January Writing Challenge

Want to work on your writing craft, even if you’re busy with other things? Tackle your skills one month at a time.

Once a month, I’ll suggest a single writing skill to work on.

Focus on it for the month—in your emails, your work or personal writing, your journals, or anywhere you write.

Rotate through different aspects of the craft one month at a time, and you will strengthen your writing skills.

January: Beginnings

We often think about beginnings in January. Use this month to work on the way your writing pieces start.

When you write anything this month, pay extra attention to the start. This includes:

Email subject linesEmail first linesThe first line of a social media postThe introduction to a reportThe beginning of a chapter

 As you look at the beginnings, ask yourself a few questions:

Does this compel the reader to continue?

If not, how can I make it more interesting?

If it’s an email, is the about me, or about the recipient? (Hint: try making it about the recipient.)

Start by doing this after you draft, but before you publish or send. As you get more comfortable, you can try to integrate the strong starts into your drafting process.

Do this for a month, and see what happens! Let me know if it makes a difference for you.

If you want to get all the monthly challenges in 2023, use the form below to sign up for my Writing Practices list.

Every other week you’ll get writing-related advice by email.

Once a month, you’ll get this challenge, and the chance to enter a drawing for a writing-related book.

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I've been delving into how to optimize my writing practices for creativity and productivity, and I'm sharing what I've learned.\r\n\r\nSign up to get once-a-week posts by email.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"21":{"honeypot_save":""},"27":{"label":"Text","default_value":"<a href=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp.png\"><img class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3252\" src=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp-150x50.png\" alt=\"email logo wp\" width=\"150\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><em><strong>Want to read more\u00a0posts like this?<\/strong><\/em> Sign up to receive writing posts by email, every other week.\u00a0You'll also receive a guide to overcoming common barriers to writing.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"28":{"label":"First 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width=\"150\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a>\r\nWrite much? Me, too. I've been delving into how to optimize my writing practices for creativity and productivity, and I'm sharing what I've learned.\r\n\r\nSign up to get once-a-week posts by email.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"6":{"honeypot_save":""},"7":{"label":"Text","default_value":"<a href=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp.png\"><img class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3252\" src=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp-150x50.png\" alt=\"email logo wp\" width=\"150\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><em><strong>Want to read more\u00a0posts like this?<\/strong><\/em> Sign up to receive writing posts by email, every other week.\u00a0You'll also receive a guide to overcoming common barriers to writing.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"8":{"label":"First 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