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It is with much excitement that The Outdoor Society announces Season Two of #NatureWritingChallenge! We took a break for the summer months, but now that signs of fall are all around us, it is time to pick back up this awesome writing exercise. With a whole new layout and new topics, those who love writing about the wonders and experiences found on Public Lands have another chance to share that passion with other like-minded explorers. Starting on September 10th, 2018 and running through Spring of 2019, Season Two of #NatureWritingChallenge is going to be awesome.
What is #NatureWritingChallenge
The Nature Writing Challenge was created in 2017 by Douglas Scott of the Outdoor Society as a way for public land enthusiasts and writers to share cool stories with each other. Often, inspiration for writing can be hard, but #NatureWritingChallenge, which occurs on Twitter, was established to help to fuel some creativity and battle the inevitable bout of writer’s block. Each week, a topic is picked and writers have an hour to write, edit and post their stories to their websites. The results are raw and unfiltered, giving a glimpse at the heart and soul of those who write about the great outdoors. The writing challenge is a lot of fun and a great chance to be creative and share your work with other incredible people. The whole thing is positive and friendly, as we all want the same thing: for others to love and fight for public lands as much as we do.
How Do You Participate?
All you need to do to participate in #NatureWritingChallenge is to write for an hour on the topic picked each week. The finished product will be posted on your website or blog and then shared on Twitter using our hashtag. While it is best if you have someplace online where you can post your work, I suppose you can write it by hand or type it up and take screenshots of your writing. Don’t have Twitter? Sign up! Even if all you do is use it for #NatureWritingChallenge!
How will I introduce topics?
Each Monday evening, I will post this week’s topic on my personal twitter via video. On this video, I will draw the topic out of a hat from a unique spot on Public Lands around the country. After picking the topic, I will repeat all the rules and information about the challenge, in case someone is new. A new twist is that this season, we are taking suggestions for topics from you! If you have an idea for a topic, just send it to me via a DM or using #NatureWritingChallenge and I’ll add it into the hat.
How long do you have to write?
While Season 1 saw just one hour from the mention of the topic to required completion of post, this season will give you longer to think about the topic before you write. While you will have nearly three full days to write on this, the goal of this challenge is that you only write for an hour and then call your work completed. Whether you work on it for 20 minutes a day or one full hour with no breaks is entirely your choice. Just only work on it for one hour total.
Will there be a scheduled time?
On Thursday at 6:30pm EST, we will have a 30 minute #NatureWritingChallenge group chat on Twitter. This is when your post needs to be on your website. For this half hour chat, we will have a semi-structure discussions about our posts and the topic. This will give us a chance to share why we wrote what we did, and also a chance to all connect a bit better. The goal here is to create a strong and supportive writing community.
Why the Change from Season One?
This new format allows more people to participate and also accommodates our busy schedules. Even if you can’t participate in the chat on Thursday, you can still write and post/share your work. Hopefully, this will grow our already awesome community and connect more passionate outdoor writers with each other.
When Does Season Two Start?
Season Two starts…now. The first topic will be announced on my twitter feed during the evening of September 10th, 2018 and will occur as weekly as possible through April of 2019. Will we miss some weeks? Probably, but I will always do my best to give you a heads up or announce the week’s guest host as far in advance as I can.
How Can You Support This?
We want to help make #NatureWritingChallenge a place for sharing fun stories and spreading our love of public lands. Write each week. Tell your friends. Sponsor #NatureWritingChallenge for a week, month of the entire season. Buy our notebooks. Listen to our podcast. Send cash. However you wish to support us, please do that.
