“Writing has allowed me to build mental integrity. I’ve had to have the courage to write down and share my thoughts in public on a regular basis. That practice has allowed me to improve how I articulate and express what I value most deeply. More importantly, it’s taught me how to live with and work through fears which keep me from being bold and forthright in other areas of life.” –James Walpole, Praxis alum, writing streak 365 days +
Many participants who come into the program have never written for 30 days in a row. You probably haven’t either. The challenge of doing one simple thing every single day for a whole month has proven to be one of the most beneficial things that anyone in the Praxis program does.
The Main Challenge
This is the part everyone talks about. Publish something, every single day for a whole month. Even if nobody reads your posts, do you have the ability to stick it out?
Writing is an extremely important skill for any career. No matter what you do, the ability to write concisely and well will be an asset to your life.
Getting Over Your Fear of Shipping
“Shipping” is putting your content out into the world for whatever it’s worth. This means exposing your work to hundreds, maybe thousands of people who may love it or hate it.
This is extremely hard for any creator to do. But it’s necessary for growth.
In addition to the act of hitting “Publish” every day, the shipping process of Module 3 includes several activities:
- Posting each article in the Praxis workplace group.
- Swapping articles with fellow Praxis participants for review and critique.
- Sending at least one post per week to a third-party publication.
Professional Communication
Yes, the goal is still to launch a career!
Email Communication: This is a skill that is majorly overlooked in the professional world today. Participants complete the Praxis email workshop and put their learnings to use when connecting with advisors and fellow participants.
Cut in half and ship: Much writing is a series of prolonged word structure and complicated formulation that leaves readers’ heads spinning with confusion and general frustration that frankly could be avoided.
Short, clear writing gets to the point quickly. It’s the best for any professional work.
Leave the long, flowy sentences for creative writing.
As an exercise for being succinct, participants take pieces of their writing and cut them to half their original length before publishing the final work.
Writing for Action: Marketing Copy
Copywriting is a hard skill that you can take anywhere in today’s business world. The businesses that succeed are the ones that drive people to action with their words.
For this reason, one week of Module 3 is dedicated to studying good and bad marketing copy. Participants assess websites and create feedback videos on what they find.
In addition to the curriculum and the deliverables, each participant has access to advisors, many of whom are avid writers and love to provide feedback and advice for going forward.
Check out these posts about the blogging challenge:
- How to survive blogging for 30 days by Ryan Matlock
- The Challenges and Rewards of Writing Every Single Day by T.K. Coleman
- My Main Motivation for Writing Every Day by James Walpole
- I wrote for 100 Days. This is What I Learned by Elizabeth Beeli
- Thoughts on Daily Blogging Round 2 by Madison Kanna
Think this module sounds easy? Give it a try! Write every day for a whole month.
See if it doesn’t change you.