I find they kind of kill my creativity. I get nervous about whether my topic “meets the criteria,” and then more than anything I just get anxious about the deadline. There are a few that directly inspired me to do something, so I went ahead and submitted it, but overall I think they’re not for me.
I don’t think they’re necessarily a bad thing - if a challenge works for folks (to combat perfectionism, to get out of a rut, to create a habit, to engage in community, etc.), more power to them!
I don’t do them because of energy limitations; I’d just be setting myself up for failure. But monthly prompts are a nice alternative, I feel.
@arevakhach, I don’t think they’re worth it, and TBH I kinda regret letting you talk me into doing the IndieWeb Carnival this month. Not that you forced me to pick the topic I had picked, of course, but I didn’t have any better ideas.
I’m not really a Blogger so take this with a grain of salt, but I do have a blog and tbh I have never been attracted to blogging challenges. To me they feel like fluff to make Content. Not that they can’t inspire good blog posts, but it sometimes just seems like writing to write. I make a blog post when I have something swimming in my mind and I need to get it out, it has to be an essay for me to think about making it a blog post, otherwise it just feels like a social media post.
For a similar reason I also don’t make reply blog posts if I don’t have much to say other than “yeah I agree.” Like I would never make a blog post saying what I am in this thread reply. It seems silly to me to make a post on my blog when its more like a comment to a specific individual.
Apologies, I didn’t think how sharing this link could be interpreted. I shared it because it’s something I ponder quite a bit about. I think the link is interesting because I don’t believe it’s an open and shut case. There’s pros and there’s cons, and I think further discussion, particularly in a community such as this, could do a lot of people a lot of good; to meditate on their relationship to blogging.
The IndieWeb Carnival is my favorite “blog challenge” for a variety of reasons I won’t get into here. I invited you because I, personally, enjoy reading what you write. Moreover, you’re very active / determined. When I was inviting people, I was very concerned with their capacity / willingness to do the roundup post at the end. It’s one of the distinguishing features of the carnival (and a primary reason I like it). The host doesn’t just “post a prompt”. A couple of hosts seemed to have skipped the roundup and that upset me, and it’s not my project, I didn’t want to let Sara Jaksa down in assisting the recruitment of volunteers.
As for your topic… First and foremost, I’m very happy to see a “negative / dark” theme. I think it encourages future hosts to be more bold with their choice of topic, and I commend you for the decision. That said, I have also been trying to sit down to tackle it and it’s been tricky. And again, I don’t think that’s a bad thing, it’s just part of the deal. But just because it might put people off doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have been done, on the contrary in my opinion- even more reason!
I’d maybe suggest reminding people that the themes are open-ended, they can be twisted and approached in a variety of ways, not just the one the host initially offers in.
Yeah I tried doing one in May and I lasted a week and haven’t written a post since 
post quality definitely takes a dive.
You’re no more responsible for my interpretation than you are for my emotions. How I read something and how I feel about it as a result is entirely on me.
Sorry; I didn’t mean to imply that it was your project. It was just you who had approached me.
Well, if you and I are only ones who post, at least that’ll make the round-up easier.
Not to butt in or further derail from the topic, but out of curiosity, I took a look at the theme you shared. I think it’s a really great topic (even if it is heavy/taboo), and I want to hear other people’s perspectives on it.
I would also really love to be able to participate in it! But this month I am very busy with work, so I can’t promise.
So that brings me back to the main topic. There’s so many blog challenges/topics/zine prompts I’d love to take part in, but it can be hard to find the time to make something that I think is polished and shareable within a short timeframe. I can’t always account for when my job gets hectic, or when my mind needs a break. On days like that, coding, writing, & publishing on my site is more difficult… & deadlines hard to meet.
When it comes to blogging challenges, they sound cool, they are very aspirational, but I don’t want publishing on my site to feel like another stressful assignment.
(I had a very long day today so I’m sorry if my writing is all soupy. Lol)
Oh don’t worry, you’ll have my post to add to the roundup.
Yeah, I was thinking of doing Blogust (or however it’s spelled rip) but I was intimidated by the daily goal - especially since I was preparing for the fall semester to start during the last week of August. Ended up not doing it, and I think that was for the best.
IMO, general prompt lists are better for most people. They can also help with idea generation while removing the time aspect.
I find challenges to be very uninspiring but I do find prompts like the IndieWeb carnival to be a useful thing. Sometimes one might be stuck in a rut with their blog and getting an external input to write about something specific can be helpful.
Thanks. I suspect that part of the reason we still have a problem self-harm and suicide is that admitting that one is so miserable that death seems a reasonable alternative is such a taboo.
And if a substantial portion of the population feels that way, what does that say about society? They can’t all be mentally ill, so maybe it’s our society that’s fucked up?
Please let me know if you do come up with something, but don’t feel obligated to force yourself.