write that essay daily challenge

The 30-Day Writing Challenge: An Alternative to NaNoWriMo for Writers Who Fear Commitment

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I don't know about you, but I'm afraid of commitment.

I find it difficult to choose a movie because I think two hours is too long to focus on the same story. I've had three separate Facebook accounts, over 10 different email addresses (five of which are currently active), and I've dyed my hair more colors than I could count on both my fingers and my toes. I'm the person who researches the restaurant ahead of time and still stares at the menu long after everyone has decided what to order.

Okay, so I know the idea is that even moms and full-time employees can find time, that prioritizing writing over other things is important to nurture your artistic self, and that fitting writing into your day every day is what makes a writer, well, a writer. I get it, I do. I get all of it.

Even so, I would like to see my family for more than 30 minutes after I get home from work, and— sue me— but going to new restaurants with my friends is, like, the Olympic sport of my life. I'd still like to write every day; it's just that producing such a high volume in such a short amount of time is what sends single girls like me running and screaming. So what's a whiny writer like me to do?

Luckily, the ability to produce a high volume of good writing doesn't just happen overnight. In reality, writing doesn't have to be so intense. It's all about baby steps. (Like, I guess one date wouldn't hurt, and it might be fun to post that I'm "in a relationship" on Facebook.)

Writing for a few minutes every day doesn't sound so scary, does it? The trick is that it all adds up. That's why we've created a less intense alternative to 50,000 words in 30 days. This is the 30-Day Writing Challenge, where we've provided creative writing exercises for every day of the month. The best part is that you can write as much or as little as you'd like without pressure and without having to feel bad about it. After all, it's all about creation in any volume, right?

The 30-Day Writing Challenge

Take us through a written walk down your street and to your favorite place through the eyes of somebody else.

Think of three people in your life. Give your character the hair and laugh of person 1, the face and bedroom of person 2, and the wardrobe and mannerisms of person 3. This is your new protagonist. Feel free to give him or her any other characteristics you'd like. Give us an idea of who your character is by describing only the first 60 seconds of the character's day.

Now send your character to his or her grumpy grandmother's house for a visit. Write the scene of your character's arrival.

Imagine that your protagonist has just turned into a statue. Describe his or her thoughts.

The last liquid you drank has turned your protagonist into a superhero. What do your character's new powers allow him or her to do?

Think of your favorite food. Try to make it sound as disgusting as possible.

Spoil the ending of your favorite movie without any context.

Take a nondescript sentence such as, "How are you?" Write the same line from at least five different points of view.

Turn a Tweet into a haiku .

Try to convince your reader that the mythological creature of your choosing exists.

You are now a dragon. Describe your hoard.

Take the first line of your favorite novel. Remove and replace the nouns and verbs, and write a story that begins with your new line. Delete the first line.

Think of the worst pain you've ever felt. Now give your protagonist a papercut and over-exaggerate the pain using your own descriptions.

Your character meets somebody new on the bus. His or her opinion about the person is changed by the end of the bus trip. How did this change occur?

Characterize the second-last app on your phone or the last website you've visited (before this one). Send this new character to the supermarket.

The last thing you touched (other than the keyboard, mouse, screen, etc.) is trying to kill your protagonist. Explain why.

A magic trick involving cards has gone horribly wrong. What are the consequences?

Free write about your first protagonist (from Day 1) meeting the new character from Day 15.

Cross an item off your bucket list by doing it in your writing.

Ask somebody you know how his or her day was. Make any kind of poem out of their answer.

Your character's skeleton is trying to escape his or her body. Describe what happens.

Find a cliché you absolutely hate. Rewrite it while keeping the intended meaning intact.

Make an existing protagonist into an antagonist by changing one small thing about him or her. Write a pitch that sells this antagonist's story.

Put your favorite poem through a translator into a different language and then back again. Do this until the poem is no longer recognizable. Rewrite it and turn it into lyrics for a song.

One of your characters has been mistaken for somebody else. Write what happens next.

Write the log line for a mockumentary.

Tell the story of a man who lives in a motel.

Your character picks up a locket or a frame. Explain its contents and their significance.

Think of your greatest fear. If it's an object, person, or place, make it sound loveable. If it's some kind of experience, make it sound fun.

Finish a story with the line, "Nothing ever felt easier to say."

That wasn't so scary, was it?

Which prompts from the 30-Day Writing Challenge were your favorites? Did anything surprise you about your writing? We hope that you've come out of this month no worse for wear than when you started. After all, writing is work, but it's also supposed to be good for the soul. Even if you didn't do all of the challenges, you've written more than you would have if you hadn't taken part in these writing exercises at all. Like I said, it's all about taking baby steps. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some email accounts to close once and for all . . .

Image sources: Nathan Walker/Stocksnap.io, obpia30/Pixabay.com

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30 Day Writing Challenge:The Complete Beginner’s Guide

• Post author By Onyemechi Nwakonam
• Post date January 3, 2021
• No Comments on 30 Day Writing Challenge:The Complete Beginner’s Guide

My writing life was a dream I had that never seemed to come true.

It was all filled with a mirage.

The lofty projections I had in every new year resolution.

Still, the goals crumbled from inaction.

Doing a personal 30 day writing challenge was the turning point for me.

I built a writing routine after years of struggling.

Now, I can focus on improving my craft and actionable tips to apply to my writing.

This is what happens when you build a routine.

Maybe you are like me and you want to nail in your writing goals with a thirty day writing challenge.

In this blog post we would look at:

• What is a 30-day Writing Challenge?
• Why you should do a thirty day challenge?
• Types of thirty day challenges
• How to do a thirty day challenge( with tips for starting and finishing)

Let’s get started.

What is a thirty day Writing Challenge?

A 30-day writing challenge is a type of writing challenge that spans over thirty days.

Consistent writing in thirty days.

Keep in mind that some 30 day writing challenge would involve writing a specific 

• Number of works (poetry, short stories, etc)
• Length of work(word count, lines for Poetry)

Why do a 30 day Writing Challenge?

There are many reasons why you should be doing a thirty day challenge

1.Build a writing habit

Research has shown that it takes 18-254 days to build a habit.

This depends on the complexity of the task to the person.

Simple tasks like drinking water at a certain time of the day take less time compared to going to the gym daily.

When getting started as a writer a thirty-day challenge can help you write over a consistent amount of time to allow the task to get ingrained into you.

If your goal is to build a writing habit your focus is different.

What do I mean?

I said earlier that a Writing habit is doing a task regularly.

It could be every day, every week days, etc.

For the purpose of the thirty days challenge, I would take the writing habit as daily Writing.

Your main goal is to show up every day to write not fretting too much about the quality/quantity of work.

Yeah, you have goals, word count targets, and other writing parameters but writing every day is more important than meeting a word count.

Here’s what I mean.

Let’s say your goal in doing a NaNoWriMo challenge is to write a 50000 words novel.

You can reach this target in different ways.

First, you can decide to do long writing sprints to come up with ten thousand words.

With this approach, you would reach your goal with five writing sprints.

But if your goal is to build a habit.

You will be obsessed with writing every single day of the challenge rather than meeting the word count.

What is a writing habit?

A writing habit is writing on a regular or consistent basis.

It is when showing up to write becomes automatic.

It gives you the time to work on tasks that are not automatic like practicing writing tips on craft.

Build your willpower

One of the most common causes of writer’s block is procrastination.

Mr procrastination is the child of low will power.

If you succeed in the challenge emphasis on “If”, you build that willpower that allows you to show up and chase your goals.

This is closely related to habits and routines.

In the grand scheme of things they all connect to help you reach your writing goals.

Produce more works

If you have plans of writing a collection of short stories, full-length poetry books, novels, or a nonfiction piece.

Doing a challenge would help you get the words down so you can focus on rewriting your vomit draft.

For me, writing is more prone to writer’s block compared to rewriting.

In writing, you are working with a scary yet powerful blank page or screen.

While in rewriting you already have something concrete you are working on.

Let me know which ( Writing vs Rewriting ) is more difficult for you and often leads to procrastinating.

If you do a storyaday challenge.

The challenge requires you to write a short story every day for thirty days.

That is about three collections of short stories.

Keep in mind that is if you are using  12 short stories per collection.

Improve craft

While writing a lot over 30 days whether it’s creative writing or nonfiction.

You become better while testing and trying out new ideas.

When Ray Bradbury was asked for his writing advice for young writers he advised them to write a short story weekly as all can’t be that terrible.

In the worst-case scenario, you have a piece of work to edit to life.

It depends on the challenge you are doing. 

If you are doing a poetry 30 day challenge you would have written 30 poems.

Most of the poems will suck.

You can always edit them.

Types of 30 day Writing Challenge

There are many types of 30 day writing challenges depending on the type of work you are writing during the thirty days.

1.Journal Writing Challenge

Journalling is an interactive recording of affairs causing you to reflect and review them.

When the term journalling is used it is often for spiritual/stoic journal.

But that’s just one of the numerous types of journals out there.

I think it’s because a stoic/spiritual journal is one that’s common to many persons.

Compared to a writing journal that only writers keep.

There are also other specific journals like

• Reading Journal

To track your Reading goals and adventures. Using this journal you can also record your action plan from a book you have read.

• Writing Journal(Notebook)

Those ideas that come and go can be trapped in this journal.

It is meant to help you grow your writing skills.

Things you can record are :

• Snippets of dialogues
• Brain dump 
• Sketches of story

It is not written with the intent of publication.

Depending on the specific skills and area of your life you which to grow in you can have a journal to record your progress as well as frustrations, mistakes and lessons learnt.

Poetry Writing Challenge

There are many online 30 day poetry challenge.

The most popular is the national poetry writing month in April.

There is also another one in October called octopowrimo. 

They all work on the same rule. You write a poem daily for thirty days.

The websites post prompts to help you write.

Note: you don’t have to use the Prompts.

Your poem is not restricted to any length. 

You can write short poems and gigantic poems.

Short story Writing Challenge

In this challenge, you write a complete short story in a day.

From planning to putting out the first draft.

Storyaday challenge is a popular writing challenge where you write thirty short stories in a month.

If you fail to write a short story for whatever reason.

You don’t carry the incomplete short story to the next day.

I know I mentioned writing challenges hosted online.

Nothing stops you from doing a personal 30 day challenge. 

Novel Writing Challenge

The most popular example of the 30 day novel writing challenge is the NaNoWriMo challenge.

