5 Free Writing Challenges You Should Try That Are Fun and Productive

Writers have a love/hate relationship with writing. I know you’d think it’d be all sunshine and rainbows, but the truth is writing is hard. Especially when you do it for a living. 

Whether you’re a copywriter, content writer, or novelist. Follow any writer on social media and chances are you’ve seen them post something about having a difficult time writing.

But that’s part of the process. One we all accept and deal with it. We find ways around it, as we must, since many of us are on deadlines. 

What if you’re not on a deadline? What if you’re writing something for fun and you just want help to get your butt in the chair to actually write it?

Well, this post will certainly help as it showcases some fun and free writing challenges you can try.

Each one challenges you to do a certain word count or to follow a schedule. But they all get you to do one thing: write.

Here are five fun and free writing challenges you should consider trying 

National Novel Writing Month

This writing challenge is perhaps the most important and the most widely known. Chances are you know someone who has or is participating in National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short. Every November thousands of writers—-aspiring and published—-plan to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

It sounds crazy to those who have never written a novel before. But the whole point of NaNoWriMo is to encourage those of us who have a story to tell to get it written. Writing 50,000 words in 30 days forces you to turn off your inner editor and just let the words flow.

To finish on time, you’d need to write 1,667 words a day. And while many people will finish and “win” NaNoWriMo, many will fall short but still gain an amazing experience.

Through the online community, you can have virtual write-ins where you write with fellow participants. They even have personal meetings where you can find others in your local area and meet up somewhere to write.

NaNoWriMo is more than a writing challenge. It’s a community of writers who every November come together to cheer each other on. It’s one solid month of asking you to focus on that story you’ve been meaning to tell.

Because of the immense popularity of this challenge, they branched out and created Camp Nanowrimo, which takes place in April and July. So if you can’t do the challenge in November, you have two other options available to you.

It’s free to do, though you can give a donation to the program if interested. The website with tracking is free no matter if you donate or not. Learn more about National Novel Writing Month and sign up for the next time here.

100 Days of Writing

I first learned about this challenge on Instagram when someone I followed started posting a picture every day with the hashtag #100daysofwriting. She would mention what day she was currently on and give a little update as to where she was in the challenge.

What I love most about this writing challenge is that it’s enough time to write the first draft without feeling like you need to write 2,000 words a day. For example, if you want to write an 80,000-word book, divided by 100 days, you’d need to write 800 words a day.

That is far more achievable for people than 1,667 words. The timeframe is also just over three months. Many writers from Stephen King to Mary Adkins believe writing a first draft in a season or three months is your best bet.

Why? It’s long enough to feel like you can put more attention to the writing, but not so long that you’re procrastinating.

There’s no website or sign-up form for this challenge. It’s all your own accountability. So if you’re interested in trying it out, post your daily update with the hashtag #100daysofwriting.

1,000 Words of Summer

Jami Attenberg, author of I Came All This Way To Meet You and All This Could Be Yours, created this fun challenge for writers during the summer months. It’s something she’s done herself a few times and wanted to share the process with others.

Essentially, you’re challenged to write 1,000 words a day for two weeks straight. By the end, you should have 14,000+ words which is a third of your novel. 

I’ve never done this challenge, but I know many writers who have and swear by it. Mainly because it’s such a short challenge that packs a lot of results. And it also builds momentum. Once you have 14,000 words written, you want to keep going.

Jami announces the upcoming dates of this challenge on her social media, so follow her to know when the next one begins.

300 Words for 365 Days

I learned about this challenge from a friend who learned about it from author Alexis Henderson (The Year of the Witching). It’s a year-long writing challenge she created to hold herself accountable for writing her books. 

Basically, you write 300 words a day for 365 days, which will leave you with a 109,500-word manuscript.

Depending on the genre you’re writing in, that number may seem pretty high. You can adjust it. If you want your first draft to be 80,000 words, just change the math. 300 words a day would mean you’d finish it in 8-9 months.

This is another challenge that appeals to people who may not have time to sit down and write 1,000+ words a day. 300 words is way more doable and can easily be handwritten if you can’t get access to a laptop. You can also write it on your phone.

This is another personal accountability challenge. If you’re interested in doing it, update your progress with the hashtag #300words365.

Couch to 80k

This is another writing challenge I learned about through the Instagram writing community. Author Tim Clare created this free 8-week writing boot camp to help writers overcome blocks and build momentum to finish their novels.

It’s an active participation podcast, and he doesn’t shy away from telling you that in every episode. He’s going to require you to do the work. In fact, he clarifies that if you don’t do the work, you won’t take anything away from the challenge.

The episodes are available on his website and there are six per week, which means you get one day off from writing. 

What I loved most about this challenge was Tim Clare himself. He’s hilarious! 

At the start of each episode, he explains why you’re going to do the particular exercise he has in store. Then you do the writing right there during the podcast. Seriously, the mic is muted for 10-15 minutes. He then pops back on to let you know when it’s over and because you get so focused on the task, you jump at his interruption.

No matter how far I got into the challenge, I was never prepared for him to suddenly come back on. It’s pretty funny when you experience it.

This challenge is something you can do as often as you want. He encourages you to come back when you need a motivational boost because that’s the whole point behind the challenge. 

You’re not required to do these writing challenges. You’re not even required to do one of them. What I wanted to give you were options, so if you needed a new way to hold yourself accountable, you can use one of these writing challenges.

And as you’ll see, each of these challenges comes with a community of other writers who are also doing them. So not only are you getting the accountability part of the challenge, you’re getting the community, which is a key factor in keeping your momentum up.

So do yourself a favor and consider trying one or more of these over the next few months. You might surprise yourself with what you end up writing.

Have you done any of the writing challenges I mentioned? Do you have another one that you swear by? Share it in the comments below.