Writing an essay that only discusses problems, not solutions.

To return to the phrase we’ve been using, it’s a mistake to write a Personal Challenge essay that is all ashes and no phoenix. If you weigh your reader down with all the heavy details related to your story, it’ll be hard for them to climb out of those details to see your overall message.

To make it easier for them, only include the details that are necessary to understanding your story. Then quickly move on to addressing your action steps, solutions, and reflection.

Personal Challenge Supplemental Essay Example

Example essay: lead pipes.

MIT: Tell us about a significant challenge you’ve faced (that you feel comfortable sharing) or something that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation? (~200 words)

Two times a day, I fill up my Hydroflask at the drinking fountain near Room 124. With over 1,000 Hydroflasks of water total, this daily ritual has sustained me through countless lectures, math tests, and in-class essays. What I didn’t realize until last May was that this ritual was also slowly poisoning me.(( This introduction draws the reader in and states a compelling and significant problem.))

Built in the 1920s, my school contains a network of lead-covered pipes. Recent tests of the drinking fountain by Room 124 found over 5,000 parts per billion (ppb) of lead–4,985 more ppb than is considered safe to drink. I started organizing my schoolmates immediately after learning this news, and I put together a petition to the school board. With my Hydroflask in tow, I stood before the board and made our case.(( The writer focuses on the latter part of the prompt to answer the question: “How did you manage the situation?” By focusing on the efforts rather than the problem, the student maintains a “more phoenix, fewer ashes” approach that highlights their strengths rather than the problem.)) Unsafe water in our schools was unacceptable, and the board needed to prioritize the health of its students and staff members. We needed renovations.

After weeks of deliberation, the school board announced its decision to delay renovations. They were concerned about budget constraints. My entire community felt betrayed and disheartened. Not one to settle, I decided if the current board members wouldn’t prioritize our health, then we would elect board members who would. Since then, I have been volunteering with two board campaigns, canvasing our neighborhood, and continuing to organize my classmates to advocate for our health.(( Even though the problem became worse, the writer continues to focus on their actions instead.))

There’s not much I can do about the lead I’ve already consumed, but I’ll continue fighting to keep future CHS students safe.

Interested in seeing even more supplemental essay examples? We've got some of our favorites in our list of college essay examples .

Liked that? Try this next.

The Incredible Power of a Cohesive College Application

How to Write a College Essay (Exercises + Examples)

How to Write Supplemental Essays that Will Impress Admissions Officers

20 College Essay Examples (Graded by Former Admissions Officers)

"the only actually useful chance calculator i’ve seen—plus a crash course on the application review process.".

Irena Smith, Former Stanford Admissions Officer

We built the best admissions chancer in the world . How is it the best? It draws from our experience in top-10 admissions offices to show you how selective admissions actually works.

How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example

April 17, 2023

At some point, most college-bound students are tasked with writing an overcoming challenges essay. The prompt crops up in various forms, as a supplemental short essay about overcoming a challenge, and in as the main essay itself.

Some students may feel inclined to write about a dramatic experience (say, spotting a grizzly bear outside the kitchen window), mistaking the drama of the moment for a significant challenge. Others may get to work, only to realize they don’t have much to say about the time they got a C in P.E. (that dreaded frisbee unit). Students who’ve overcome unspeakable difficulties, like a death in the family, may find that reducing the tragedy to 650 words feels insufficient, or worse—as if they’re attempting to profit from suffering. One or two students may stare down the blank computer screen as their entire existence shrinks to the size of a 12-point font. Should they write about the challenge of writing about the challenge of writing an overcoming challenges essay??

Don’t worry. Focusing first on how to tackle the essay will help any student decide what they should write about. In fact, how the essay is written will also prove more influential than the challenge itself in determining the strength of the essay.

Decoding the Prompt

Let’s take a look at the overcoming challenges essay question included among the seven 2023-24 Common App Essay Prompts :

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Notice how the prompt places an immediate emphasis on the “lessons we take,” rather than on the obstacles themselves, or any potential success. This is because the challenge itself often says less about the student than the way the student chose to tackle it, or the way they now reflect on it. In other words, obstacles often come at us randomly; it’s our personal response to the circumstances which reveals something of who we are.

