Writing Challenges: What they do for you...

[Caged Maiden]

Hello Scribes!

I'd like to spin off Phil's "Practice Novel" thread for a moment and I'd like your help.

Since joining this forum, I've learned more than I can probably write here before I blow up the character limit. I'd like to focus on a small part of writing and this forum, the Challenge section.

When I joined, we had a lot of great challenges, and the amount I participated in over the last four years has been huge. Because of it, I have about fifty short stories I really like and some not so good. But more than that, I have "practice".

What have your experiences been in the Challenges forum? What have you learned?

I'd also like to take a moment to thank those fine people who spend their time and make challenges for the rest of us. Reaver, Phil, Ankari, Sidekick, Chilari. I know there are more. But I've participated in all these people's challenges and come out a winner even if I wasn't chosen as an official winner of the challenge.

My Chilari challenge is still one of my favorite stories. Ankari's Iron Pen challenge continues to keep me thinking, improving, and trying to outwit the dark assassin at every turn (sorry, Ankari, I know you're a Ranger, but in my mind, you'll always be the assassin I wrote). Phil's 30-Days challenge and Prompt challenge... wonderful. I LOVE the stories I came up with. And THANKS for the tight deadlines. That was part of the fun! Sidekick takes a load of personal time and even creates fun graphics for us to play with. His world-building gives a whole setting in which to play. Reaver's challenges always contain an element of artistic license like most prompt challenges don't necessarily encourage. A simple prompt (like waking on an island) and from there, the sky's the limit!

Each challenge offered on this forum pushes me to be a better writer, work faster, and allows me to get to know the other participants and the master of challenge at the same time. Thank you all for providing feedback and working to make this place so fun and friendly.

So scribes, please share your challenge experiences with me and this forum. Let's encourage more people to try it out, because this is seriously good experience and a great way to interact on our site.

What have the challenges done for you? Positive or negative, I'm all ears.

 

[Philip Overby]

I mentioned this in the other thread, but I see the Challenges section as a perfect chance to "practice." Some of the Challenges are more like competitions, while others are just there to have fun and not take yourself so seriously. Sometimes you find when you're not taking yourself seriously, cool stuff can come of it. I wrote a story for a Challenge once, posted a bit of it on my social network, and got a really good response. It made me think, "Hmm...maybe I can do more with this." Sometimes something you think is just drivel, may get people interested. While something you think is awesome may have the opposite result. That's what makes the Challenges rewarding for me. You can sometimes get almost instant results.

It's no secret the Challenges section is my favorite part of this forum. It's mostly because it involves actual writing. While I love talking about writing, I love the act of it even more. I don't believe that writing always has to be this solitary, lonely endeavor.

It's been cool to see various writers grow and try new things. It's a place for us to push each other, have fun, and get better.

 

[nlough]

I haven't fully completed a challenge yet. I am planning on entering in the upcoming Iron Pen XV: That Which Haunts. At first I wasn't interested; I couldn't come up with an idea based off the components. Then one night I had an idea for one the components that I liked a lot. I started forming a story around that and I have written. I am entering the revision stage and plan on entering.

I actually wrote this story much differently than most of my stories, and I'm quite proud with the way it turned out. I plan on taking a stab at any and all future Iron Pen challenges as well as any other challenges that grab my attention.

 

[stephenspower]

I love the challenges. They force me into places I wouldn't have thought of going.

 

[Penpilot]

I think the challenges do a lot of different things depending on the person. In general, if a writer has a stage fright, well, putting a story up for a bunch of people to see and comment on, will help you get over that, hopefully. After receiving some good honest feedback, and realizing although your story may not be perfect, nobody is going to laugh at you or say anything as silly as "never write again." The direct opposite is the case.

For me, In the challenges I took part in, I like seeing how others deal with the constraints given by the challenge. It's a nice way to see the different roads you could have taken, and shows you paths that you may not have ever considered or thought of. To me, it's a nice example of writers starting on a level field of play, but each ending up being successful or not in different ways. This allows the writers who took up the challenge to learn a little from one another.