It is held in November every year.

Where you set out to write 50,000 words in thirty days.

You can set your personal goal.

You don’t have to wait for Nanowrimo in November.

Novella Writing Challenge

I made this one up but it can be done.

Not everyone can write a novel in thirty days.

How about a novel instead.

Instead of 50,000 words, we write 15,000-30,000 words.

Which is achievable for most people.

Nonfiction Writing Challenge

There are various types of nonfiction challenge.

Using the types of nonfiction we can further break the nonfiction writing challenge into:

This is a piece of work that tells the story of one’s life around a particular theme.

It isn’t the recording of one’s entire life like the autobiography.

2.Self help books

In self-help books, you can write a business book, a motivational book,

We have looked at the types of 30-day writing challenge let’s look at how you can do one.

How to do a thirty-day writing challenge?

In November 2020 while the NaNoWriMo buzz was going on I decided to do a writing challenge instead of word count.

I chose to build a writing habit.

I missed some days but I learnt a lot.

All the lessons I will share with you.

Before doing this writing challenge I have had a series of writing challenges I wanted to do.

I never started some.

For others, I started but never completed it.

This might sound silly but in some of the writing challenges, I forgot that I decided to do a writing challenge until the end of the month.

What was the magic approach?

You want to be clear and what you are writing. 

The type of genre of writing.

This doesn’t mean you can’t do a thirty-day creative writing challenge.

Of course, you can but in that case, it would be good if you know what you are doing.

2.Know your why 

Earlier on I talked about the various reasons for doing this challenge.

Find out yours. Your goals.

This would influence how you plan out your challenge.

3.Plan and Prepare

Nothing scares me most as wondering what to write as the writing time draws near.

You want to save your brain the labor of thinking of what to write so you can sit and write.

Having a plan helps you to always move on even if the Muse doesn’t show up.

If inspiration comes overflowing you can go the path.

But if nothing comes you are not stuck wondering what to do.

For the ideas, you can use writing prompt generators.

If you are doing an online challenge most of them would post prompts.

You don’t have to use it.

But you have an idea you can always fall back on when nothing comes.

If you are doing a journalling challenge there are journal prompts to get you writing.

4.Set a time

When it comes to doing a challenge it is not enough to say you are going to write.

Goals without a plan are just mere wishes.

When are you going to be writing most of the time?

But when is the best time to write.

This largely depends on you.

If you are a morning or evening person.

Enough of that.

Let’s be practical.

Do you have the time to show up consistently at that time you have set(chosen)?

The mistake I made when doing those challenges is I set my writing time as though I have just one life, The Writing Life.

The short and simple answer is….

The time you would always have to show up.

5.Prepare for Obstacles

When  I decided to do a writing challenge.

I envisage a smooth ride to that goal.

Well, that’s not often the case.

List out the things, activities, people that might stop you from showing up.

The next step is to think of how you are going to deal with those obstacles.

” We all have a plan until we are punched in the face” – Mohammed Ali

With these obstacles prepared for you won’t be caught off guard as already know they would come.

6.Test challenge

A test challenge is a challenge you do to check, verify your assumptions, and adjust based on real-time feedback.

In the previous step, you have written out the obstacles and how you wish to deal with them.

I bet there are obstacles you didn’t write about.

Solutions that are not practical.

It’s simply because you don’t know of them.

With a testing challenge, you are revealed to those shortcomings.

Let’s say you want to do a 30-day writing challenge where you write for two hours every day.

I will put it in another way.

You want to write a novel in a month and you estimated you would have to write 2,000 words every day to reach this goal.

You estimated it would take you two hours every day to reach this word count.

The test challenge would be to write to that stipulated time and see if you reached the word count.

When you do a testing challenge it would help you see if you are correct with your estimation.

Whether you are underestimating or overestimating.

And you can adjust accordingly.

This saves you the resentment from not reaching your goals because you underestimated what was required.

For me when I saw I couldn’t reach my set goal instead of continuing I gave up.

Here’s why it’s magic.

Your brain knows it’s not the main challenge so if you flop.

It wouldn’t fill your heart with discouraging thoughts.

Simply because it knows that the goal of the test challenge is not to reach your writing goals but to evaluate them.

7.Have a backup (alternate plan)

For me, my set time for writing is 7 pm

but it’s not every day I would have that time to write.

With this understanding I set an alternate plan on what to do so I can reach my daily goal no matter what.

I write before the time.

Sometimes it’s in the morning or later into the night depending on what type of obstacle.

8.Measure progress.

Look our brain loves and craves instant gratification.

This part is a life-changing lesson for me.

To measure your progress you can use a habit tracker or word counter depending on your goal.

What’s a habit tracker?

A habit tracker is a digital or physical tool you use to log in your progress every day.

A word count tracker is what you use to keep track of your daily word count.

What I want you to do is to take an old calendar 📅 and draw out boxes for the month.

You can use the forest app or habitify habit tracker for digital options.

Post the calendar where you can see it without having to go through the stress of looking at it.

For each day you complete you mark a chain that will come together as you complete more days.

There two rules

• Don’t break the chain
• If you ever break the chain don’t break it twice.

For a word count tracker, you can use a spreadsheet to log in the word count daily.

You can also use a physical sheet to do it.

Ilys app is an online app that will give you statistics on word count and time spent.

Seeing the chains gives me an immediate reward to work cause I don’t want to break the chain.

When you start the first day you won’t see the magic until the third and fourth day when the chain starts to connect.

A simple way to trick your brain with instant gratification.

We have talked about a lot of thirty-day challenges.

I believe that action is easy if the steps are not so complex.

Now it’s your turn what is your reason for doing a 30day challenge.

Which of the tactics are you going to apply next.

Let me know in the comments section 🤔.

Thank you for reading this post.

Try these tips out and let me know how it went.

Make sure you don’t miss a post from me by subscribing to my blog for free.

By Onyemechi Nwakonam

Hi ,I write poetry and short prose. I am excited to help you organise your writing journey.

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30 Day Writing Challenge

The best way to make your writing stronger is to do it every day

Many people dream of “being a writer.” They picture a published book with their name on it, or an article they wrote going out to the masses. But so many of us have difficulty actually putting pen to paper (or, fingers to keyboard) to write. The number one thing a writer needs to do is write. And yet, it can be so challenging for so many of us.

One of the best ways to combat writer’s block is to engage in a writing challenge. For example, each summer, the author Jami Attenberg hosts “1,000 Words of Summer,” a challenge to writers to write 1,000 words every day for two weeks.

Here, you’ll find a 30-day writing challenge. This is 30 short prompts for you to do, doing one a day per day for 30 days.

You don’t have to set aside too much time for these, nor do you have to set a daily word count for yourself, unless a specific prompt calls for it. The most important thing is that you write. No matter how much you produce each day, after a month, you’ll be surprised at how much writing you’ll have done.

• Pick a color, any color. Write about that color as if it were a person. What are its good personality traits? Bad? What’s its name?
• Write about a place you visited yesterday. If you went out, write about somewhere you visited. If you stayed in, focus on one room you spent time in. Describe it in detail.
• Who was your favorite teacher? Why? Write about them.
• Who was your least favorite teacher? Why? Write about them.
• Write at least one page, uninterrupted, about absolutely anything that comes to mind. If nothing at all comes to mind, write about your thoughts on emptiness.
• Grab a book off a bookshelf. Open it to a random page. Close your eyes and point to a random passage. Type up that passage. Now, write something about that passage. Maybe it’s whatever happens next (though, it shouldn’t follow whatever really happens next in that book), or maybe it’s whatever would be the complete opposite of what you’ve just read.
• When was the last time you cried? Why? Write about it.
• Go to Wikipedia’s random article generator page . Read whatever comes up, and then write something short based on it. Maybe a main character comes from the article, or maybe a scenario. You’ll have to see what pops up, but use it as inspiration in some way.
• Write a story that begins with this line: “I kicked off my boots. My socks were wet, my feet were frozen. The fireplace was dark.”
• What is the stupidest argument you’ve ever been a part of? Who was stupider, you or the other person? Write about it.
• In a small town, there’s a dog that keeps getting into a chicken coop and eating the chickens. The owner of the chicken coop is threatening to shoot the dog. Write a story about the conversation that happens between the chicken owner and the dog owner.
• The owner of the dog called the town government on the chicken coop owner. There’s a hearing about it. Write the story of that hearing.
• Imagine a family experience you had. Maybe it’s a holiday, or a vacation, or something more mundane. Pick a family member other than yourself, and write a scene from that memory from their perspective instead of your own.
• Write a story where the first line is: “The sun was burning his nose, and all he could think about was chicken nuggets.”
• Write 200 words about the room you’re sitting in right now.
• Write 400 words about the room you wish you were sitting in right now.
• Disregard whatever you know about the history of PopTarts . Imagine a board meeting where the concept of PopTarts is proposed. Write the scene.
• Who is your favorite movie character? Who is your favorite book character? They just ran into each other. Write the scene.
• Opening line: “She’d never seen a dead body before, but, there he was.”
• Write a scene where Person A wants to get through a door that Person B is on the other side of. How does Person A try to convince Person B? Write the scene.
• Write a scene from the perspective of a fish.
• Write 500 words about a person who means a lot to you. Focus on one or two personality traits the person has, and how they’ve used those traits in a way that’s made you happy.
• Write a scene from the perspective of a toddler who really, really, REALLY wants some fruit snacks. How do you convince the gatekeeper of the fruit snacks to give them to you?
• Opening line: “The moon was bright. Not that he could see it.”
• Closing line: “They’d miss each other, but hey, at least it happened.”
• A famous couple is on their way to an awards show, but they’re in a fight. Write what happens on their limo drive.
• Look through what you’ve written over the past 26 days and pick one prompt that you want to expand upon. Write at least 400 more words about whatever it is.
• Write a scene between a mentor and a mentee in which the mentee has to stand up for him or herself because the mentor isn’t giving him/her enough credit.
• Opening line: “He woke up to the sound of someone breathing, which was startling enough. Things didn’t get less startling when he rolled over to see who was asleep next to him.”
• Opening line: “As they walked through the forest, they heard a branch snap under the weight of a boot. But it was too far away to have been caused by either of them.”

When you finish this 30 days, applaud yourself. You just created 30 pieces of writing that could now be turned into any number of new projects. You wrote. You are a writer. Good job, friend.

