When you need more motivation and support, NOT more homework and "content"
Have I got the resource for you
I know at least a few of you saw that I have begun posting in my notes about a new project that I’m developing, and am VERY excited about. It is an online “magic school”-themed community for speculative fiction writers, for which I have some really cool ideas about how to gamify the writing process in a fun and also (I hope!) super-neurodivergent-friendly way.
The Substack project is called “Fantasy Story Writing Challenge” (that’s the handle) at
for Magical Writers. It is going to be a mix of a regular, re-occurring writing challenges, community bonding time, resources, and imaginative role-playing.
Demand overwhelm
As someone who has been on the other side of the someone-in-my-circle-starts-a-new-group/challenge/activity thing, though, I wanted to talk for a minute about overwhelm. Both content overwhelm and activity overwhelm.
Because, to be completely honest with you, this is usually my first, instinctive emotion when something like this project crops up on someone else’s feed: “Oh, great, more homework assignments. More meetings.” Followed by some mixture of annoyance, and jealousy, and then fear of disappointing people because I ghosted them and didn’t mean to (because I’m just trying to survive the week! and then the next one, and the next). And also fear of missing out. And then immediate guilt, because I love all of my writer friends, and I don’t want to feel overwhelmed by opportunities to participate in all of the cool things they are doing.
Not only because I already have so much to do, but because, sometimes, instructions along the lines of “write me another story about fairies/unicorns/phoenixes/elephants/etc.etc.etc on TOP of everything else you’re doing!”, however creatively or inspiringly they are framed, are not always enough by itself both to light me up and to kick me into action. Whereas, what successfully pulled me back into writing last year, even after years and years away, and what still does, are structured, timed, stakes-built-in, writing challenges.
Why writing challenges?
Formal writing challenges are ridiculously expensive, let me just throw that out there. Too expensive to use them regularly as the motivational container structures that I actually need them for. That was actually a huge motivation for my creating this project. But we’ll come back to that. Here, I want to talk about what they do well.
Creative writing challenges, like school assignments, but from your favorite class, by your favorite professor, provide structure (i.e. you HAVE to do xyz in one week, THIS week), stakes (i.e. you already paid money for this — also, you might win a prize if you do well), peer pressure/support, and non-negotiable external deadlines.
As long as the pressure/stress is at a manageable level, and it’s something I am genuinely interested in, I THRIVE in conditions like these. They are some of the only conditions I consistently do thrive in.
And I know I am not the only one! Every time I finish a writing challenge that has a chat forum, no matter the platform, there is invariably a flood of people begging to know about other writing challenges out there. What else they can sign up for while they are waiting for results from this one. Because, miraculously, this challenge format WORKED for them. They finally wrote and finished something. And they LOVE that feeling.
I have a theory that this is because a lot of writers — not all, certainly, but a lot of us — are neurodivergent. Meaning we source our motivation more from the INCUP factors than anything else.
In part because of INCUP motivation, there is a stereotype that neurodivergence, of any flavor, automatically makes you bad at school. But actually, a lot of neurodivergent people, like myself, did really well in school. And specifically, I think, because it provided us with a highly-motivating combination of interest/inspiration and urgency that are simply missing from, well, pretty much every avenue of adult life. No matter the extent to which our badly-managed corporate offices try to replicate it artificially. And that functional external combination of motivational factors is something we are still searching for.
Light switch on, light switch off
Many neurodivergent people, especially if suspiciously ADHD-adjacent symptoms are mixed in with their brain soup, also very much function in a light-switch-flipped on/light-switch-flipped-off kind of way when it comes to regulating focus and sourcing motivation. Either we are ALL in and hyperfocused on a thing, at the exclusion of everything else. Which, side note, can turn quickly into a recipe for burnout unless there is a scheduled point at which the light switch must flip back off. Or, else, because of time-blindness, our brain is somewhere else entirely until it’s too late even to get started effectively. And then we miss the deadline and feel like failures.
There are no in-between options. There is ON (hyperfocus on the fast road to burnout). And there is OFF. And that’s what we get to work with. That massive, all-or-nothing, lead-weighted switch is what we are constantly toggling to try to get through our day. And it is beyond exhausting.
And any external structure that actually assists us in this regulatory process instead of impeding it is a god-send.
Other free/cheap challenges
This is a huge reason why some other free/cheap, not-prize-money-focused writing challenges I’ve encountered out there simply haven’t worked all that well for me. One in particular I’m thinking of is the South African based Deadlines for Writers website, which does a monthly single-word prompt. But, to a lesser extent, Reedsy (which, yes, is kind of money-focused), or Writers’ Hour, with their constant, week-by-week turnover. Things like that. I think I have completed three stories across scattered months for Deadlines for Writers this year. But, while I love the idea of it, and have started stories for at least three other of their prompts, I have not successfully been able to prioritize finishing their challenges consistently every month.
When I sat down to analyze why, the biggest problem I came up with was that there’s no point during their cycle of re-occurring challenges at which the light switch of focus/motivation is allowed to fully “switch off.” You get the next prompt the day after one challenge finishes. Meaning there’s time to decompress and just “be done.” And then you have the whole month ahead to finish it. Which, for someone with ADHD-adjacent traits, means that unless you really get a jump on it at the top of the month, the light switch never really “flips on” at any point, either. You’re stuck in limbo all the time. In perpetual, paralyzed “waiting mode”. There is always a half-burnt-out lightbulb buzzing out on the porch. But it’s so dim that you can’t actually see to read, or write, or do much of anything by it.
There’s no urgency, no motivation built into the process. No concentrated burst of focus. No permission to relax into the flow of focusing on THAT ONE THING at the exclusion of all else, just for now. And also, no “off” point. No looking ahead and updating your calendar accordingly.
