Day Off — “28 to Make”

28 to make is a creativity challenge from CreativeLive. Participants create and share a quick sketch every day for 28 days. I’m doing the same but with words.

Each day in February, I’ll set a timer for 20 minutes and write a “sketch” inspired by the prompt for the day.

Day 7: Don’t make anything take the day off to reflect on the week.

Today’s challenge is to take a day off and after building some momentum making something every day and sharing it, that does feel like a challenge.

Here are a few observations from my first week of this daily blogging practice.

The Time Limit is Everything

Working on a twenty-minute deadline dramatically changes the way you write.

Anyone who draws knows that the amount of detail you put into a sketch depends on how much time you have to do it. 20 minutes isn’t enough time to write several well-crafted paragraphs, but it’s plenty of time to jot a few tight sentences.

As with drawing, practicing at different speeds improves your craft.

Constraints are Good for Creativity

Having purposely avoided peeking at the prompts ahead of time, I panicked when the day’s assignment was to “sketch a receipt.” My immediate reaction was: “the fuck do I have to say about receipts?” It wasn’t long before that panic lead me to something I never would have thought about if I hadn’t gone in not wanting to do that prompt.

I hope to keep a daily blogging practice going after these 28 days are up. If I do, I’m going to look for prompts. It makes things easier, and more original work results.

Each Post is a Complete Act of Making

Every day during this challenge, I get to practice starting, executing, finishing, and sharing a mini project.

I practice writing in my journal every day. I’ve practiced being in the middle of ghostwriting a book every day for the past year. I’ve practiced starting more projects than I’d like to admit.

Every time I make a little thing and put it out there, I practice the entire creative process.