The Writer's Growth Challenge

Reading, writing, moving. How it transformed my writing process in the first week.

Hey all, I've been marketing on Bookstagram and BookTok for over a year now, and honestly, I've felt it lately. I took a look at my screen time (spent on socials) compared to the amount of work I was putting out and I was very disappointed.

Not only was the amount of meaningful work disrupted, but also the quality of it too.

Then, there was the matter of my mental health. Some people can live on social media without it bleeding into their quality of mindset. I am not that type of person. The longer I spent on my social platforms, the less focus I found, and my base-line anxiety was through the roof.

So, I decided to make a challenge for myself and invite any other reader or writer to join with me if you are feeling the drain and negativity of today's world.

When I designed my challenge rules, my goals were to:

1. Deeply expand and diversify my knowledge of literature.

2. Reduce my time on social media. (I can't exclude it completely, and I don't want to. So I adopted the motto: "Make my mark on social media. Don't let social media make its mark on me," and set a time limit of 30 minutes a day on each platform.

3. Write more words per day.

4. Improve my mental health, my inner-voice, and my focus.

   
   
   
   

   So I wrote up my RWM Challenge:

It's a terrible name, I know. If you move the letters around, it makes WRM (sounds like worm). It's fine. BUT, it does the job, and I can't think of anything cooler, so it stays.

RWM Challenge stands for READ, WRITE, MOVE.

And my official rules are:

1. Each day I, will READ.

2. Each day, I will WRITE.

3. Each day, I will MOVE my body. (I'll explain why this matters.)

4. Annnd keep my social media usage to 30 min a day per platform. (Instagram is the hardest for me.)

   
   

   
   

   READ:

   I decided to make a TBR. Not my typical TBR. I wanted one that would challenge me. I imagined myself at a high-end party where there might be publishing legends there. I imagined getting sat at a table, surrounded by famous authors of all genres. And I thought, my TBR needs to be built in a way that I could keep a conversation with anyone I was sat next to. You guys, I read a lot of mainstream fantasy/romance with the rare non-fiction or classical novel. So, this imaginary scenario helped me make this TBR.

   This TBR is comprised of titles that will either deepen my knowledge in literature, culture, or help me become a better writer in my genre. Only three-four of the books on this list are re-reads and it's because these titles are so popular/successful, I want to re-read them with a more analytical mind. I will be updating this list periodically, crossing off the titles I've finished so you can see my progress! As you might notice, the romantasy, fantasy, and romance sections aren't as long but that's because I read those genres more often. (My list is at the bottom of this post. Or, you can download it, HERE.)

Write:

I document my writing sessions every day, clocking in with my start/end time, and starting/ending word count. Personally, I am focused on writing Book 2 in my current series, but I've also been journaling and blogging. Increasing my word output and documenting my progress each day has loosened up the words, and they've finally started to flow freely again! My thoughts don't feel so trapped, and my anxiety of worrying whether or not readers will like what I'm writing has decreased.

Move:

I will move purposefully for at LEAST ten minutes each day.

Y'all might be thinking, "What does exercise have to do with reading and writing?"

For me, it allows my mind to be clear. It drops my base-line anxiety (which is my life struggle). For me, movement is a necessary part of a healthy writing process. I like to describe my head as a pipe, full of all my emotions. And exercise is like the release valve. If I don't go on a walk, or move my body in some meaningful way, the pressure builds, and in my experience, my creativity cant get through the pipes unless I release the valve.

Social Media Time:

I use the little screen-time tracker on my phone, and I cap each social media platform at 30 minutes a day. I have my content scheduled, so my thirty minutes is spent responding to DM's and comments on my posts. No scrolling.

At the time I'm writing this blog post, I'm only 7 days into my challenge, and I FEEL the immense difference. I truly hope to make this "challenge" my life style, and I invite you to take any part of this challenge with me.