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Lauren Harkawik

Lauren Harkawik is a journalist, essayist, and fiction writer based in Vermont. You can read her writing on her website.

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Develop a Daily Writing Habit with the Write Now! 30-Day Challenge By Jennifer Onorati

Want to strengthen your writing?

Start with a daily routine.

This 30-day challenge is perfect for starting small … and sticking to it!

Get started below … and move one step closer to banishing blank page blues.

For added accountability … post about your daily practice on social media! Remember to tag us @AmericanWritersArtistsInstitute on Facebook and @awaicopywriting on Instagram to show us how you’re doing and to give us permission to re-share your amazing progress!

Write Now! 30-Day Challenge

Day 1: try a before-and-after approach by heather robson.

When writing persuasive copy, you must convince your reader that your product will change his life.

Day 2: Write the Next Chapter of Your Life By Lori Allen

Take control of your life by being responsible for every moment. If you do, each chapter will end the way you want.

Day 3: You Know More Than You Think You Do By Christina Gillick

We’re all full of interesting information and hungry to learn more. Learn something new today and share it wide.

Day 4: Become an Email Subject Line Machine By Pam Foster

Practice writing stronger email subject lines with this video from Pam Foster, Director of Copywriter Training at AWAI.

Day 5: Email a Story with Good Advice By Pam Foster

Collect 7 pieces of advice to share with a college graduate and write a story email. Do the same for a client.

Day 6: Decide When You Really Like to Write By Casey Demchak

Build a strong writing habit by choosing the best time of day for you and sticking to it.

Day 7: Where Do You Generate Your Best Ideas? By Casey Demchak

Like all writers, you must determine when and where you usually come up with your best ideas.

Day 8: Get Unstuck by Going in Reverse By Marcia Yudkin

Trick your mind out of writer’s block by writing deliberately bad copy… you’ll be surprised how many good ideas will grow.

Day 9: Ask Your Prospect 20 Questions By Jim Wright

Have a list of 20 or more questions to ask prospects about your product … both prospects that love it and those that find it useless.

Day 10: How Do You Want to Be Remembered? By Ted Capshaw

Another exercise to build up your storytelling chops… this time doing some soul-searching to define what people will remember about you.

Day 11: Describe Your Perfect Childhood Day By Jen Adams

To build up your storytelling chops, reminisce about your favorite day as a child, teenager, and adult, and write down your stories.

Day 12: Write a Vacation Postcard By Christy Goldfeder

In this exercise from Christy Goldfeder, get your imagination going and create a picture by vividly describing a vacation memory.

Day 13: Interview a Famous Person By Pam Foster

Practice your interview skills by writing a question script for someone you admire.

Day 14: Powerful Proofing Tips By Nick Usborne

Use Nick’s techniques for making your copy stronger.

Day 15: Your Major Marker Event By Ted Capshaw

Ted Capshaw, leader, coach, facilitator encourages all writers to be in touch with their feelings. Listen to Ted’s Truth on how to do that.

Day 16: Your Most Powerful Tool: The Verb By Jen Stevens

Good verbs infuse your writing with more spunk. Listen to copywriter and editor, Jennifer Stevens, and practice using your most powerful tool.

Day 17: Jumpstart Your Headline Writing By Elizabeth Blessing

Copywriter Elizabeth Blessing shows you a simple technique to stimulate your headline writing.

Day 18: Put Your Most Important Word Last By Gordon Graham

It’s a proven fact that people tend to remember the first and last items in a series best. And, the words in the middle always get lost. When writing copy, always save your strongest words for last.

Day 19: Write from Emotion By Carline Anglade-Cole

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Day 20: Copy Your Hero’s Copy By Steve Slaunwhite

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Day 21: Solve a Problem By Li Vasquez-Noone

Murphy’s Law says ‘Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.’ And, it seems to happen most often on vacation or away from home. These events trigger emotions. Learning how to get past those emotions to solve the problem and then telling the whole story makes for strong copy.

Day 22: Tell Me Your Biggest Fear By Christina Gillick

Fear can be paralyzing and brings strong emotion to the heart and mind. Write about your biggest fear and how it makes you feel. Emotions sell and fear is one of the biggest. Practice writing stronger copy with this tip from Christina Gillick.

Day 23: Paint a Vivid Picture By Charlotte Hicks

The 4 P’s of copywriting are vital to the success of any copy. Use this prompt from Charlotte Crockett to develop your skills to help prospects picture your product benefits.

Day 24: List Your Prospect’s Pain and Pleasure Points By Brian Kurtz

In this writing prompt from Brian Kurtz, you’ll dig deep to discover what motivates your prospect.

Day 25: Your Favorite Childhood Storybook By Rebecca Matter

Take a playful approach to your writing practice by describing your favorite childhood story. Watch this video by Rebecca Matter, President, AWAI, to see how you can strengthen your copywriting by writing about the sweet memories that come from recalling a favorite childhood book.

Day 26: Write About Your Best Date Ever By Mindy McHorse

Think about the best date you ever had – or maybe the worst – and write a story about it. Watch this video by copywriter Mindy McHorse, Managing Editor of Barefoot Writer, and turn a great date – or a lousy one – into a compelling story that delves into all the senses.

Day 27: Assessing Your Assets By Brian Kurtz

Put on your thinking cap to figure out what makes your product or service unique. Watch this video by master marketer, Brian Kurtz, to get on your way to writing strong copy.

Day 28: Write a Story About an Object By Heather Robson

Pick an ordinary object and create a story about it … so you can connect with your reader’s senses. Watch this video by Heather Robson, web copywriter and Managing Editor of Wealthy Web Writer, to see how you can get creative and write about an “object d’art” — bringing it to life through a story.

Day 29: Make Benefits Irresistible By Sandy Franks

In this Write Now! exercise, you’ll discover a new way to take ordinary benefits and make them extraordinary … one of the secrets to strengthening the results of your copywriting. Watch this video by Sandy Franks, Copy Chief at AWAI, to see how you can create irresistible benefits and get someone to say yes to your sales letter.

Day 30: Write Every Day By Will Newman

Practice makes perfect in most skills, and writing is no exception.

Congrats! You’ve reached the end of the Write Now! 30-day Challenge!

Tell us how you did below!

Write Now! Persuasive Writing Prompts are presented by The Professional Writers’ Alliance (PWA) — a professional association just for direct-response industry writers. Learn about the many benefits of a PWA membership.

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4 Responses to “Develop a Daily Writing Habit With the Write Now! 30-Day Challenge”

Writing a short paragraph or two about a goal you have set for the day Your content will include a subject and as many details you can spell to best describe your pathway

Dominic Guisti – over a year ago

I have set a new goal to spend time everyday reading, writing, and learning to be a freelance writer, copywriter, and content writer over the next 30 days. My display name is my nickname and the word play with the year to remind me that i am not "working", i am "playing" as writing will be fun and enjoyable to me as I continue following my dream to be a freelance from home writer.

katsplay23 – 11 months ago

I wrote in my journal every single day when I was younger. I remember having stacks of notebooks. I have many notepads and journals to this very day. I know this is my true happy place. Now I get to learn how to write content persuasively and professionally for others. I'm elated to embark on such a profound journey that brings much restoration and peace. And to think this could be a main source of income for generations to come! I'm truly grateful. I'm truly thankful. I'm glad to have AWAI!

MajorFilexServicesLLC – 5 months ago

I've never had a journal, and instead, I always listed what I needed to do in my calendar book. Because of injuries, I took it upon myself to keep track of everything for specific reasons. I could write a book from the written information saved over the years. I started, or should I say, I tried to do that some ten years ago, but unfortunately, my wife became ill, and all my time was taken up in seeing to her needs. She has passed, and I am ready to continue my education through AWAI.

Johnboy5484 – 3 months ago

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Hello, welcome to a little thing called 750 Words

Join 859,235 other writers by signing up now →, ★ what is this site about.

It's about learning a new habit: Writing. Every. Day.

I've long been inspired by an idea I first learned about in The Artist's Way called morning pages. Morning pages are three pages of writing done every day, typically encouraged to be in "long hand", typically done in the morning, that can be about anything and everything that comes into your head. It's about getting it all out of your head, and is not supposed to be edited or censored in any way. The idea is that if you can get in the habit of writing three pages a day, that it will help clear your mind and get the ideas flowing for the rest of the day. Unlike many of the other exercises in that book, I found that this one actually worked and was really really useful.

I've used the exercise as a great way to think out loud without having to worry about half-formed ideas, random tangents, private stuff, and all the other things in our heads that we often filter out before ever voicing them or writing about them. It's a daily brain dump. Over time, I've found that it's also very helpful as a tool to get thoughts going that have become stuck, or to help get to the bottom of a rotten mood.

750 Words is the online, future-ified, fun-ified translation of this exercise. Here's how it works:

★ All online and private

In the past, looking for a spare notebook was probably easier than looking for a computer. Not anymore. I don't know if my hands even work anymore with pen and paper for any task that takes longer than signing a check or credit card receipt.

★ It's not blogging or status updating

I've tried writing my 750 words a day on Livejournal, Wordpress, PBWorks, Tumblr, and all of these other sites designed around putting content online. It hasn't worked for me. I fear that I might accidentally forget to mark daily pages as private. And it's just weird having my private brain dumps out on various sites that are designed to be more social. I don't need to title my entries, or tag them, or enable comments, or any of that other stuff. This is writing, and it's online, but it's not blogging, or Twittering, or Facebook status updating. This is between you and you.

★ 3 Pages = 750 words

I looked this up. 250 words per page is considered to be the standard accepted number of words per page. So, three standard pages are about 750 words. Of course if 750words.com hadn't been available, I would've totally found a way to prove that 249 words per page was the accepted standard. It really just comes down to the fact that this amount of writing feels about right. You can't just fart out 3 pages without running into your subconscious a little bit... 750 words takes a bit of effort, and it never fails to get me typing things that I have wanted to articulate without realizing it. And that's the point.

Because 750 words is nothing to sneeze at, it's also nice to have an easy way to know how many words you have to go. This site of course tracks your word count at all times and lets you know when you've passed the blessed 750 mark. And it gives you a nice big screen to write on, automatically scrolls as you write (like a typewriter), and automatically saves your writing as you go.

