By. Danielle Husband

Monday has officially kicked off a new week, with an opportunity for success. Hopefully, your week is off to a great start already. Either way, why not use the start of a new week to jumpstart your writing goals? Whether you’re already into the groove of writing every day or you’re still trying to find your motivation, challenging yourself will move you further.

If you need a challenge, I’ve created two just for you. You can use the “get started” challenge if you’re struggling for inspiration. If you’ve already found your muse, you could try the “hit your goals” challenge. Personally, I recommend trying both, as they’re a fun way to feed your literary life.

Get Started Challenge: Turn a moment from last week into a short story.

Whether it’s writer’s block or just a case of the blahs, everyone finds themselves staring at a blank page with no direction, at times. Writing often makes you a more flexible writer and builds your skills, so it’s important to push yourself to put words on paper even when you aren’t feeling inspired.

Luckily, there are lots of ways to get inspired. In addition to using prepared writing prompts, you can also use your own life as a prompt. When you pull a story from your own life, you don’t have to stick to what really happened. Fictionalizing events from your real life is a fun way to flex your writing muscles every day. Draw on a few details from the event to get a solid start, then get creative!

Hit Your Goals Challenge: Block off time each day to work on a small goal.

This week, set aside time each day to work on a short term goal. It doesn’t have to be the same block of time each day. For example, you might set aside an hour on Monday night, an hour on Tuesday morning, your lunch break on Wednesday, etc. Don’t worry about whether or not this schedule would work long term. Focus on just this week and this one small goal.

Try to identify a small goal that will help you achieve your larger goals. For example, your goal could be to outline your novel or complete a chapter of your work-in-progress. If your long term goals are unclear, choose a small goal that will help you gain focus. For example, challenge yourself to write whatever comes to mind and see where it goes, or challenge yourself to respond to a writing prompt everyday. No matter what you choose, you’ll be helping yourself reach your goals.

Happy writing!