While studying a prompt for clues, it’s helpful to think from the perspective of the admissions officer (the essay reader). What can they glean from an overcoming challenges essay?  A lot, actually. A thoughtfully written essay may tell them about the student’s personality, as well as things like problem-solving techniques, rigor, persistence, creativity, and courage. These insights can work to prove to the admissions officers that the student has what it takes to overcome challenges in college, too. These future challenges may range from the inevitable academic obstacles that occur with heavy courseloads, to social and moral challenges that arise as college students form their adult identities.

Picking Your Topic: A Brainstorming Activity

With the question of identity in mind, let’s now approach the overcoming challenges essay backwards, by brainstorming the final message the student wants it to contain.

For this three-part exercise, the student will first set a five-minute timer. With the clock ticking, they’ll jot down character traits, values, and any descriptive words or terms that say something about who they are. If stumped, change perspective. The student may imagine what their best friends, parents, coaches and siblings would say. (For example, tenacious , logical , scientific , peacemaker .) Even mild criticism can be helpful, as long as it’s not cruel. While a student’s brother may call him a “perfectionist,” perhaps this word will trigger other relevant words, like persistent and detail-oriented.

Next, the student will set the timer for another five minutes, pull out a second sheet of paper, and jot down any challenges, obstacles, setbacks, failures, and achievements that come to mind. Don’t hold back here or overanalyze. (For example: underdog at state swim meet , getting lost on the family hike , petitioning for a school compost system …)

Lastly, the student will place the two pages side by side, and draw lines between the items on the list wherever connections occur. One student may draw lines between persistent , curious , gamer , passionate about electronics , and saved the day during the power outage. Another set of lines might connect caring, observant, creative thinker , and helped sister leave abusive cult . Whatever ideas are sparked here, the goal is to identify which challenges will demonstrate something essential about the student to an admissions officer.

Topics to Avoid

The internet is rife with advice on what not to write when writing an overcoming challenges essay. Yet this advice can be confusing, or downright hypocritical. For instance, some may advise against writing about death. Yet a student who lost their father at an early age may be capable of writing a poignant essay about their search for an alternative father figure, and how they found one in their soccer coach.

I suggest avoiding guides on what not to write until after the student has done a thorough round of brainstorming. Otherwise, they risk censoring themselves too early, and may reject a promising idea. Once they’ve narrowed down their list to three ideas or less, they may want to check our guide on College Application Essay Topics to Avoid .

The reason why certain types of overcoming challenges essays miss the mark is that they emphasize the wrong aspect of the experience, which turns the topic into a cliché. While it’s generally a good idea to avoid trivial topics (again, that C in P.E.), any topic has the potential to be compelling, if it’s animated through personal opinions, insight, and description. Details bring an experience to life. Structure and reflection make an essay convincing. In other words, how the story is told will determine whether or not the topic is worth writing about.

So, rather than avoid specific topics, consider avoiding these scenarios: if you can’t show the essay to your best friend or grandmother, it’s probably not ready to show a college admissions officer. If you must write a clichéd topic, don’t choose a typical structure.

Techniques to Hone

Techniques that animate an overcoming challenges essay are the same ones used in storytelling. Think setting, visuals, sounds, dialogue, physical sensations, and feelings. “Showing” instead of “telling.” Crafting the essay with these inner and external details will bring the challenge to life, and catch the reader’s attention.

Another technique which works well when trying to avoid the trappings of cliché involve subverting the reader’s expectations. In storytelling terms, this is a plot twist. The student who got a C in P.E. may actually have a stellar essay on their hands, if they can break away from the “bad grade” trope (working harder to improve their grade). Perhaps this student’s story is actually about how, while sitting on the bleachers and not participating in the game, they found themselves watching the frisbee spin through the air, and realized they had a deep interest in the movement of astronomical bodies.

Some of the strongest overcoming challenges essays demonstrate what students have learned about themselves, rather than what they’ve learned about the obstacle they confronted. These essays may show how the student has come to see themselves differently, or how they’ve decided to change, thanks to the challenge they faced. These essays work because the reflection is natural and even profound, based on the student’s self-awareness.

Writing the Overcoming Challenges Essay, or Drafts, Drafts, Drafts

Everyone writes differently, some by outlining (never a bad idea), some by free-styling (good for capturing sensations and memories), some by lighting a candle—but don’t procrastinate too much. The only “must” is to revise. After a first draft, the student should begin to look for several things:

1) Clarity and Detail. Is the challenge recounted with precision? Is it personal?