★ It's fun

Every month you get a clean slate. If you write anything at all, you get 1 point. If you write 750 words or more, you get 2 points. If you write two, three or more days in a row, you get even more points. It's fun to try to stay on streaks and the points are a way to play around with that. You can also see how others are doing points-wise if you're at all competitive that way. How I see it, points can motivate early on, and eventually the joy of writing will kick in and you'll be writing without any external motivation at all.

★ Learn about yourself in the process

For example, learn about how often you get distracted, and how fast you write.

Every day you write, you'll get beautiful stats that analyze the feelings, themes, and mindset of your words.

★ It's about writing, and getting into your brain

The rest are just tricks to help get us there.

★ Who made this?

I did , and Kellianne helps keep it running smoothly. Tell us what you think of it or how you want it to improve by talking with us over at on Twitter or Facebook .

Join 50+ Writers who built a writing habit in 30 days

You'll get a short writing prompt each day for 30 days to write a short piece and publish it on Medium. In addition, get access to an exclusive facebook group to share your articles and connect with other challengers.

Testimonials

One Full Year’s Worth Of 30-Day Writing Challenges For 2024

Alana Chase

With over 10 years’ experience in editing and editorial team management, Alana serves as Eleven's Head of Editing, aiding editors in creating top-quality content and overseeing recruitment to ensure only the best of the best join Eleven’s ranks. A seasoned digital journalist and writer, Alana holds an MA in Creative Writing and is accomplished in spearheading content strategy at high-growth media startups.

At Eleven, we’re big fans of 30-day writing challenges. Our writers, editors, and account managers all have their favorites — from the National Novel Writing Month challenge (which our Head of Editing has completed three times!) to the month-long microblogging challenge (which captivated our Head of SEO). 

The beauty of these challenges is that they each target different skills and push you in different ways. And they all help you become a stronger, more self-assured, more consistent writer.

In this article, we’ve rounded up our favorite 30-day writing challenges — 12 total so you can complete one ‌each month of the year. You’ll find challenges to clear the creative cobwebs in your mind, refine your persuasive writing skills, experiment with new genres and styles, master narrative structure, and more. 

Let’s dive in!

List of challenges 

• ‍ January : That’s So Random! ‍
• February : Devil’s Advocate ‍
• March : Microblogging Madness ‍
• April : A Poem a Day ‍
• May : First and Last Lines ‍
• June : Journaling Challenge ‍
• July : Parrot Challenge ‍
• August : Paragraph-a-Day AcWriMo ‍
• September : Writing in Reverse ‍
• October : Facing Fears ‍
• November : NaNoWriMo Challenge ‍
• December : Rewriting Challenge

Tips and best practices

Thirty-day writing challenges are marathons, not sprints. Follow these tips to finish challenges without burning out:

• Warm up with writing exercises before the challenge begins . For ideas, check out our favorite writing exercises .
• Schedule writing time into your calendar so you’re more likely to commit to the challenge each day.
• Eliminate distractions by decluttering your writing space and turning off all device notifications. 
• Have the right mindset. Writing coach and author Nina Amir calls this the “secret sauce” that turns good writers into great ones . Be willing to commit, go outside your comfort zone, and remain optimistic and determined.
• Write how and where you’re most comfortable — in your bedroom, on the couch, or out in nature, using a notebook and pencil, your computer, or even your phone or tablet. 
• Get support. Let your friends and family know you’re completing a writing challenge so they can cheer you on — and not interrupt during writing time. Also, consider joining an online writing community like Eleven’s (coming soon!) to seek advice from other writers.
• If you miss a day, jump back in the next. Life happens, but don’t let one interruption derail your goal.

30-day writing challenges for 2024

January: that’s so random.

Skills it targets: Creativity and improvisation.

For January’s challenge, you’ll write in response to random prompts, incorporate random words into your writing, and use existing text as a jumping-off point for new work. 

Aim to write 500 words each day — about any topic you’d like — and follow this schedule:

• January 1-10: Learn The New York Times ’ Word of the Day and write in response to it or use it in your writing each day.
• January 11-20: Use Semrush’s Free Title Generator to generate headlines based on a topic or keyword you input — like “Everything You Need to Know About Flower Care.” Each day, write an article based on a headline Semrush suggests. 
• January 21-31: Choose a piece of writing — a book, blog article, short story, academic paper, etc. — and select a random line from it. Use that as the first line of your new work each day.

February: Devil’s Advocate

Skills it targets: Using persuasion, argumentation, and logic effectively in your writing.

Each day, take an opinion and write a piece that argues against it. For example, write 500 words on why pepperoni isn’t the tastiest pizza topping or why making your bed every morning isn’t actually necessary. 

The point of this challenge is to get you thinking about topics from new perspectives and refine your ability to create convincing arguments. 

Choosing a subject you feel passionate about and then writing a persuasive argument from the opposite side of the debate is also a great way to understand others’ perspectives and see the world in new ways. This is a wonderful exercise, not just for writing, but also for personal growth. 

March: Microblogging Madness

Skills it targets: Writing concisely and capturing readers’ attention quickly. 

In March, challenge yourself to write a microblog post each day. Pick any topic you’d like (use BlogSpot’s Blog Ideas Generator if you need inspiration) and explain it in 100 words or fewer. 

If the 100-word limit sounds too daunting, try the “Ship 30 for 30” Challenge instead. Each day, you’ll write an “Atomic Essay”: an essay focused on a single idea, written in under 250 words, and able to fit into a smartphone screenshot.

And if blogging isn’t your style but creative writing is, modify this challenge to a microfiction one: Write a new 100-word story each day in March. ServiceScape has a fantastic prompt generator (based on dozens of genres), and Reedsy can give you a plot outline, if you get stuck.

April: A Poem a Day

Skills it targets: ​​Using imagery and metaphorical expressions and conveying emotion in your writing.

​​​​Celebrate National Poetry Month by writing a poem every day in April. 

Write about whatever you want, in whatever poetic form — anything goes! Just challenge yourself to use strong imagery, metaphors, and emotions in your poems.

Even if you don’t plan to become the next poet laureate, improving your poetry can make you an all-around better writer in many unexpected ways. 

If you’re new to poetry or want more guidance throughout this challenge, check out these resources:

• Escapril on Instagram . Created by best-selling poet and novelist Savannah Brown, Escapril is a 30-day poetry writing challenge with unique daily prompts. 
• Squibler’s list of 132 poetry prompts .
• Reedsy’s poetry writing prompts .
• Jericho Writers’ list of 100 poetry prompts . 
• The Poetry Society UK’s National Poetry Writing Competition writing prompts .

May: First and Last Lines

Skills it targets: ​​Crafting memorable beginnings and endings and experimenting with narrative structures.

On May 1, you have total freedom: write anything you want in as many words as you like. Then, on May 2, you’ll use the last line of your writing from May 1 as the first line of a new piece of writing. Continue this method each day for the rest of the month.

June: Journaling Challenge

Skills it targets: Injecting personality and authenticity into your writing.

​​For June, you’ll focus on self-expression by writing a daily journal entry. Reflect on your emotions, experiences, thoughts, and opinions. Write in your own unique voice, and be as authentic as possible. 

By the end of the month, you’ll have done what prolific writer Joyce Carol Oates has for decades. She’s ‌kept a journal since her early 20s and recommends regular journaling to writers of all levels . 

July: Parrot Challenge

Skills it targets: Understanding tone of voice and adapting your writing for various audiences.

Each day in July, pick any topic you'd like, choose a random author, and write about your chosen topic in their tone of voice. You can even explore new genres. 

The goal is to “parrot” the writing you’ve chosen each day. For example, if you mainly write horror stories, pick a romance novelist and emulate their tone of voice in a new piece of writing. Or, if you do most of your writing in an academic setting, try writing in a casual tone for a digital audience.

August: Paragraph-a-Day AcWriMo

Skills it targets: Academic writing, research skills, and communicating ideas clearly. 

Academic Writing Month (AcWriMo) takes place in November, but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate it early. (We have something else lined up for November!)

AcWriMo’s central premise is simple: Set a daily goal for your academic writing project and share progress updates on social media using #AcWriMo. For more structure, though, the University of Oxford runs a Paragraph-a-Day AcWriMo challenge . 

Complete the challenge by selecting a topic that interests you, researching it, and writing one paragraph (200-300 words) about it per day. 

Craft 30 paragraphs on the same topic, or shake things up by writing 30 paragraphs on 30 different topics. Either way, use a formal, academic tone and explain your ideas clearly. 

September: Writing in Reverse

Skills it targets: Structuring your writing well and ensuring all your ideas support your main narrative.

Start by choosing something you’d like to write: a short story, an essay, a blog article, etc. On September 1, write the last paragraph of your new writing project. Then, move backward until you pen the first paragraph on September 30. 

Pay attention to how each new paragraph builds on the ones before it and how they all contribute to your overall story or argument. 

October: Facing Fears

Skills it targets: Writing in different genres and using different forms.

Embrace the spooky season by writing about a different fear — yours, someone else’s, or one totally new to you — every day in October. ( Forbes has a master list of common phobias to help you brainstorm.)

Write about each fear differently. For example, one day, craft a short story featuring a character with aquaphobia (a fear of water). The next, pen a 500-word article explaining the history of bathmophobia (the fear of escalators). You could even get meta and write something on graphophobia — the fear of writing!

November: NaNoWriMo Challenge

Skills it targets: Novel writing and maintaining a daily writing habit with a high word count goal.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) tasks writers with penning a 50,000-word novel in November. That amounts to 1,667 words per day. 

Many best-selling books were drafted during NaNoWriMo — including Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants , Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing , Emily X.R. Pan’s The Astonishing Color of After, and many more.

To participate, sign up for an account on the NaNoWriMo website , enter details about your novel-in-progress, and log your word count at the end of each day. You can even connect with other participants and attend in-person and virtual NaNoWriMo events with writers in your area. 

If you hit 50,000 words by November 30, you’ll earn a colorful badge and certificate of completion.

Novels not your thing? No problem. Simply write 1,667 words per day every day in November. (That’s close to novelist Stephen King’s daily commitment of 2,000 words !) You’ll still end up with 50,000 words by the end of the month, just like regular NaNoWriMo participants.

December: Rewriting Challenge

Skills it targets: Self-editing, self-critique, using different perspectives, and writing concisely. 

December’s challenge is all about reworking your drafts. It’s split into two parts:

• Each day from December 1-17 , rewrite a draft from another point of view. For example, if you originally wrote your draft in the second person (using you/your/yours pronouns), rewrite it in the first person with yourself as the narrator (using I/me/my pronouns). 
• Each day from December 18-31 , focus on concision. Take something you’ve written and cut its word count in half — without sacrificing clarity or meaning.

Month-long writing challenges are a great way to establish consistency and discipline, unleash your creativity, and steadily improve your writing. 

You have plenty of challenges to choose from, but our top recommendations are compiled in this guide. Mix and match the ones that interest you most, or complete all 12 in a year to really test (and impress) yourself.

For more info on leveling up as a writer, check out our writing and editing guides , visit our Grammar Hub , and sign up for our Freelance Writing Mastery course .

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Writing Challenges

Come back everyday for a new daily writing challenge from daily poetry challenges to our short story challenge, explore the full list of available challenges below..

Can you write a scene in a story that includes the following word: chilliest

Can you create a detailed world description using this image as inspiration?

Can you create a detailed description of this creature or animal?

Write a short story about a cold-hearted paranormal investigator who is the last survivor of a bruta...

Can you create a detailed character profile using this picture?

Can you write an opening paragraph using this book title: Once Upon A Rat

Describe this random image in at least 100 words.

Write a Haiku about your favorite music genre.

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8 Overcoming Challenges College Essay Examples

The purpose of the Overcoming Challenges essay is for schools to see how you might handle the difficulties of college. They want to know how you grow, evolve, and learn when you face adversity. For this topic, there are many clichés , such as getting a bad grade or losing a sports game, so be sure to steer clear of those and focus on a topic that’s unique to you. (See our full guide on the Overcoming Challenges Essay for more tips).

These overcoming challenges essay examples were all written by real students. Read through them to get a sense of what makes a strong essay. At the end, we’ll present the revision process for the first essay and share some resources for improving your essay.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Essay 1: Becoming a Coach

“Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we competed with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

This essay begins with an in-the-moment narrative that really illustrates the chaos of looking for a coach last-minute. We feel the writer’s emotions, particularly their dejectedness, at not being able to compete.

Through this essay, we can see how gutsy and determined the student is in deciding to become a coach themselves. The writer shows us these characteristics through their actions, rather than explicitly telling us: To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side.

One area of improvement of this essay would be the “attack” wording. The author likely uses this word as a metaphor for martial arts, but it feels too strong to describe the adults’ doubt of the student’s abilities as a coach, and can even be confusing at first.

Still, we see the student’s resilience as they are able to move past the disbelieving looks to help their team. The essay is kept real and vulnerable, however, as the writer admits having doubts: Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

The essay comes full circle as the author recalls the frantic situations in seeking out a coach, but this is no longer a concern for them and their team. Overall, this essay is extremely effective in painting this student as mature, bold, and compassionate.

Essay 2: Starting a Fire

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire. 

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family. 

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt. 

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame. 

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him. 

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses. 

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This essay is an excellent example because the writer turns an everyday challenge—starting a fire—into an exploration of her identity. The writer was once “a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes,” but has since traded her love of the outdoors for a love of music, writing, and reading. 

The story begins in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. One of the essay’s biggest strengths is its use of imagery. We can easily visualize the writer’s childhood and the present day. For instance, she states that she “rubbed and rubbed [the twigs] until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers.”

The writing has an extremely literary quality, particularly with its wordplay. The writer reappropriates words and meanings, and even appeals to the senses: “My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.” She later uses a parallelism to cleverly juxtapose her changed interests: “instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano.”

One of the essay’s main areas of improvement is its overemphasis on the “story” and lack of emphasis on the reflection. The second to last paragraph about changing perspective is crucial to the essay, as it ties the anecdote to larger lessons in the writer’s life. She states that she hasn’t changed, but has only shifted perspective. Yet, we don’t get a good sense of where this realization comes from and how it impacts her life going forward. 

The end of the essay offers a satisfying return to the fire imagery, and highlights the writer’s passion—the one thing that has remained constant in her life.

Essay 3: Last-Minute Switch

The morning of the Model United Nation conference, I walked into Committee feeling confident about my research. We were simulating the Nuremberg Trials – a series of post-World War II proceedings for war crimes – and my portfolio was of the Soviet Judge Major General Iona Nikitchenko. Until that day, the infamous Nazi regime had only been a chapter in my history textbook; however, the conference’s unveiling of each defendant’s crimes brought those horrors to life. The previous night, I had organized my research, proofread my position paper and gone over Judge Nikitchenko’s pertinent statements. I aimed to find the perfect balance between his stance and my own.

As I walked into committee anticipating a battle of wits, my director abruptly called out to me. “I’m afraid we’ve received a late confirmation from another delegate who will be representing Judge Nikitchenko. You, on the other hand, are now the defense attorney, Otto Stahmer.” Everyone around me buzzed around the room in excitement, coordinating with their allies and developing strategies against their enemies, oblivious to the bomb that had just dropped on me. I felt frozen in my tracks, and it seemed that only rage against the careless delegate who had confirmed her presence so late could pull me out of my trance. After having spent a month painstakingly crafting my verdicts and gathering evidence against the Nazis, I now needed to reverse my stance only three hours before the first session.

Gradually, anger gave way to utter panic. My research was fundamental to my performance, and without it, I knew I could add little to the Trials. But confident in my ability, my director optimistically recommended constructing an impromptu defense. Nervously, I began my research anew. Despite feeling hopeless, as I read through the prosecution’s arguments, I uncovered substantial loopholes. I noticed a lack of conclusive evidence against the defendants and certain inconsistencies in testimonies. My discovery energized me, inspiring me to revisit the historical overview in my conference “Background Guide” and to search the web for other relevant articles. Some Nazi prisoners had been treated as “guilty” before their court dates. While I had brushed this information under the carpet while developing my position as a judge, i t now became the focus of my defense. I began scratching out a new argument, centered on the premise that the allied countries had violated the fundamental rule that, a defendant was “not guilty” until proven otherwise.

At the end of the three hours, I felt better prepared. The first session began, and with bravado, I raised my placard to speak. Microphone in hand, I turned to face my audience. “Greetings delegates. I, Otto Stahmer would like to…….” I suddenly blanked. Utter dread permeated my body as I tried to recall my thoughts in vain. “Defence Attorney, Stahmer we’ll come back to you,” my Committee Director broke the silence as I tottered back to my seat, flushed with embarrassment. Despite my shame, I was undeterred. I needed to vindicate my director’s faith in me. I pulled out my notes, refocused, and began outlining my arguments in a more clear and direct manner. Thereafter, I spoke articulately, confidently putting forth my points. I was overjoyed when Secretariat members congratulated me on my fine performance.

Going into the conference, I believed that preparation was the key to success. I wouldn’t say I disagree with that statement now, but I believe adaptability is equally important. My ability to problem-solve in the face of an unforeseen challenge proved advantageous in the art of diplomacy. Not only did this experience transform me into a confident and eloquent delegate at that conference, but it also helped me become a more flexible and creative thinker in a variety of other capacities. Now that I know I can adapt under pressure, I look forward to engaging in activities that will push me to be even quicker on my feet.

This essay is an excellent example because it focuses on a unique challenge and is highly engaging. The writer details their experience reversing their stance in a Model UN trial with only a few hours notice, after having researched and prepared to argue the opposite perspective for a month. 

Their essay is written in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. The student openly shares their internal thoughts with us — we feel their anger and panic upon the reversal of roles. We empathize with their emotions of “utter dread” and embarrassment when they’re unable to speak. 

From the essay, we learn that the student believes in thorough preparation, but can also adapt to unforeseen obstacles. They’re able to rise to the challenge and put together an impromptu argument, think critically under pressure, and recover after their initial inability to speak. 

Essay 4: Music as a Coping Mechanism

CW: This essay mentions self-harm.

Sobbing uncontrollably, I parked around the corner from my best friend’s house. As I sat in the driver’s seat, I whispered the most earnest prayer I had ever offered.

Minutes before, I had driven to Colin’s house to pick up a prop for our upcoming spring musical. When I got there, his older brother, Tom, came to the door and informed me that no one else was home. “No,” I corrected, “Colin is here. He’s got a migraine.” Tom shook his head and gently told me where Colin actually was: the psychiatric unit of the local hospital. I felt a weight on my chest as I connected the dots; the terrifying picture rocked my safe little world. Tom’s words blurred as he explained Colin’s self-harm, but all I could think of was whether I could have stopped him. Those cuts on his arms had never been accidents. Colin had lied, very convincingly, many times. How could I have ignored the signs in front of me? Somehow, I managed to ask Tom whether I could see him, but he told me that visiting hours for non-family members were over for the day. I would have to move on with my afternoon.

Once my tears had subsided a little, I drove to the theater, trying to pull myself together and warm up to sing. How would I rehearse? I couldn’t sing three notes without bursting into tears. “I can’t do this,” I thought. But then I realized that the question wasn’t whether I could do it. I knew Colin would want me to push through, and something deep inside told me that music was the best way for me to process my grief. I needed to sing.

I practiced the lyrics throughout my whole drive. The first few times, I broke down in sobs. By the time I reached the theater, however, the music had calmed me. While Colin would never be far from my mind, I had to focus on the task ahead: recording vocals and then producing the video trailer that would be shown to my high school classmates. I fought to channel my worry into my recording. If my voice shook during the particularly heartfelt moments, it only added emotion and depth to my performance. I felt Colin’s absence next to me, but even before I listened to that first take, I knew it was a keeper.

With one of my hurdles behind me, I steeled myself again and prepared for the musical’s trailer. In a floor-length black cape and purple dress, I swept regally down the steps to my director, who waited outside. Under a gloomy sky that threatened to turn stormy, I boldly strode across the street, tossed a dainty yellow bouquet, and flashed confident grins at all those staring. My grief lurched inside, but I felt powerful. Despite my sadness, I could still make art.

To my own surprise, I successfully took back the day. I had felt pain, but I had not let it drown me – making music was a productive way to express my feelings than worrying. Since then, I have been learning to take better care of myself in difficult situations. That day before rehearsal, I found myself in the most troubling circumstances of my life thus far, but they did not sink me because I refused to sink. When my aunt developed cancer several months later, I knew that resolution would not come quickly, but that I could rely on music to cope with the agony, even when it would be easier to fall apart. Thankfully, Colin recovered from his injuries and was home within days. The next week, we stood together on stage at our show’s opening night. As our eyes met and our voices joined in song, I knew that music would always be our greatest mechanism for transforming pain into strength.

