Monthly Challenges & Two Techniques to Try
MAY 2023: One Syllable Paragraph
MAY 2023: One Syllable Paragraph
MAY 2023: One Syllable Paragraph
Write
Write a descriptive paragraph of 4 or 5 sentences using words of just one syllable.
Can you do it? Of course you can! Try it now.
JUNE 2023: SANS E Paragraph
MAY 2023: One Syllable Paragraph
MAY 2023: One Syllable Paragraph
Write
Write a descriptive paragraph of 4 or 5 sentences WITHOUT using the 5th letter of the alphabet.
Can you do it? I know you can! Try it now.
JULY 2023: Swarm of "B's"
MAY 2023: One Syllable Paragraph
AUGUST 2023: SANS "THE" PARAGRAPH
Write
Write a descriptive paragraph of 4 or more sentences using exactly 21 "b"s. Can you do it? YOU undoubtably can! Try it now.
AUGUST 2023: SANS "THE" PARAGRAPH
AUGUST 2023: SANS "THE" PARAGRAPH
AUGUST 2023: SANS "THE" PARAGRAPH
Write
Write a descriptive paragraph of 4 or 5 sentences WITHOUT using the word "the".
Can you do it? I know you can! Try it now.
CHALLENGE ENDS 12-12-2023
SEPTEMBER 2023:
AUGUST 2023: SANS "THE" PARAGRAPH
OCTOBER 2023: COSTUME PARTY
Write
September -- What has it come to mean to you as an adult? Sights? Smells? Tastes? Emotions? What distinguishes September from every other month of the year?
OCTOBER 2023: COSTUME PARTY
AUGUST 2023: SANS "THE" PARAGRAPH
OCTOBER 2023: COSTUME PARTY
Write
Craft a costume and assume the identity of your favorite author. Then join the Cottagers at Candlebridge for their Leaf fall Costume Party. For complete instructions and special submission form, see the October issue in the SERENADE Newsletter Archive.
NOVEMBER 2023:
READER's CHOICE!
NOVEMBER 2023:
Write
Write a 100-word postcard to a fictional character.
What's on the front of the card?
Why did you choose that particular post card? Put the Character's name and address at the bottom. Have fun!
DECEMBER 2023
READER's CHOICE!
NOVEMBER 2023:
READER's CHOICE!
READER's CHOICE!
READER's CHOICE!
WRITER'S SPRINT
WRITER'S SPRINT
READER's CHOICE!
Instructions:
Have you ever tried a "writer's sprint"?
Decide what you will work toward: a character sketch? A scene? A description of a setting? Dialogue? A letter written by one character to another? Choose one.
1. Set a timer, or a pleasant alarm, for 15 minutes.
2. Write! As quickly as possible, never allowing your pencil to leave the paper (or your fingers to stray from the keys)
3. When the timer goes off, count up the total story words you've written.
4. Repeat, attempting to surpass your total.
5. Count up the words written in the 2nd sprint.
6. Take a short break, stretch, relax.
7. Set the timer again and write!
8. When the timer goes off, count up.
You've invested less than an hour in your writing. How did it go?
FREEWRITING
WRITER'S SPRINT
FREEWRITING
Instructions:
The goal of freewriting is to let your thoughts flow freely without any inhibitions or self-censorship.
It can be useful as a warm-up exercise to stimulate creativity, overcome writer's block, or generate ideas.
Write continuously without worrying about grammar, spelling, or even logic. Write what comes to mind, capturing the flow of thoughts.
The concept of freewriting was popularized by Peter Elbow, an American writing theorist and professor of English.
He introduced the term and the practice of freewriting in his influential book "Writing Without Teachers" published in 1973.
Dr. Elbow believed that freewriting allows writers to tap into their subconscious and access a more authentic and creative form of expression.
Writing is a way to end up thinking something you couldn't have started out thinking. Writing is, in fact, a transaction with words whereby you free yourself from what you presently think, feel, and perceive."
Oxford Professor Peter Elbow, father of Freewriting
Hello
Glimpses of HYLA & a Monthy Invitation to Write
Each issue of the HYLAn Serenade Newsletter includes a monthly Writer's Challenge. All entries for Ink & Inspiration are eligible for publication in future issues.
All of this year's challenges will remain open until 12/15/2023.