2) Structure. Consider mapping the structure, to visualize it better. Does the structure suit the story? Can it be changed for clarity, or to keep the reader more engaged?

3) Cliché. Identify words, sentences, and ideas that are dull or repetitive. Mark them up, and in the next draft, find ways to rewrite, subvert, condense, and delete.

4) Lesson Learned. Has the student reflected adequately on the lesson they learned from overcoming a challenge? To add more reflection, students might ask themselves what they have felt and thought about the experience since. Would they do something differently, if faced with the same challenge? Has their understanding of the experience evolved over time?

By the final draft, the experience and the reflection should feel equally weighted. To get there, it may take five or six drafts.

Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample

The Happiness Hotline

First there were reports. Then we were told to stop socializing, go inside, wait. Covid struck. Everyone knows what ensued. It probably looked different from where we were all (separately) standing, even though we faced the same thing. Those first weeks, I stood at my bedroom window. It was dark by early evening in Oregon. The weirdest part—after the fact that we were collectively sharing the loneliest experience of our lives—was the silence.

… it was really quiet.

So quiet, I could hear my mom sigh downstairs. (So quiet, I couldn’t remember if I’d hummed aloud, or if I’d just heard myself in my head.) When I looked out the window, I could hear the stoplight at the end of our street. Green to yellow. Click.

Before going on, you should know three things. First, this is not a Covid essay. This is about melancholy, and the “sadness that has taken on lightness,” to quote Italo Calvino. Second, from my bedroom window, I can see down a row of oak trees, past the hospital, to my friend Carlo’s house. Third, Carlo is a jazz singer. Maybe that sounds pretentious, a freshman kid being a jazz singer, but that’s Carlo, and I wouldn’t be me without Carlo being Carlo. He’s someone who appreciates the unhinged rhythm of a Charlie Parker tune. He’s an extrovert who can bring introverts like me out of my shell. He convinced me to learn trombone, and together we riff in the after-school jazz club.

In the first month of the pandemic, we called each other nightly to talk rap albums, school stuff. At Carlo’s house, he could hear a white-crowned sparrow. He could also hear his parents talking numbers behind the bathroom door. The death toll was mounting. The cost of living was going up too. As the month wore on, I began to hear something else in our calls, in the way Carlo paused, or forgot what he was saying. Carlo was scared. He felt sad, isolated, and without his bright energy, I too, felt utterly alone.

Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample (Continued)

After some dark days, I realized that to help ourselves we needed to help others. It was pretty obvious the more I thought about it. People are social creatures, supposedly, even introverts. Maybe our neighbors needed to remember the noisiness of life.

We built a happiness hotline. That sounds fancy, though essentially, we provided three-way calls on my parents’ landline. The harder part involved making flyers and putting them up around town, in places people were still going. Grocery stores, the post office. We made a TikTok account, and then—the phone rang. Our first caller.

For months, if you called in, you could talk to us about your days in lockdown. People went really deep about the meaning of life, and we had to learn on the spot how to respond. I’d become a journalist and a therapist before becoming a sophomore. After chatting, the caller would request a song, and if we knew how to play it, we would. If not, we improvised.

Now we’re seniors in high school. Carlo visits the hospital with band members. As for myself, I’ve been working on a community music book, compiling our callers’ favorite tunes. I don’t want to forget how important it felt to make these connections. Our callers taught me that loneliness is a bit like a virus, a bit like a song. Even when it stops it can come back to haunt you, as a new variant or an old refrain. Still, sadness can take on lightness when voices call through the dark: sparrows, friends, strangers. I learned I’m good at listening into the silence. Listening isn’t only a passive stance, but an open line of receiving.

Analysis of the Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample

This student uses their musical passion to infuse the essay with vivid detail. There’s a focus on sound throughout, from the bird to the stoplight. Then there are the callers, and the clever way the student conceived of breaking through the silence. The narrator’s voice sharpens the piece further, elevating a clichéd Covid essay to a personal story of self-discovery.

In fact, the essay briefly breaks with structure to tell the reader that this is not a Covid essay. Although techniques like this should be used sparingly, it works here by grabbing the reader’s attention. It also allows the student to organize their thoughts on the page, before moving the plot along.