This essay is well-written, as we can feel the writer’s emotions through the thoughts they share, and visualize the night of the performance through their rich descriptions. Their varied sentence length also makes the essay more engaging.

That said, this essay is not a great example because of the framing of the topic. The writer can come off as insensitive since they make their friend’s struggle about themself and their emotions (and this is only worsened by the mention of their aunt’s cancer and how it was tough on them ). The essay would’ve been stronger if it focused on their guilt of not recognizing their friend’s struggles and spanned a longer period of time to demonstrate gradual relationship building and reflection. Still, this would’ve been difficult to do well.

In general, you should try to choose a challenge that is undeniably your own, and you should get at least one or two people to read your essay to give you candid feedback.

Essay 5: Dedicating a Track

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

While the writer didn’t succeed in getting the track dedicated to Coach Stark, their essay is certainly successful in showing their willingness to push themselves and take initiative.

The essay opens with a quote from Coach Stark that later comes full circle at the end of the essay. We learn about Stark’s impact and the motivation for trying to get the track dedicated to him.

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The essay goes on to explain how the writer overcame their apprehension of public speaking, and likens the process of submitting an appeal to the school board to running a race. This metaphor makes the writing more engaging and allows us to feel the student’s emotions.

While the student didn’t ultimately succeed in getting the track dedicated, we learn about their resilience and initiative: I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Overall, this essay is well-done. It demonstrates growth despite failing to meet a goal, which is a unique essay structure. The running metaphor and full-circle intro/ending also elevate the writing in this essay.

Essay 6: Body Image

CW: This essay mentions eating disorders.

I press the “discover” button on my Instagram app, hoping to find enticing pictures to satisfy my boredom. Scrolling through, I see funny videos and mouth-watering pictures of food. However, one image stops me immediately. A fit teenage girl with a “perfect body” relaxes in a bikini on a beach. Beneath it, I see a slew of flattering comments. I shake with disapproval over the image’s unrealistic quality. However, part of me still wants to have a body like hers so that others will make similar comments to me.

I would like to resolve a silent issue that harms many teenagers and adults: negative self image and low self-esteem in a world where social media shapes how people view each other. When people see the façades others wear to create an “ideal” image, they can develop poor thought patterns rooted in negative self-talk. The constant comparisons to “perfect” others make people feel small. In this new digital age, it is hard to distinguish authentic from artificial representations.

When I was 11, I developed anorexia nervosa. Though I was already thin, I wanted to be skinny like the models that I saw on the magazine covers on the grocery store stands. Little did I know that those models probably also suffered from disorders, and that photoshop erased their flaws. I preferred being underweight to being healthy. No matter how little I ate or how thin I was, I always thought that I was too fat. I became obsessed with the number on the scale and would try to eat the least that I could without my parents urging me to take more. Fortunately, I stopped engaging in anorexic behaviors before middle school. However, my underlying mental habits did not change. The images that had provoked my disorder in the first place were still a constant presence in my life.

By age 15, I was in recovery from anorexia, but suffered from depression. While I used to only compare myself to models, the growth of social media meant I also compared myself to my friends and acquaintances. I felt left out when I saw my friends’ excitement about lake trips they had taken without me. As I scrolled past endless photos of my flawless, thin classmates with hundreds of likes and affirming comments, I felt my jealousy spiral. I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.” When that didn’t work, I started to feel too anxious to post anything at all.  

Body image insecurities and social media comparisons affect thousands of people – men, women, children, and adults – every day. I am lucky – after a few months of my destructive social media habits, I came across a video that pointed out the illusory nature of social media; many Instagram posts only show off good things while people hide their flaws. I began going to therapy, and recovered from my depression. To address the problem of self-image and social media, we can all focus on what matters on the inside and not what is on the surface. As an effort to become healthy internally, I started a club at my school to promote clean eating and radiating beauty from within. It has helped me grow in my confidence, and today I’m not afraid to show others my struggles by sharing my experience with eating disorders. Someday, I hope to make this club a national organization to help teenagers and adults across the country. I support the idea of body positivity and embracing difference, not “perfection.” After all, how can we be ourselves if we all look the same?

This essay covers the difficult topics of eating disorders and mental health. If you’re thinking about covering similar topics in your essay, we recommend reading our post Should You Talk About Mental Health in College Essays?

The short answer is that, yes, you can talk about mental health, but it can be risky. If you do go that route, it’s important to focus on what you learned from the experience.

We can see that the writer of this essay has been through a lot, and a strength of their essay is their vulnerability, in excerpts such as this: I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.”

The student goes on to share how they recovered from their depression through an eye-opening video and therapy sessions, and they’re now helping others find their self-worth as well. It’s great that this essay looks towards the future and shares the writer’s goals of making their club a national organization; we can see their ambition and compassion.

The main weakness of this essay is that it doesn’t focus enough on their recovery process, which is arguably the most important part. They could’ve told us more about the video they watched or the process of starting their club and the interactions they’ve had with other members.

Still, this essay shows us that this student is honest, self-aware, and caring, which are all qualities admissions officer are looking for.

Essay 7: Health Crisis

Tears streamed down my face and my mind was paralyzed with fear. Sirens blared, but the silent panic in my own head was deafening. I was muted by shock. A few hours earlier, I had anticipated a vacation in Washington, D.C., but unexpectedly, I was rushing to the hospital behind an ambulance carrying my mother. As a fourteen-year-old from a single mother household, without a driver’s license, and seven hours from home, I was distraught over the prospect of losing the only parent I had. My fear turned into action as I made some of the bravest decisions of my life. 

Three blood transfusions later, my mother’s condition was stable, but we were still states away from home, so I coordinated with my mother’s doctors in North Carolina to schedule the emergency operation that would save her life. Throughout her surgery, I anxiously awaited any word from her surgeon, but each time I asked, I was told that there had been another complication or delay. Relying on my faith and positive attitude, I remained optimistic that my mother would survive and that I could embrace new responsibilities.

My mother had been a source of strength for me, and now I would be strong for her through her long recovery ahead. As I started high school, everyone thought the crisis was over, but it had really just started to impact my life. My mother was often fatigued, so I assumed more responsibility, juggling family duties, school, athletics, and work. I made countless trips to the neighborhood pharmacy, cooked dinner, biked to the grocery store, supported my concerned sister, and provided the loving care my mother needed to recover. I didn’t know I was capable of such maturity and resourcefulness until it was called upon. Each day was a stage in my gradual transformation from dependence to relative independence.

Throughout my mother’s health crisis, I matured by learning to put others’ needs before my own. As I worried about my mother’s health, I took nothing for granted, cherished what I had, and used my daily activities as motivation to move forward. I now take ownership over small decisions such as scheduling daily appointments and managing my time but also over major decisions involving my future, including the college admissions process. Although I have become more independent, my mother and I are inseparably close, and the realization that I almost lost her affects me daily. Each morning, I wake up ten minutes early simply to eat breakfast with my mother and spend time with her before our busy days begin. I am aware of how quickly life can change. My mother remains a guiding force in my life, but the feeling of empowerment I discovered within myself is the ultimate form of my independence. Though I thought the summer before my freshman year would be a transition from middle school to high school, it was a transformation from childhood to adulthood.

This essay feels real and tells readers a lot about the writer. To start at the beginning, the intro is 10/10. It has drama, it has emotions, and it has the reader wanting more.

And, when you keep going, you get to learn a lot about a very resilient and mature student. Through sentences like “I made countless trips to the neighborhood pharmacy, cooked dinner, biked to the grocery store, supported my concerned sister, and provided the loving care my mother needed to recover” and “Relying on my faith and positive attitude, I remained optimistic that my mother would survive and that I could embrace new responsibilities,” the reader shows us that they are aware of their resilience and maturity, but are not arrogant about it. It is simply a fact that they have proven through their actions!

This essay makes us want to cheer for the writer, and they certainly seem like someone who would thrive in a more independent college environment.

Essay 8: Turned Tables

“You ruined my life!” After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain.

Despite being twins, Max and I are profoundly different. Having intellectual interests from a young age that, well, interested very few of my peers, I often felt out of step in comparison with my highly-social brother. Everything appeared to come effortlessly for Max and, while we share an extremely tight bond, his frequent time away with friends left me feeling more and more alone as we grew older.

When my parents learned about The Green Academy, we hoped it would be an opportunity for me to find not only an academically challenging environment, but also – perhaps more importantly – a community. This meant transferring the family from Drumfield to Kingston. And while there was concern about Max, we all believed that given his sociable nature, moving would be far less impactful on him than staying put might be on me.

As it turned out, Green Academy was everything I’d hoped for. I was ecstatic to discover a group of students with whom I shared interests and could truly engage. Preoccupied with new friends and a rigorous course load, I failed to notice that the tables had turned. Max, lost in the fray and grappling with how to make connections in his enormous new high school, had become withdrawn and lonely. It took me until Christmas time – and a massive argument – to recognize how difficult the transition had been for my brother, let alone that he blamed me for it.

Through my own journey of searching for academic peers, in addition to coming out as gay when I was 12, I had developed deep empathy for those who had trouble fitting in. It was a pain I knew well and could easily relate to. Yet after Max’s outburst, my first response was to protest that our parents – not I – had chosen to move us here. In my heart, though, I knew that regardless of who had made the decision, we ended up in Kingston for my benefit. I was ashamed that, while I saw myself as genuinely compassionate, I had been oblivious to the heartache of the person closest to me. I could no longer ignore it – and I didn’t want to.

We stayed up half the night talking, and the conversation took an unexpected turn. Max opened up and shared that it wasn’t just about the move. He told me how challenging school had always been for him, due to his dyslexia, and that the ever-present comparison to me had only deepened his pain.

We had been in parallel battles the whole time and, yet, I only saw that Max was in distress once he experienced problems with which I directly identified. I’d long thought Max had it so easy – all because he had friends. The truth was, he didn’t need to experience my personal brand of sorrow in order for me to relate – he had felt plenty of his own.

My failure to recognize Max’s suffering brought home for me the profound universality and diversity of personal struggle; everyone has insecurities, everyone has woes, and everyone – most certainly – has pain. I am acutely grateful for the conversations he and I shared around all of this, because I believe our relationship has been fundamentally strengthened by a deeper understanding of one another. Further, this experience has reinforced the value of constantly striving for deeper sensitivity to the hidden struggles of those around me. I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story.

Here you can find a prime example that you don’t have to have fabulous imagery or flowery prose to write a successful essay. You just have to be clear and say something that matters. This essay is simple and beautiful. It almost feels like having a conversation with a friend and learning that they are an even better person than you already thought they were.

Through this narrative, readers learn a lot about the writer—where they’re from, what their family life is like, what their challenges were as a kid, and even their sexuality. We also learn a lot about their values—notably, the value they place on awareness, improvement, and consideration of others. Though they never explicitly state it (which is great because it is still crystal clear!), this student’s ending of “I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story” shows that they are constantly striving for improvement and finding lessons anywhere they can get them in life.

Where to Get Your Overcoming Challenges Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Overcoming Challenges essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example

April 17, 2023

At some point, most college-bound students are tasked with writing an overcoming challenges essay. The prompt crops up in various forms, as a supplemental short essay about overcoming a challenge, and in as the main essay itself.

Some students may feel inclined to write about a dramatic experience (say, spotting a grizzly bear outside the kitchen window), mistaking the drama of the moment for a significant challenge. Others may get to work, only to realize they don’t have much to say about the time they got a C in P.E. (that dreaded frisbee unit). Students who’ve overcome unspeakable difficulties, like a death in the family, may find that reducing the tragedy to 650 words feels insufficient, or worse—as if they’re attempting to profit from suffering. One or two students may stare down the blank computer screen as their entire existence shrinks to the size of a 12-point font. Should they write about the challenge of writing about the challenge of writing an overcoming challenges essay??

Don’t worry. Focusing first on how to tackle the essay will help any student decide what they should write about. In fact, how the essay is written will also prove more influential than the challenge itself in determining the strength of the essay.

Decoding the Prompt

Let’s take a look at the overcoming challenges essay question included among the seven 2023-24 Common App Essay Prompts :

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Notice how the prompt places an immediate emphasis on the “lessons we take,” rather than on the obstacles themselves, or any potential success. This is because the challenge itself often says less about the student than the way the student chose to tackle it, or the way they now reflect on it. In other words, obstacles often come at us randomly; it’s our personal response to the circumstances which reveals something of who we are.

While studying a prompt for clues, it’s helpful to think from the perspective of the admissions officer (the essay reader). What can they glean from an overcoming challenges essay?  A lot, actually. A thoughtfully written essay may tell them about the student’s personality, as well as things like problem-solving techniques, rigor, persistence, creativity, and courage. These insights can work to prove to the admissions officers that the student has what it takes to overcome challenges in college, too. These future challenges may range from the inevitable academic obstacles that occur with heavy courseloads, to social and moral challenges that arise as college students form their adult identities.

Picking Your Topic: A Brainstorming Activity

With the question of identity in mind, let’s now approach the overcoming challenges essay backwards, by brainstorming the final message the student wants it to contain.

For this three-part exercise, the student will first set a five-minute timer. With the clock ticking, they’ll jot down character traits, values, and any descriptive words or terms that say something about who they are. If stumped, change perspective. The student may imagine what their best friends, parents, coaches and siblings would say. (For example, tenacious , logical , scientific , peacemaker .) Even mild criticism can be helpful, as long as it’s not cruel. While a student’s brother may call him a “perfectionist,” perhaps this word will trigger other relevant words, like persistent and detail-oriented.

Next, the student will set the timer for another five minutes, pull out a second sheet of paper, and jot down any challenges, obstacles, setbacks, failures, and achievements that come to mind. Don’t hold back here or overanalyze. (For example: underdog at state swim meet , getting lost on the family hike , petitioning for a school compost system …)

Lastly, the student will place the two pages side by side, and draw lines between the items on the list wherever connections occur. One student may draw lines between persistent , curious , gamer , passionate about electronics , and saved the day during the power outage. Another set of lines might connect caring, observant, creative thinker , and helped sister leave abusive cult . Whatever ideas are sparked here, the goal is to identify which challenges will demonstrate something essential about the student to an admissions officer.

Topics to Avoid

The internet is rife with advice on what not to write when writing an overcoming challenges essay. Yet this advice can be confusing, or downright hypocritical. For instance, some may advise against writing about death. Yet a student who lost their father at an early age may be capable of writing a poignant essay about their search for an alternative father figure, and how they found one in their soccer coach.

I suggest avoiding guides on what not to write until after the student has done a thorough round of brainstorming. Otherwise, they risk censoring themselves too early, and may reject a promising idea. Once they’ve narrowed down their list to three ideas or less, they may want to check our guide on College Application Essay Topics to Avoid .

The reason why certain types of overcoming challenges essays miss the mark is that they emphasize the wrong aspect of the experience, which turns the topic into a cliché. While it’s generally a good idea to avoid trivial topics (again, that C in P.E.), any topic has the potential to be compelling, if it’s animated through personal opinions, insight, and description. Details bring an experience to life. Structure and reflection make an essay convincing. In other words, how the story is told will determine whether or not the topic is worth writing about.

So, rather than avoid specific topics, consider avoiding these scenarios: if you can’t show the essay to your best friend or grandmother, it’s probably not ready to show a college admissions officer. If you must write a clichéd topic, don’t choose a typical structure.

Techniques to Hone

Techniques that animate an overcoming challenges essay are the same ones used in storytelling. Think setting, visuals, sounds, dialogue, physical sensations, and feelings. “Showing” instead of “telling.” Crafting the essay with these inner and external details will bring the challenge to life, and catch the reader’s attention.

Another technique which works well when trying to avoid the trappings of cliché involve subverting the reader’s expectations. In storytelling terms, this is a plot twist. The student who got a C in P.E. may actually have a stellar essay on their hands, if they can break away from the “bad grade” trope (working harder to improve their grade). Perhaps this student’s story is actually about how, while sitting on the bleachers and not participating in the game, they found themselves watching the frisbee spin through the air, and realized they had a deep interest in the movement of astronomical bodies.

Some of the strongest overcoming challenges essays demonstrate what students have learned about themselves, rather than what they’ve learned about the obstacle they confronted. These essays may show how the student has come to see themselves differently, or how they’ve decided to change, thanks to the challenge they faced. These essays work because the reflection is natural and even profound, based on the student’s self-awareness.

Writing the Overcoming Challenges Essay, or Drafts, Drafts, Drafts

Everyone writes differently, some by outlining (never a bad idea), some by free-styling (good for capturing sensations and memories), some by lighting a candle—but don’t procrastinate too much. The only “must” is to revise. After a first draft, the student should begin to look for several things:

1) Clarity and Detail. Is the challenge recounted with precision? Is it personal?

2) Structure. Consider mapping the structure, to visualize it better. Does the structure suit the story? Can it be changed for clarity, or to keep the reader more engaged?

3) Cliché. Identify words, sentences, and ideas that are dull or repetitive. Mark them up, and in the next draft, find ways to rewrite, subvert, condense, and delete.

4) Lesson Learned. Has the student reflected adequately on the lesson they learned from overcoming a challenge? To add more reflection, students might ask themselves what they have felt and thought about the experience since. Would they do something differently, if faced with the same challenge? Has their understanding of the experience evolved over time?

By the final draft, the experience and the reflection should feel equally weighted. To get there, it may take five or six drafts.

Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample

The Happiness Hotline

First there were reports. Then we were told to stop socializing, go inside, wait. Covid struck. Everyone knows what ensued. It probably looked different from where we were all (separately) standing, even though we faced the same thing. Those first weeks, I stood at my bedroom window. It was dark by early evening in Oregon. The weirdest part—after the fact that we were collectively sharing the loneliest experience of our lives—was the silence.

… it was really quiet.

So quiet, I could hear my mom sigh downstairs. (So quiet, I couldn’t remember if I’d hummed aloud, or if I’d just heard myself in my head.) When I looked out the window, I could hear the stoplight at the end of our street. Green to yellow. Click.

Before going on, you should know three things. First, this is not a Covid essay. This is about melancholy, and the “sadness that has taken on lightness,” to quote Italo Calvino. Second, from my bedroom window, I can see down a row of oak trees, past the hospital, to my friend Carlo’s house. Third, Carlo is a jazz singer. Maybe that sounds pretentious, a freshman kid being a jazz singer, but that’s Carlo, and I wouldn’t be me without Carlo being Carlo. He’s someone who appreciates the unhinged rhythm of a Charlie Parker tune. He’s an extrovert who can bring introverts like me out of my shell. He convinced me to learn trombone, and together we riff in the after-school jazz club.

In the first month of the pandemic, we called each other nightly to talk rap albums, school stuff. At Carlo’s house, he could hear a white-crowned sparrow. He could also hear his parents talking numbers behind the bathroom door. The death toll was mounting. The cost of living was going up too. As the month wore on, I began to hear something else in our calls, in the way Carlo paused, or forgot what he was saying. Carlo was scared. He felt sad, isolated, and without his bright energy, I too, felt utterly alone.

Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample (Continued)

After some dark days, I realized that to help ourselves we needed to help others. It was pretty obvious the more I thought about it. People are social creatures, supposedly, even introverts. Maybe our neighbors needed to remember the noisiness of life.

We built a happiness hotline. That sounds fancy, though essentially, we provided three-way calls on my parents’ landline. The harder part involved making flyers and putting them up around town, in places people were still going. Grocery stores, the post office. We made a TikTok account, and then—the phone rang. Our first caller.

For months, if you called in, you could talk to us about your days in lockdown. People went really deep about the meaning of life, and we had to learn on the spot how to respond. I’d become a journalist and a therapist before becoming a sophomore. After chatting, the caller would request a song, and if we knew how to play it, we would. If not, we improvised.

Now we’re seniors in high school. Carlo visits the hospital with band members. As for myself, I’ve been working on a community music book, compiling our callers’ favorite tunes. I don’t want to forget how important it felt to make these connections. Our callers taught me that loneliness is a bit like a virus, a bit like a song. Even when it stops it can come back to haunt you, as a new variant or an old refrain. Still, sadness can take on lightness when voices call through the dark: sparrows, friends, strangers. I learned I’m good at listening into the silence. Listening isn’t only a passive stance, but an open line of receiving.

Analysis of the Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample

This student uses their musical passion to infuse the essay with vivid detail. There’s a focus on sound throughout, from the bird to the stoplight. Then there are the callers, and the clever way the student conceived of breaking through the silence. The narrator’s voice sharpens the piece further, elevating a clichéd Covid essay to a personal story of self-discovery.

