Happy New Year! 2024 Writing Challenge

I have a writing challenge for you to start the year strong!

Jan 01, 2024

person using laptop — Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

People love to wait until the first of the year to start things.

We hear about it all the time. After all, January is the busiest month for gym memberships and personal development programs.

Yet, most people drop off.

I don’t want that to be true of you this year. I want to help you start a writing habit this year that you can use and grow.

You need to start a habit to grow.

If you can turn this simple habit into something more, you can start writing that book you have always wanted to write!

I have a challenge for you.

I challenge you to write and publish a 250-word article every day in January. It’s super easy, it doesn’t take a long time, and you will grow.

Here’s what to do:

I want you to use Medium as your platform and set up Substack to capture email subscribers as you go. Then, I want you to use these prompts for your first 31 stories on Medium in 2024 if you don’t know where to start:

Write an ‘About Me’ post.
Why do you write?
Write about your greatest triumph.
Write about your most significant failure.
Share about a book you recently read.
Write a letter to your past self.
Write a list of 5 things you have learned from 2023.
Write about your dreams for your writing.
Share a list of writers you like to read and why you like them.
Share a list of books you like and why you like them.
Write about what it was like for you growing up.
Share a behind-the-scenes look at your writing routine.
Write about someone you most admire and why
Share what you have learned from writing and publishing for 14 days straight.
Write about a topic you are interested in learning more about.
Share a list of tools you use for writing.
Write about an event that shaped your life.
Share a story from Medium you read and what you learned from it.
Write about your hopes and dreams for writing.
Share a list of goals you have for writing in 2024.
Write about a win you have had writing over the last 21 days.
Share a list of three topics you want to write more about.
Write out your vision for your future (one year from now).
Share a list of music you like to listen to during the day.
Write about your favorite book of all time (mine is the Count of Monte Cristo).
Share a story about a time something unique happened to you.
Write about a deeply hurtful situation and what you learned from it.
Share a story about one of the most beautiful places you have ever been.
Write about a trip you once took and why you liked it.
Share your top five stories from this month of publishing.
Celebrate writing and publishing 31 stories monthly and challenge others to do it.

I know that are a lot of topics to write about, and it might seem overwhelming. But here’s the thing:

If you only write 250-words, it really doesn’t take that long to do it.

Most of all, this list is to get you started with idea generation, creating content, and gathering email subscribers.

A few more parameters for the challenge.

Here are a few more things I want you to do when writing and publishing this month.

Don’t overly edit your work. Check for grammar errors and publish.
Pick one social media platform to share it on. I use 𝕏 all the time.
Start a list on Medium and call it ‘January 2024 Writing Challenge.’
Let me know when you publish your first story and list by leaving it in the responses below!
Don’t give up if you miss a day. It’s okay, keep moving.

This can be one of the most useful and encouraging ways to start your year as a writer and help you move toward self-publishing a book this year!

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J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who writes about faith and writing books. He has self-published 9 books and has some great resources. Check his book on using Substack to write books: