May Monthly Challenge: Get Inspired

by | Apr 25, 2016 | Uncategorized

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series and the Ellie Sweet books. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website including the free novella, Throwing Stones.

I don’t know what life is like around your house during May, but it’s a hectic time in the Morrill house. Mostly because school is wrapping up, so we’re doing all those end-of-school and newly-summer things. When I was a teenager, I remember May being full of studying for finals, taking finals, and recovering from finals. So for a notoriously busy month—and because we’ll soon be kicking off the 100-for-100 summer writing challenge (details coming May 23rd)—I wanted to host a writing challenge that wasn’t as intense.

Similar to our February challenge where we tried to come up with a new story idea each day, in May the challenge is to find daily creative inspiration.

What does this mean?

It means you need to daily be on the watch for something that sparks your imagination, fuels your creative fire, and motivates you to write.

That could be but isn’t limited to:

  • Something wonderful you come across in nature. On a walk a few days ago, I happened to be  underneath a maple tree when a gust of wind blew. About fifty seed pods helicoptered all around me. Amazing. Felt like something that might happen in a story.
  • A bit of conversation you hear or are a part of that you are totally going to put in a book someday. 
  • An article or blog post you read that makes you excited to be a writer. A few that have hit my heart recently are Shan’s Write Stories That Excite You and Three Rules For Surviving A Creative Life by Glennon Doyle Melton.
  • A spark of a story idea or a thread for a story you’re already working on.
  • A real-life person who could totally be a character in a book.
  • A piece of art or music that tugs at your writer’s soul.
  • A feature of someone’s that you want to steal for a character. My friend Kelli has the most fabulous curly hair. Very main character worthy.
  • A quote about writing or life that resonates. Our Pinterest board is full of these!
See how open-ended this is? The goal of this month’s challenge is to be intentional about filling our creative cups. When we’re engaged in the act of creating—whether it’s stories, music, or visual art—we’re pouring out. If we don’t consistently cultivate inspiration from our day-to-day lives, we run the risk of drying up our creative cup.

How to take part:

This month will be different than previous monthly challenges where you’ve done the challenge on your own and then emailed me at the end. 

This month you can share your inspiration using #GoTeenWriters on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. If social media isn’t your thing—or if you just don’t want to share every bit of inspiration you get—then keep a private log of it to send to me at the end of the month. The challenge starts May 1st and runs through May 31st, so in the end you should be sending me a list of 31 things that filled your creative cup.
Those who participate in the challenge on social media AND/OR send me the email at the end of the month will be put in a drawing for a $20 Amazon.com gift card!


This challenge is for writers of all ages in all countries. 


Again, if you’re participating on social media make sure to use the hashtag #GoTeenWriters so that I’ll see it! Here’s how to find us on social media if you want to see what inspires us this May:

Jill Williamson
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest

Shannon Dittemore
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest

Stephanie Morrill