What is the 100 Days Writing Challenge?

The Challenge

Build a better writing habit by writing at least 100 words or spending 10 minutes in your manuscript every day for 100 days in a row.

How it started

In 2018, following the release of her 13th novel (make of that what you will), author Suzie O’Connell burned out. Hardcore. After two long years, the stories and characters finally began to reawaken after their long silence, but by that point, her writing muscle had atrophied.

A fortuitous conversation with a friend sparked an epiphany.

This friend had just hit a pretty amazing milestone—she’d written at least a few words every day for 1000 days in a row. Incredible, right? But what really stood out was a side note that the first 100 days were the hardest. Once this friend got past those first 100 days, not writing began to feel strange.

With that in mind, Suzie challenged herself to write every day for 100 days in a row with a low goal—just 100 words a day. Something very doable.

Focus on one day at a time. Only 100 words or 10 minutes a day.

And she did it! And, yep, by the end, it felt uncomfortable to even contemplate not writing.

Why it works

  • Focusing on one day at a time—adding another link to your chain each day you write—reduces overwhelm
  • Each day you add to your chain builds positive momentum, and positive momentum makes the brain happy
  • It’s cumulative—every day you write builds that writing muscle and makes it stronger

What counts as "writing"?

Because it’s so easy to get caught up in all the minutia of publishing and life in general, we’ve created some guidelines about what counts toward the daily goal for the 100 Days Challenge. Basically, there are two main ways you can do this challenge: strictly as a writing challenge (in which only actual writing—putting words on the page—counts toward the daily goal) or as a manuscript-work challenge (in which you count other manuscript-related work toward your goal).

You are obviously free to do this challenge however you want, but after 8+ challenges, we’ve learned a thing or two about what helps build a productive writing habit. We highly recommend the writing-only option. Because writing is the hardest part for most of us, especially those of us who have published and have all those publishing- and marketing-related distractions. However, if you’re in a different stage of the writing process, such as editing or plotting, count that manuscript work.

What is “manuscript work”? Let’s clarify:

What counts:
  • Any work that goes into actually writing your manuscript, such as:
  • Brainstorming/plotting (as long as you’re taking notes and not just daydreaming)
  • Worldbuilding
  • Research (just be careful that you actually need to do the research and aren’t simply avoiding the writing)
  • Drafting (writing new words in your manuscript)
  • Editing (taking your manuscript from rough draft to polished book—this is still part of the drafting phase and some authors need to edit as they go)
What doesn't:
  • Anything that happens after your manuscript is finished, such as:
  • Formatting (i.e. making your finished, edited, and polished manuscript into a ready-for-sale book)
  • Designing covers (caveat: count if it’s part of your brainstorming/plotting)
  • Writing blurbs (caveat: count if this is part of your brainstorming/plotting)
  • Publishing
  • Marketing (if you have books already published)

Meet the Founder

Author. Dreamer. Photoshop addict. Unapologetic nerd.

Suzie O’Connell is the USA Today bestselling author of 13 heartfelt small town contemporary romance novels. She also writes high/epic fantasy under the pen name Kate Aneth with plans to publish her debut in 2025. What else? Oh, she designs book covers, too. And in 2019, she co-founded the author community Wide for the Win with her writing bestie Erin Wright and still can’t believe that humble Facebook group has grown into a thriving community of over 18,000 members.

She’s been writing stories for as long as she can remember, and one of her core passions is helping other writers find success in on both sides of their careers—writing and publishing. She also lovingly fosters a 20+ year Photoshop addiction and landscape photography habit. When she’s not engaged in creative endeavors, you’ll probably find her spoiling her menagerie of critters (current count: two spoiled golden retrievers, three adored rescue cats, and two “pasture pet” cows) or otherwise enjoying the great outdoors.

Websites (OMG, so many):
Romance: suzieoconnell.com
Fantasy: kateaneth.com
Cover Design: sunsetrosebooks.com
Wide for the Win: wideforthewin.com
100 Days Writing Challenge: you’re already here 😉