The Writer's Challenge: July, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, October 2025
The Writer's Triple Play Challenge
Three months.
Three genres.
Three chances to stretch your creative muscles.
The Challenge:
Master a different form of writing each month, then bring your finished piece to our live session. By October, you'll have explored fiction, memoir, and essay - three powerful tools in every writer's toolkit.
JULY 2025: Short Story:
What it is: A complete fictional narrative with characters, conflict, and resolution. Think of it as a movie you can read in one sitting.
Your mission:
Create a story between 1,000-3,000 words.
Focus on one main character facing one central problem. Don't worry about being the next Hemingway - worry about having a beginning, middle, and end that satisfies readers.
Tips:
Start with "What if..." and let your imagination run. Give your character something they want and something standing in their way.
AUGUST 2025: Memoir Piece
What it is: A true story from your life, but crafted with the same care as fiction. Not just "what happened," but why it mattered and what it meant.
Your mission:
Choose one specific moment, day, or experience that changed you.
Write 1,000-2,500 words that help readers feel like they were there and understand why this memory stuck with you.
Tips:
Focus on sensory details and dialogue. Show the scene, don't just tell about it. The best memoirs read like stories that happen to be true.
SEPTEMBER 2025: Personal Essay
What it is:
Your thoughts and insights about something that matters to you. Part argument, part reflection, part conversation with the reader.
Your mission:
Pick a topic you have strong feelings about - parenting, technology, creativity, whatever keeps you up at night thinking. Write 1,500-3,000 words exploring your perspective.
Tips:
Don't just state opinions. Use examples, tell mini-stories, ask questions. The best essays feel like sitting with a thoughtful friend who has something important to say.
Live ASPIRATION HOUR CATCH UPS:
Each month, our session becomes a showcase for that genre. Hear how different writers approached the same challenge, get feedback on your piece, and discover which type of writing energises you most. We can discuss how you got on!
Ready to become a more versatile writer?
Your voice deserves to be heard in fiction, memoir, and essay. Let's make it happen.
CHECK OUT MY READING LIST FOR INSPIRATION.
Would you like some August inspiration?
The Deep Tending: August Writing Exercises
Week 1: Tending the Roots
Exercise: Write about your writing origin story. Not when you started professionally, but the first time you felt the pull of words. Was it a letter? A diary? A story told to you?
Action: Create a "writing ancestry" - list 3 people whose voices shaped how you see storytelling (doesn't have to be famous writers)
Week 2: Tending the Soil
Exercise: Write about a place that holds your stories. A kitchen, childhood bedroom, grandmother's garden. What stories are buried there?
Action: Choose one neglected story idea from your notebooks/drafts. Spend 10 minutes just sitting with it - no writing, just remembering why it mattered to you
Week 3: Tending the Growth
Exercise: Write about something you've been avoiding in your work. What story keeps knocking but you won't answer? Write it a letter explaining why you're not ready
Action: Find one line from your old writing that still gives you chills. Build a new piece around it
Week 4: Tending the Harvest
Exercise: Write about what you want your writing legacy to be. Not fame or prizes, but what feeling you want to leave in readers
Action: Send one piece of your writing to someone who matters to you. Don't ask for feedback, just share the gift of your voice
Monthly Reflection Prompt: "What stories have I been tending in the shadows, and which one is ready for light?"