Outwardly, the student is overcoming the challenge of loneliness in a time of quarantine. Yet there seems to be an inner, unspoken challenge as well, that of coming to terms with the student’s introverted personality. The essay’s reflection occurs in the final paragraph, making the essay experience-heavy. However, clues woven throughout point to the reflection that will come. Details like the Italo Calvino quote hint at the later understanding of how to alleviate loneliness. While some readers might prefer more development, the various themes are threaded throughout, which makes for a satisfying ending.

A Last Word on the Short Essay About Overcoming Challenges

The short essay about overcoming a challenge requires the same steps as a longer one. To write it, follow the same brainstorming activity, then focus more on condensing and summarizing the experience. Students who’ve already written a longer overcoming challenges essay can approach the short essay about overcoming a challenge by streamlining. Instead of deleting all the extra bits, keep two interesting details that will flavor the essay with something memorable and unique.

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Kaylen Baker

With a BA in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Translation from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Kaylen has been working with students on their writing for over five years. Previously, Kaylen taught a fiction course for high school students as part of Columbia Artists/Teachers, and served as an English Language Assistant for the French National Department of Education. Kaylen is an experienced writer/translator whose work has been featured in Los Angeles Review, Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Guardian, France Today, and Honolulu Weekly, among others.

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Open Letters: Our New Opinion-Writing Contest

We invite students to write public-facing letters to people or groups about issues that matter to them. Contest dates: March 13 to May 1.

By The Learning Network

What’s bothering you? Who could do something about it? What could you say to them that would persuade them to care, or to make change?

And … what if we all read your letter? How could you make us care too?

These are some of the questions we’re asking you to ponder for our new Open Letter Contest. An open letter is a published letter of protest or appeal usually addressed to an individual, group or institution but intended for the general public. Think of the many “Dear Taylor Swift” open letters you can find online and on social media: Sure, they’re addressed to Ms. Swift, but they’re really a way for the writer to share opinions and feelings on feminism, or ticket sales, or the music industry, or … the list goes on.

As you might already know if you’ve read Martin Luther King’s famous Letter From Birmingham Jail , an open letter is a literary device. Though it seems on the surface to be intended for just one individual or group, and therefore usually reads like a personal letter (and can make readers feel they are somehow “listening in” on private thoughts), it is really a persuasive essay addressed to the public. This recent letter signed by over 1,000 tech leaders about the dangers of A.I. , this funny 2020 letter addressed to Harry and Meghan , and this video letter from young Asian Americans to their families about Black Lives Matter are all examples of the tradition.

Now we’re inviting you to try it yourself. Write your own open letter, to anyone you like on any issue you care about, as long as it is also appropriate and meaningful for a general Times audience.

Whom should you write to? What should you say? How do open letters work?

The rules and FAQ below, along with our Student Opinion forum and related how-to guide , can walk you through ways to get started.

This is a new contest and we expect questions. Please ask any you have in the comments and we’ll answer you there, or write to us at [email protected]. And, consider hanging this PDF one-page announcement on your class bulletin board.

Here’s what you need to know:

The challenge, a few rules, resources for students and teachers, frequently asked questions, submission form.

Write an open letter to a specific audience that calls attention to an issue or problem and prompts reflection or action on it.

Whether you choose to write to your parents, teachers, school board members or mayor; a member of Congress; the head of a corporation; an artist or entertainer; or a metonym like “Silicon Valley” or “The Kremlin,” ask yourself, What do I care about? Who can make changes, big or small, local or global, to address my issue or problem? What specifically do I want my audience to understand or do? And how can I write this as an “open letter,” compelling not just to me and the recipient, but to the general audience who will be reading my words?

The Times has published numerous open letters over the years, to both famous and ordinary people. You can find a long list of free examples in our related guide .

This contest invites students to express themselves and imagine that their words can lead to real change.

Your open letter MUST:

Focus on an issue you care about and with which you have some experience. You can write about almost anything you like, whether it’s a serious issue like bullying , or something more lighthearted like why bugs deserve respect , but we have found over the years that the most interesting student writing grows out of personal experience. Our related Student Opinion forum and how-to guide can help you come up with ideas.

Address a specific audience relevant to the issue. Choose an individual, group, organization or institution who is in a position to make change or promote understanding about your topic.

Call for action, whether the change you seek is something tangible , like asking Congress to enact a law or demanding a company stop a harmful practice, or something more abstract, like inviting your audience to reflect on something they may have never considered.