Cortney's Growth TBR:

Classics:

Jane Austen

• Pride & Prejudice

• Sense & Sensibility

• Emma

• Persuasion

Charles Dickens

• Great Expectations

• A Tale of Two Cities

• David Copperfield

• Oliver Twist

• Bleak House

George Eliot

• Middlemarch

Mary Shelley

• Frankenstein

Eleanor Atkinson

• Greyfriars Bobby

Louisa May Alcott

• Little Women

Virginia Woolf

• Orlando

Fredrick Douglass

• Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass

Charlotte Brontë

• Jane Eyre

F. Scott Fitzgerald

• The Great Gatsby

H.G. Wells

• The Time Machine

Miguel de Cervantes

• Don Quixote

Marissa Constaniou

• Women of the Harlem Renaissance 

James Weldon Johnson

• The Autobiography of an ex-colored Man

Charles Darwin

• On the Origin of Species

Nella Larsen

• Passing

Robert Louis Stevenson

• Kidnapped

Emily Brontë

• Wuthering Heights

Herman Melville

• Moby-Dick

Mary Seacole

• Wonderful Adventures of Seacole in Many Lands

Lewis Carroll

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

Gustave Flaubert

• Madame Bovary

William Makepeace Thackeray 

• Vanity Fair

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

• Crime and Punishment

Fantasy:

Brandon Sanderson

• The Stormlight Archive

J.R.R. Tolkien 

• The Lord of the Rings

C.S. Lewis

• The Chronicles of Narnia

George R.R. Martin

• A Game of Thrones

Terry Pratchet

• The Color of Magic

Susanna Clarke

• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Patrick Rothfuss

• Name of the Wind

Scott Lynch

• The Lies of Locke Lamora

Neil Gaiman

• American Gods

Ursula Le Guin

• The Earthsea Quartet

Robin Hobb

• Assassin’s Apprentice 

Steve Erikson 

• Gardens of the Moon

Stephen King

• The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower)

Robert Jordan

• The Wheel of Time

Herbert Frank

• Dune

M. L. Wang

• Blood Over Bright Haven

Genovea Dimova

• Foul Days

Hugo Winners:

N.K. Jemisin

• The Fifth Season

T. Kingfisher

• Nettle and Bone

Emily Tesh

• Some Desperate Glory

Mary Robinette Kowal 

• The Calculating Stars

Arkady Martine 

• A Memory Called Empire

Nonfiction:

Mel Robbins

• Let Them

Lawrence Weschler

• Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder

Jon Krakauer

• Into the Wild

Karen Armstrong

• The Battle for God

David Grann

• The Lost City of Z

Tim Wu

• The Master Switch

James Gleik

• The Information 

Katherine Boo

• Behind the beautiful forevers

Robert Macfarlane

• The Old Ways

Gene Weingarten

• One Day

Brianna Wiest

• 101 Essays that will change the way you think

Mark Manson

• The Subtle Art of not Giving a Fuck

Stephen R. Covey

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Jonathan Haidt

• The Anxious Generation 

Angela Duckworth

• Grit

Nick Trenton

• Stop Overthinking 

David Goggins

• Can’t Hurt Me

Brandon Webb

• Mastering Fear

Jessamy Hibbero

• The Imposter Cure

Daniel H. Pink

• When

Chris Voss

• Never Split the Difference

Charles Duhigg

• Super Communicators

Harriet B. Braiker

• The Disease to Please

Valerie Young

• The Secret thoughts of successful women

Romance:

Nicholas Sparks

• Notebook

Ali Hazelwood

• The Love Hypothesis 

• Deep End

Emily Henry

• Funny Story

Hannah Grace

• Icebreaker

Rebecca Yarros

• In the Likely Event

Lucy Score

• Story of My Life

Abby Jimenez

• Just for the Summer

Julia Quinn

• The Duke and I

Romantasy:

J.D. Evan’s

• Reign & Ruin

Nissan J. Tuli

• Trial of the Sun Queen

A.N. Caudle

• Worthy of Fate

BookTok:

Liv Zander

• Feathers so Vicious

Rachel Schneider

• Metal Slinger

Kristen Ciccarelli

• Heartless Hunter

Melissa K. Roehrich

• Rain of Shadows and Endings

• Lady of Darkness

Best Sellers:

Napoleon Hill

• Think & Grow Rich

Paulo Coelho

• The Alchemist

Dan Brown

• The Da Vinci Code

Anne Frank

• The Diary of a Young Girl

J.K. Rowling

• Harry Potter

Alexandre Dumas

• The Count of Monte Cristo

Suzanne Collins

• The Hunger Games

Harper Lee

• To Kill a Mockingbird

Rebecca Yarros

• Fourth Wing

Sarah J. Mass

• ACOTAR

• Throne of Glass

I hope this post helps you on your author journey! For more tips, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of this page!

Thank you to this amazing community for all your support!

XOXO, 

Cort