In fact, the essay briefly breaks with structure to tell the reader that this is not a Covid essay. Although techniques like this should be used sparingly, it works here by grabbing the reader’s attention. It also allows the student to organize their thoughts on the page, before moving the plot along.

Outwardly, the student is overcoming the challenge of loneliness in a time of quarantine. Yet there seems to be an inner, unspoken challenge as well, that of coming to terms with the student’s introverted personality. The essay’s reflection occurs in the final paragraph, making the essay experience-heavy. However, clues woven throughout point to the reflection that will come. Details like the Italo Calvino quote hint at the later understanding of how to alleviate loneliness. While some readers might prefer more development, the various themes are threaded throughout, which makes for a satisfying ending.

A Last Word on the Short Essay About Overcoming Challenges

The short essay about overcoming a challenge requires the same steps as a longer one. To write it, follow the same brainstorming activity, then focus more on condensing and summarizing the experience. Students who’ve already written a longer overcoming challenges essay can approach the short essay about overcoming a challenge by streamlining. Instead of deleting all the extra bits, keep two interesting details that will flavor the essay with something memorable and unique.

• College Essay

Kaylen Baker

With a BA in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Translation from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Kaylen has been working with students on their writing for over five years. Previously, Kaylen taught a fiction course for high school students as part of Columbia Artists/Teachers, and served as an English Language Assistant for the French National Department of Education. Kaylen is an experienced writer/translator whose work has been featured in Los Angeles Review, Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Guardian, France Today, and Honolulu Weekly, among others.

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I'm working on writing a 'overcoming a challenge' essay for one of my college applications. Does anyone have any examples or advice on how to approach this type of essay? I'd really appreciate some guidance here!

How's it going! Here are a few pointers on how to approach this kind of essay:

1. Choose a significant challenge: Select an experience that was truly challenging for you, and not just a minor inconvenience. The challenge could be personal, academic, or related to an extracurricular activity. It should be something that genuinely impacted your life and required you to grow in order to overcome it.

2. Be specific and descriptive: Detail the challenge and provide context for the reader. Use vivid language to paint a picture of the situation, sharing how you felt and what you were going through at the time. This will help the reader understand the significance of the challenge and empathize with you.

3. Focus on your response and growth: When describing how you overcame the challenge, emphasize the steps you took and the strategies you employed. Explain what you learned from the experience and how it changed you. Show how you grew as a person and developed new skills or perspectives as a result of facing the challenge.

4. Highlight your resilience: Illustrate your resilience by describing how you persevered through difficulties and setbacks. Show how you were able to adapt and find solutions, even when the path was not clear. This will demonstrate your determination and ability to withstand adversity.

5. Share lessons you learned: Consider the broader implications of your experience. What life lessons did you learn from this challenge? How has it shaped your understanding of yourself and the world around you? By reflecting on these lessons, you can provide a meaningful conclusion that showcases your growth.

For example, let's say you faced a significant health issue during high school. You might start by describing the day you were diagnosed, how it affected your daily life, and the challenges you faced in maintaining your grades and extracurricular activities. Then, you could discuss the steps you took to manage your health, such as adopting new routines, finding resources, and learning to prioritize your well-being. You would explain how the experience taught you about resilience, self-advocacy, and the importance of health and wellness in your life. Finally, you might connect this personal growth to your future endeavors, explaining how this experience has prepared you to overcome obstacles and seize opportunities in college and beyond.

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer warns that Ukraine and Gaza wars will ‘have larger market implications over time’

Good morning, For most Fortune 500 CEOs, globalization is a given. Their challenge is figuring out how to navigate geopolitics while conducting business in a connected world. We convened two dozen members of the Fortune CEO Initiative yesterday for a candid conversation with Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer, who consults with leaders worldwide. Here are a few of his comments:

On China: “Along with neither side wanting escalating tensions, the Americans and Chinese are increasingly dominant in different and complementary technologies. The Chinese, on everything around the post-carbon transition—not just EVs and batteries and the critical mineral supply chain, but also solar and wind and nuclear at scale. The Americans, on the other hand, [are] increasingly dominant in AI, large language models and frontier models, and the funding for that.”

“If the Chinese want to regulate to ensure that their own population doesn’t have access to good AI models and the Americans want to regulate to ensure that American citizens have to drive crappy, expensive EVs, we’re both capable of doing that. But the rest of the world isn’t going to do that and that is going to be a driver of more intellectual capital and capital and goods and services moving across borders all over the world.”

On Ukraine: “Ukraine is going to be partitioned. The best-case scenario is that they lose a significant amount of their territory, but at least they can defend the rest with help from the Europeans and Americans, and they can join the EU and get security guarantees and rebuild their country. That’s the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is a lot worse than that.”

On the Middle East: “The best-case scenario on Israel/Palestine is that the war in Gaza continues for several more months, and that it doesn’t escalate significantly. The worst-case scenarios are dramatically worse than that. I am deeply concerned about where these two major wars are going. And I do think they’re going to have larger market implications over time.”

On the future: “If you talk not about your kids, but about your grandkid, they’re going to be living in a world of inexpensive, decentralized, abundant, sustainable energy. Humans have never had that before, and they’re going to be powered by artificial intelligence all over the world. That’s an incredible opportunity.

“That’s a silver lining. But the problem is that you have to get from here to there. We are in the depths of a geopolitical recession right now…The greatest potential for business growth as a result of a non-U.S. election? India is one. Mexico could be another one.”

More news below.

Diane Brady [email protected] Follow on LinkedIn

Walmart moves away from remote work

Walmart is asking workers in some of its smaller offices to relocate to larger hubs, like its corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. The retailer is also asking remote workers to return to the office most of the time, and cutting hundreds of corporate jobs. Walmart is streamlining its operations in a bid to cut costs: Last week, it shuttered all of its 51 heath clinics. The Wall Street Journal

ChatGPT gets an upgrade

OpenAI announced a faster version of its GPT large language model, which underpins the popular chatbot ChatGPT. The developer claims that “GPT-4o” will be better at handling text, audio and video in real-time, such as giving an audio response to a question delivered verbally. OpenAI’s update comes as other developers, like Anthropic and Google, push out AI models that claim to outperform the current version of GPT. Bloomberg

Melinda French Gates steps down

Melinda French Gates is stepping down as co-chair of the $63 billion philanthropic foundation she set up with her ex-husband, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will now be called the Gates Foundation. French Gates said that she will receive $12.5 billion as part of her exit, which she plans to “commit to my work on behalf of women and families.” Fortune

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

Commentary: Apple says privacy is a ‘core value.’ Tim Cook shouldn’t compromise it to bridge the gap on AI by Katie Paul

Beijing narrowly escapes having to cover the debts of developer Country Garden as it scrounges up a $9 million interest payment by Nicholas Gordon

How tech lost Gen Z by Chloe Berger

London’s Canary Wharf shows the future of work is about more than just the office by Prarthana Prakash

Employee mental health requests have skyrocketed but only a fraction of leaders are making real changes by Emma Burleigh

Exclusive: GV’s youngest-ever partner launches her own firm that aims to avoid one of venture capital’s most common pitfalls by Emma Hinchliffe and Joseph Abrams

T his edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon. 

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Guest Essay

I Don’t Write Like Alice Munro, but I Want to Live Like Her

By Sheila Heti

Ms. Heti is the author of the novels “Pure Colour,” “How Should a Person Be?” and, most recently, “Alphabetical Diaries.”

It is common to say “I was heartbroken to hear” that so-and-so died, but I really do feel heartbroken having learned about Alice Munro, who died on Monday.

As a writer, she modeled, in her life and art, that one must work with emotional sincerity and precision and concentration and depth — not on every kind of writing but on only one kind, the kind closest to one’s heart.

She has long been a North Star for many writers and was someone I have always felt guided by. We are very different writers, but I have kept her in mind, daily and for decades, as an example to follow (but failed to follow to the extent that she demonstrated it): that a fiction writer isn’t someone for hire.

A fiction writer isn’t someone who can write anything — movies, articles, obits! She isn’t a person in service to the magazines, to the newspapers, to the publishers or even to her audience. She doesn’t have to speak on the political issues of the day or on matters of importance to the culture right now but ought first and most to attend seriously to her task, which is her only task, writing the particular thing she was most suited to write.

Ms. Munro only ever wrote short stories — not novels, though she must have been pressured to. She died in a small town not too far from where she was born, choosing to remain close to the sort of people she grew up with, whom she remained ever curious about. Depth is wherever one stands, she showed us, convincingly.

Fiction writers are people, supposedly, who have things to say; they must, because they are so good with words. So people are always asking them: Can you say something about this or about this? But the art of hearing the voice of a fictional person or sensing a fictional world or working for years on some unfathomable creation is, in fact, the opposite of saying something with the opinionated and knowledgeable part of one’s mind. It is rather the humble craft of putting your opinions and ego aside and letting something be said through you.

Ms. Munro held to this division and never let the vanity that can come with being good with words persuade her to put her words just everywhere, in every possible way. Here was the best example in the world — in Canada, my own land — of someone who seemed to abide by classical artistic values in her choices as a person and in her choices on the page. I felt quietly reassured knowing that a hundred kilometers down the road was Alice Munro.

She was also an example of how a writer should be in public: modest, unpretentious, funny, generous and kind. I learned the lesson of generosity from her early. When I was 20 and was just starting to publish short stories, I sent her a fan letter. I don’t remember what my letter said. After a few months, I received a handwritten thank-you note from her in the mail. The fact that she replied at all and did so with such care taught me a lot about grace and consideration and has remained as a warmth within me since that day.

She will always remain for me, and for many others, a model of that grave yet joyous dedication to art — a dedication that inevitably informs the most important choices the artist makes about how to support that life. Probably Ms. Munro would laugh at this; no one knows the compromises another makes, especially when that person is as private as she was and transforms her trials into fiction. Yet whatever the truth of her daily existence, she still shines as a symbol of artistic purity and care.

I am grateful for all she gave to the world and for all the sacrifices she must have made to give it. I’m sorry to be here defying her example, but she was just too loved, and these words just came. Thank you, Alice Munro.

Sheila Heti is the author of the novels “Pure Colour,” “How Should a Person Be?” and, most recently, “Alphabetical Diaries.”

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