And, like, this is invariably already the case with all of my own personal projects, yes? No one is standing over my shoulder, forcing me either to finish this chapter of my novel or give it up and call it a failure. When I’m in the flow of working on it, I LOVE that work more than breathing. But I can’t be in the flow of it all the time, because I would burn out. And, when that flow ends (or I do burn out), the obligation I’ve set myself doesn’t. It’s just … there. All the time. And trying to drag myself through the motivational nightmare of one, maybe two projects like that of my own is literally ALL I can handle. Everyone and their cousin’s “extra” prompts, and games, and groups, and constant need for engagement, and and and and and flooding in on me all of the time? I literally can’t even begin to process all of that, let alone respond to it.
But I mean, like, also yes please, give me ALL of it, right? Because I DO want friends, and community, and people I can support and give back to. I want to do what everyone else is doing. That’s why I keep trying. But also. Brain. Light-switch. Gahhhhh.
The Merrows’ Moon Academy challenge format
To reiterate, neither limbo nor community-overload seem to work particularly well for me. So. The light-switch-on/light-switch-off model is the format the Merrows’ Moon Academy challenges are going to attempt to replicate.
There is going to be one, and only one, week each month in which participants will have access to the fully-formed prompt. (Unless, later down the line, you are paid, and then you will get an extra weekend of writing time tacked on as part of your perks. But we haven’t gotten there yet.) All story-shaped responses to the prompt will need to be turned in by midnight one week after the prompt is released.
And then, the challenge will end for that month. And the rest of the month will either be time that you can focus on your own projects, or else time to give and receive feedback, or else time to participate in the optional/extra games, exercises, and activities I have up my sleeve. If you want to.
But, either way, it will be time when you can pause, decompress, and actually focus on OTHER, non-challenge things. Before the regularly-scheduled challenge cycle starts back up.
Flexible options built-in
But what, I can practically hear you shouting, happens when, you know, life happens??
What happens if I get sick during that one, regularly-scheduled challenge week?
What happens if I have jury duty that week?
Or if I’m moving?
OR!!
What happens if I really really REALLY need to direct all my energy into one of my own projects? You know, those things we just talked about above, in terms of the time and mental real estate they occupy?
Well, two things.
First,
Merrows’ Moon Academy takes summer and winter breaks
Like most schools, magical and otherwise, there will be holidays. “School” will not be in session and writing challenges will not take place during the months of June, July, and December (with the exception of this current beta trial, which will run through December, so free subs really get their full value). If we ever get to a point where there are paid subscribers, monthly subscriptions will be paused for these months. And annual rates, and any discounts therein, will absolutely take breaks into account.
This way, neither you nor I am ON all the time. Everyone gets to re-charge and re-evaluate their life. Really focus on personal projects. Unplug for family vacations. Just exist.
Second,
There are flexible options for how to complete the challenges
Again like most schools, Merrows’ Moon offers more than one class. There will actually be four different “classes” that offer different flexible tracks for how to make these monthly writing challenges work best for YOU as an individual.
The first class will be the standard challenge experience. The one you are used to and expect, if you complete writing challenges regularly. Students submitting their stories for this “class” will have to write exactly to the prompt and word count specifications. And, if they successfully do so, they will be eligible for any and all randomized prize drawings.
The second class will be a bit more flexible. Students will still need to include all major prompt elements. But they can write outside the word count. Or they can incorporate the prompts into, say, an episode of an existing serial they’re writing on their Substack. Or they can combine these prompt elements with prompts for another challenge they’re participating in, and so make that story work double-time. These students will still be eligible for some of the randomized prize drawings, if they successfully submit their piece. But they may have to work harder to make their writing stand out, since word count limits can have the happy side-effect of forcing much-needed edits.
The third class will be an independent study. Students writing for this option can write whatever they want while using the time limit structure, deadline, community social-peer-pressure, and submission form as a kind of container to spur their motivation. Students might choose this option to complete, say, Substack content of their own that they’d been meaning to find time for. Or a pre-specified word count on their novel, like one could do with some of the old NaNoWriMo programs. Or, if this turned into a particularly hectic week for them, they could use it as a way to submit, say, the 250-word scene they were able to scribble out in the last hour of the challenge and still feel like they did something. I obviously don’t recommend using that as a cop out every month. But, hey, those weeks do happen. Independent study students would not be eligible for any randomized prize drawings. But, so long as they submitted a link to their piece, they could still have peers assigned to give them feedback.
The fourth and final class will be called “Intermediate Invisibility Studies,” or something like that. It is for students who, whatever they have chosen to write, whether it aligns with the prompts or not, decide that they either do not want any feedback OR do not want to post their piece publicly. For example. Maybe they wrote about something deeply personal. Maybe they feel really strongly about wanting to edit it further before someone else looks at it. Maybe they love how it turned out and want to submit it somewhere for publication. “Invisibility” students would obviously not be eligible for any randomized prize drawings or peer feedback. But I felt like they should have an option to receive credit for participating regardless.
Wrap Up
I literally don’t know how to end a post like this. But all of the above, friend, is only one of many reasons why you should consider subscribing to the…
for Magical Writers community.Thoughtful, structured writing challenge formats that actually work for people who need them most. And flexible options that makes them work for you. Yes, even if you are in or run your own community/ies. Yes, even if you are already a writing challenge fiend with the busy-est possible roster. This is 100% for YOU. And I would LOVE to have you there.
Also, through the end of the year, this entire project is entirely FREE. Because I need to beta test, and I decided to start with a soft launch.
And even later on, there will STILL always be a free option. Just maybe with fewer perks. Mostly because I do not have infinite energy and have to draw lines somewhere.
Plus, you know, regardless
you would get to join
a REAL MAGIC SCHOOL?!?