Be suitable and compelling for a wide general audience . An open letter simultaneously addresses an explicit recipient — whether Joe Biden or your gym teacher — as well as us, the general public, your implicit audience. Though your letter might seem to be meant just for one person, it is really trying to persuade all readers. Make sure you write it in such a way that it is relevant, understandable, appropriate and meaningful for anyone who might come across it in The New York Times. (Again, our related guide can help.)

Be written as a letter, in a voice and tone that is appropriate for both your audience and purpose. Are you simply taking an argumentative essay you’ve written for school already and slapping a “Dear X” on top of it and a “Sincerely, Y” on the bottom? No. A letter — even an open letter — is different from a formal essay, and your writing should reflect that. Can you be informal? Funny? If that makes sense for your purpose and audience, then yes, please.

Our related guide, and the many examples we link to, can help you think about this, but we hope the format of a letter will let you loosen up a bit and express yourself in your natural voice. (For example, you’ll be writing as “I” or “we,” and addressing your letter’s recipient as “you.”)

Also attempt to persuade a general audience. Though it is written in the form of a letter, it is an opinion piece, and you are trying to make a case and support it with evidence, as you would any argument. Remember that you are trying to change hearts and minds, so you’ll be drawing on the same rhetorical strategies as you might have for our long-running editorial contest . (Again, more on this in the related guide .)

Make your case in 460 words or fewer. Your title and sources are not part of the word count.

Inform with evidence from at least two sources, including one from The Times and one from outside The Times. We hope this contest encourages you to deepen your understanding of your topic by using multiple sources, ideally ones that offer a range of perspectives. Just make sure those sources are trustworthy .

Because this is a letter, not a formal essay, we are not asking you to provide in-text citations, but we will be asking you to list the sources you used — as many as you like — in a separate field that does not contribute to your word count. Keep in mind, however, that if you include evidence from those sources, our readers (and judges) should always be able to tell where it came from. Be careful to put quotations around any direct quotes you use, and cite the source of anything you paraphrase.

In addition to the guidelines above, here are a few more details:

You must be a student ages 13 to 19 in middle school or high school to participate , and all students must have parent or guardian permission to enter. Please see the F.A.Q. section for additional eligibility details.

The writing you submit should be fundamentally your own — it should not be plagiarized, created by someone else or generated by artificial intelligence.

Your open letter should be original for this contest. That means it should not already have been published at the time of submission, whether in a school newspaper, for another contest or anywhere else.

Keep in mind that the work you send in should be appropriate for a Times audience — that is, something that could be published in a family newspaper (so, please, no curse words).

You may work alone or in groups , but students should submit only one entry each.

You must also submit a short, informal “artist’s statement” as part of your submission, that describes your writing and research process. These statements, which will not be used to choose finalists, help us to design and refine our contests. See the F.A.Q. to learn more.

All entries must be submitted by May 1, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time using the electronic form at the bottom of this page.

Use these resources to help you write your open letter:

Our step-by-step guide : To be used by students or teachers, this guide walks you through the process of writing an open letter.

A list of free examples of open letters published both in and outside The New York Times, which you can find in our step-by-step guide .

A writing prompt: To Whom Would You Write an Open Letter? This prompt offers students a “rehearsal space” for thinking about to whom they’d like to write, the reason they’re writing and why they think that issue is important — not only for the recipient but also for a wider audience.

Argumentative writing prompts: We publish new argumentative writing prompts for students each week in our Student Opinion and Picture Prompt columns. You can find them all, as they publish, here , or many of them, organized by topic, in our new collection of over 300 prompts .

Argumentative writing unit: This unit includes writing prompts, lesson plans, webinars and mentor texts. While it was originally written to support our Student Editorial Contest , the resources can help students make compelling arguments, cite reliable evidence and use rhetorical strategies for their open letters as well.

Our contest rubric : This is the rubric judges will use as they read submissions to this contest.

Below are answers to your questions about writing, judging, the rules and teaching with this contest. Please read these thoroughly and, if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, post your query in the comments or write to us at [email protected].

Questions About Writing

How is this contest different from your long-running Editorial Contest? Can we still use those materials?

For a decade we ran an editorial contest , and the students who participated wrote passionately about all kinds of things — A.I. , fast fashion , race , trans rights , college admissions , parental incarceration , fan fiction , snow days , memes , being messy and so much more . You can still write about the issues and ideas that fire you up — it’s just that this time around you’ll be framing your work as a letter to a person who has the power to make change on or bring understanding to that issue.

