2026 Get Started Right Writing Challenge: Day 12

Well, here we are: final day (sort of). I've actually got a little announcement below, but first...

For this final day of the 12-day Get Started Right Writing Challenge, use at least 30 minutes "as you wish," as long as it's helping your writing. That is, you can write for 30 minutes, read and research for 30 minutes, submit your writing for 30 minutes, brainstorm for 30 minutes, work on an author website for 30 minutes, and so on. It's your time; use it well (and be sure to see what I ended up doing with my 30+ below).

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Originally, I thought I was going to spend my 30 minutes putting together poetry submissions for literary journals and poetry publications, but then, I got sidetracked thinking about how it's been nice to have these little tasks each day for the Get Started Right Writing Challenge. I'll admit it's been difficult on some days to focus, but that's also been the nice thing about it: having some accountability.

Anyway, I do daily poetry challenges in April and November but then do a once-per-week poetry prompt on Wednesdays throughout the rest of the year, and for the first time ever, I started thinking today about the possibility of doing a once-per-week Get Started Right Writing task that I could drop each Monday morning through the year. I probably spent close to an hour on it and didn't come up with an entire year's worth of tasks yet, but I'm definitely good deep into the summer.

So I hope you'll continue to join me on Monday mornings (starting on January 19) to get each week started right as it relates to our writing. Hopefully, it'll give us a little positive nudge at the beginning of every week to keep making progress toward our writing goals.

Speaking of which, excellent job to complete this 12-day challenge. There were plenty of reasons to not complete the challenge this year, but you showed up and stuck it out. Way to go! Let's make 2026 a great year!