Tag: One Month Challenge

I’m not sure whether signing up for the May challenge on 750words.com has backfired or not. I’m still in the running for my position on the Wall of Awesomeness, although because of the contract, I’m doing it solely for the fact that I’ll be considered awesome. Not a bad reward in itself, but I could have at least offered myself an official pat on the back or something. Then again, had I chosen a reward like that, my punishment for ending up on the Wall of Shame could have been an official noogie, so maybe it’s best that I settled for nothing.

But the problem is that I almost always look forward to write my daily entry whether it’s going to be gibberish or not. It’s usually about 15 minutes out of the day (or in my case, the wee hours of the morning) and I just cruise through, letting my fingers roam free and write “Lessee… yeah, can’t think of anything to write at the moment.” Not awe-inspiring, really, but I still look forward to it.

Unfortunately, that’s led to a lack of blog entries. I get that much writing out of my system and then feel thoroughly uninspired to write anything else. Sure, I’ve had ideas floating through my head (like “Hey, if you don’t shave soon, you’ll start to resemble Bigfoot! With stinkier breath!”), but nothing to show for it on here and that’s disappointing.

I wish I had a solution, but I don’t. I should write in here more often for everyone’s sake—yours as well as mine—but if May’s challenge to end up on the Wall of Awesomeness is going to suck all the creative energy out of my brain… maybe I’ll think about this some more when I’m writing tomorrow’s entry.

I’ve been making a push to use 750words.com the last few weeks to get myself in the habit of writing. Will it make me more prolific on the blog? Possibly. Am I going to start cutting and pasting from that website onto here? Hell, no!

Well, unless you want to read two or three paragraphs every day of “Lessee, what to write… I can’t think of anything at the moment, but since I have to write 750 words, I have to think of something…” Sometimes I can come up with something worthwhile, sometimes it’s a lot of rambling bullshit. Either way, I’ve been getting better about writing every day.

I’ve got a nine-day streak going at the moment—before now, I maxed out at three. Pretty impressive display of willpower back then, right? But to show my commitment this time, I’ve signed up for May’s One Month Challenge. I’ve pledged that I’ll write 750 words every day for the entire month. If I succeed, my name goes up on the Wall of Awesomeness. If I miss a day or more, it gets posted on the Wall of Shame. Which sounds better to you, awesomeness or shame? Time to summon a little extra willpower!

Incidentally, the website gives participants the option to pledge themselves some self-created rewards or consequences depending on the result of the challenge. Sure, some people will go on a shopping trip if they succeed and cry if they fail, but some are more creative. Consider:

If I succeed, I will… treat myself to double cheese burger
If I miss a day or more, I will… go into a one-month abstinence of double cheese burger

Now that is a commitment. I couldn’t think of anything to put in my personal contract, but suffice it to say that I’ll revel in my awesomeness or wallow in my shame depending on the results. Wish me luck!