Our related guide has more about the differences between a traditional opinion essay and an open letter, but the many materials we developed for that earlier contest are also woven into the guide, as concepts like ethos, logos and pathos are still very much relevant to this challenge.

I have no idea what to write about. Where should I start?

Our Student Opinion forum can help via its many questions that encourage you to brainstorm both the audience you might write to and the topics you’d like to address.

Can I actually send my open letter?

You can! Just wait until after you have submitted your work to us to do so. (As always for our contests, you retain the copyright to the piece you submit, and can do whatever you like with it.)

Questions About Judging

How will my open letter be judged?

Your work will be read by New York Times journalists, as well as by Learning Network staff members and educators from around the United States. We will use this rubric to judge entries.

What’s the “prize”?

Having your work published on The Learning Network and being eligible to have your work published in the print New York Times.

When will the winners be announced?

About 8-10 weeks after the contest has closed.

My piece wasn’t selected as a winner. Can you tell me why?

We typically receive thousands of entries for our contests, so unfortunately, our team does not have the capacity to provide individual feedback on each student’s work.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RULES

Who is eligible to participate in this contest?

This contest is open to students ages 13 to 19 who are in middle school or high school around the world. College students cannot submit an entry. However, high school students (including high school postgraduate students) who are taking one or more college classes can participate. Students attending their first year of a two-year CEGEP in Quebec Province can also participate. In addition, students age 19 or under who have completed high school but are taking a gap year or are otherwise not enrolled in college can participate.

The children and stepchildren of New York Times employees are not eligible to enter this contest. Nor are students who live in the same household as those employees.

Can I have someone else check my work?

We understand that students will often revise their work based on feedback from teachers and peers. That is allowed for this contest. However, be sure that the final submission reflects the ideas, voice and writing ability of the student, not someone else.

Do I need a Works Cited page?

Yes. We provide you with a separate field to list the sources you used to inform or write your open letter. You’re allowed to format your list however you want; we will not judge your entry based on formatting in this section. Internal citations in your letter are not necessary.

Why are you asking for an Artist’s Statement about our process? What will you do with it?

All of us who work on The Learning Network are former teachers. One of the many things we miss, now that we work in a newsroom rather than a classroom, is being able to see how students are reacting to our “assignments” in real time — and to offer help, or tweaks, to make those assignments better. We’re asking you to reflect on what you did and why, and what was hard or easy about it, in large part so that we can improve our contests and the curriculum we create to support them. This is especially important for new contests, like this one.

Another reason? We have heard from many teachers that writing these statements is immensely helpful to students. Stepping back from a piece and trying to put into words what you wanted to express, and why and how you made artistic choices to do that, can help you see your piece anew and figure out how to make it stronger. For our staff, they offer important context that help us understand individual students and submissions, and learn more about the conditions under which students around the world create.

Whom can I contact if I have questions about this contest or am having issues submitting my entry?

Leave a comment on this post or write to us at [email protected].

QUESTIONS ABOUT TEACHING WITH THIS CONTEST

Do my students need a New York Times subscription to access these resources?

No. All of the resources on The Learning Network are free.

If your students don’t have a subscription to The New York Times, they can also get access to Times pieces through The Learning Network . All the activities for students on our site, including mentor texts and writing prompts, plus the Times articles they link to, are free. Students can search for articles using the search tool on our home page.

How do my students prove to me that they entered this contest?

After they press “Submit” on the form below, they will see a “Thank you for your submission.” line appear. They can take a screenshot of this message. Please note: Our system does not currently send confirmation emails.

Please read the following carefully before you submit:

Students who are 13 and older in the United States or the United Kingdom, or 16 and older elsewhere in the world, can submit their own entries. Those who are 13 to 15 and live outside the United States or the United Kingdom must have an adult submit on their behalf.

All students who are under 18 must provide a parent or guardian’s permission to enter.

You will not receive email confirmation of your submission. After you submit, you will see the message “Thank you for your submission.” That means we received your entry. If you need proof of entry for your teacher, please screenshot that message.

If you have questions about your submission, please write to us at [email protected] and provide the email address you used for submission.