 

[Trick]

I've started little challenges, I've participated in others of the same ilk; but recently, I saw the Iron Pen Anthology get put up on Amazon, B&N, etc. It made me think, "Why haven't I tried that before?"

I was too late for IP XIV but I read every entry and all the feedback. I was astounded with the differences between the stories all based on the same basic concepts, not to mention the quality. I wanted to see an entry under my own name more than anything. When the next one opened I got right to it. I wrote something I never would have written, never would have attempted to write, and learned tons. Even if I come in dead last, my writing has improved because of this challenge and this community.

Busy people with their own lives and writing to think about have offered and given me help. I have taken a greater interest in the writing of fellow Mythic Scribes and want to do more critiques and reviews to pay it forward.

I think the challenges bring out the best in this forum and the best writing in all of its members.

Thank you to all who make this forum possible!

 

[Mythopoet]

I don't often do challenges. They have to really capture my imagination. And when I do them, I don't think of them as practice any more than I think of all writing as practice. The story I just wrote to submit to this month's Iron Pen I will publish at some point, either part of a larger story or a collection of stories.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I've only done one challenge.

I enjoyed doing it, but after I was done I decided I wouldn't do another until I was done with my WiP. It took me nearly two months two finish the short story for the challenge. I think it was good for me to do it and I had fun with the story, but it simply took me too long.
If I reach another situation where I'm sick and tired of my WiP and need a break from it I may do another challenge, but so far I haven't felt the need.

The challenge I did was the Jim Butcher Stupid Idea challenge and while I did fulfill the requirements of the challenge - at least to my mind - I had ulterior motives when writing it. I took the challenge as an opportunity to get to know a side-character that would play an important role in my WiP and that I hadn't yes introduced. In that way the challenge worked out great for me and I did get a pretty good grip on the character.
However, it wasn't really fair on the other people taking the challenge. They had to wade through a whole lot of story that wasn't relevant to the challenge and which weren't really interesting to anyone but me.

I have another character that I need to get to know now. I've toyed with the idea of entering her as the MC of a story in some challenge. I'm not sure that's such a good idea though, unless I find a challenge that matches a story I want to tell. It's probably better to wait a bit and then get on the challenge circuit once the WiP is gone and I don't have it distracting me at the back of my head.

I think I learned a bit doing the challenge though. My WiP is nearly devoid of action scenes and I managed to fit some in towards the end of the story. Also, it felt pretty good to finish something.

 

[ThinkerX]

I use the Challenges to develop my world. I look at the Challenge criteria, then look for places and situations on my world that meets at least some of those criteria. Writing the story forces me to incorporate the rest of the criteria, developing the world more in the process.

It also hones my writing skills and gets me critiques to take into account should I ever send any of those tales off for publication.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I'm having fun the the "Write About…" challenges by Phil and ThinkerX. It's basically a one-word prompt. Well, Thinker added a 'don't forget' line, which worked for me.

I did manage to win a few coffee dates from a couple of challenges. Being paid for a story that took an hour or two is pretty cool, even if my wife and I drink my winnings within 2-3 weekends. But I don't need to win or even compete for the challenge to be worthwhile. I've written stories and created characters I would never have dreamed up if not for the challenges! I highly recommend just going for one–competitive or not.

@CM, thanks for mentioning the graphics. I do like to draw a bit. I'm trying to become better/faster at drawing.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Yeah I think I've done only the Jim Butcher challenge here, and that was purely because the idea of it appealled to me. Actually it was brilliant and I do plan on one day publishing the work that came from it. On another forum I often do the 75 word challenge.

I don't see these challenges so much as practice as I do simply fun, and unfortunately they do sometimes clash with other commitments including writing.

But yeah, full credit to those who dream these challenges up.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Just as a follow up I just put that short story out on Kindle about five minutes ago. It already had a cover and had been edited so it was simply a matter of doing the blurb etc.

So thanks guys for this challenge.

Cheers, Greg.