How Mercer’s CEO planned her own retirement–and succession

Martine Ferland has spent more than 40 years on the front lines of retirement. This week, the CEO of Mercer and vice chair of Marsh McLennan is stepping down to start her own. Over the past five years, she has led the consulting giant to its best growth since 2008. In recent months, she’s also focused on facilitating a smooth transition for her successor, Pat Tomlinson. That includes traveling with him on a grand tour of Mercer’s global locations, holding weekly two-hour meetings on a wide range of topics, and letting Tomlinson own all the long-term decisions so they’re aligned with his vision.

She also gave him a book–a slim volume published last year by McKinsey called The Four Seasons of a CEO . Although it was not for sale (“a complete black market,”  Ferland jokes), she did secure an extra copy that she presented to Tomlinson a few weeks ago at her retirement party in London. (This collection of articles might give you a taste of McKinsey’s leadership advice.)

Leaders like to impart wisdom through gifting books–or writing them. George David gave Louis Chenevert half a dozen history books to read when handing over the reins as CEO at United Technologies Corp. in 2008. (While writing a story on David, he sent me the same collection; Lenin’s Tomb stood out.) Ferland often gives books to colleagues, with a current favorite being The Heart of Business by former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly in 2021.

Tomlinson says he plans to read Four Seasons . “I have it right here!” he said on a Zoom call, reaching above his desk. While the first chapter on becoming a high-potential CEO candidate didn’t captivate him, he says the second “would be good to read over the next few weeks as it’s about your first six to twelve months.”

More important was joining Ferland on global visits, especially as Tomlinson has built his career in the U.S. Along with helping him build key relationships, he says, Ferland shows “how you get good economic growth and outcomes and doing it with empathy.”

When asked which books have influenced him, Tomlinson reaches for two: The 2004 classic Blue Ocean Strategy and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith in 2007. The latter came at a time in his career when he had to transition from building to influencing others as a leader. “Someone said, ‘Look, if you keep running things like this, you won’t have time for anything else.’ I gave that advice to somebody two days ago.”

Even for an HR consultancy, this CEO succession was unusually well-planned. “I wish I’d had an introduction similar to this one,” says Ferland, who recalls that her onboarding was rather short and sweet. Having helped her successor, her next best practice? Get out of the way.

Diane Brady [email protected]

Commuting is back–sort of

An analysis of travel patterns in 10 major global cities has shown that commuting has recovered since lockdowns brought in-office work to a sharp halt. But not as we knew it. In New York, for example, Amtrak’s passenger ridership has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Yet employees are popping into the office for shorter periods, (or, “coffee badging” ) instead of commuting into the city for the whole working day. Financial Times

The rise and fall of Stability AI’s CEO

Emad Mostaque, the founder and CEO of Stability AI, resigned from the $1 billion startup he founded on Saturday, following a wave of key departures. Fortune ’s Jessica Mathews and Allie Garfinkle interviewed 20 Stability investors, former Stability and Coatue (one of Stability’s largest backers) employees, and Coatue-backed founders to uncover Mostaque’s stunning fall from grace. Fortune

Heat action plans

Hot off the heels of last year’s record-high temperatures, two of the world’s biggest aid agencies are set to host an inaugural global summit on extreme heat–and they’re urging business leaders, as well as governments, schools, and hospitals to prepare for the “silent killer” and develop “heat action plans.” In the U.S., extreme heat is already deadlier than all other climate impacts put together, including hurricanes and floods. Guardian

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

It’s a ‘nepo’ housing market. More than a third of Gen Zers and millennials expect their parents to help with a down payment, survey finds by Alena Botros

Birkin bags can double in value in 5 years. An Hermès expert explains why it’s a better investment than gold by Jasmine Li

Exclusive: Many senior Amazon employees won’t get cash raises this year by Jason Del Rey

You’re more likely to make more money if you’re an older sibling—and now researchers think they know why by Irina Ivanova

Women outearn men in just a handful of U.S. cities, report finds—and not by a lot by Jane Thier

Diddy’s estimated $1 billion fortune is at risk after 5 lawsuits with explosive allegations. Here’s how the entertainment mogul made his money by Sydney Lake

Inside the cockpit at Boeing: Here are the top 5 candidates for CEO as Dave Calhoun exits (Commentary) by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian

T his edition of CEO Daily was curated by Orianna Rosa Royle. 

This is the web version of CEO Daily, a newsletter of must-read insights from Fortune CEO Alan Murray. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.

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