Student Blog: How I've Challenged Myself as a Writer this Fall

This semester, one of my goals was to get more serious about my writing. I was recently nominated to be a part of the Kilroys 2025 Web for a play I wrote last year titled I Want to Be. Getting to see my play produced and impacting others made me want to see what else I was capable of doing as a writer. I also write poetry and wanted to both share my poetry more frequently and improve as a poet. So, I challenged myself this semester to get back into writing and grow as a playwright and poet. Here's how I did that:

1. I signed up for a creative writing course. 

This course, taught by the wonderful Prof. Kate Sanchez, allowed me to challenge myself as a writer through weekly assignments that forced me to experiment with different genres, respond to prompts of her choosing, revise larger pieces, reflect on reading from Anne Lamont’s Bird by Bird, and discuss my evolution as a writer with my peers. I was often scared by the initial uncertainty I would feel when I had to approach a new writing task, but the assignment deadlines and my desire to grow pushed me to confront my fear of blank pages. The results of this course were some of my favorite pieces I’ve ever written.

2. I challenged myself twice to write daily for a month.

As I was both going into and saying goodbye to my creative writing course, I challenged myself to write everyday for a month. This type of challenge helps me get into a consistent writing routine, fight writer’s block, and challenge myself with different prompts (I often use prompts to kick-start a new piece.) This was important because it made my coursework feel less intimidating since I was already doing well creatively. Sometimes, I would write something for myself and then revise it if it fit the goal of a certain assignment. This helped me balance my creative and academic goals while making more space for me to study for my other courses. When the semester ended, this challenge helped me maintain the writing routine I established with Prof. Sanchez. With a few days left in 2025, I am excited to see what else I will write.

3. I started writing a play with my friend.

In November, I messaged my friend Bee - who is also a playwright - and asked if she wanted to write a play with me in 72 hours. You may be wondering, why would you do something like that? That sounds impossible. Your right to question me, because we did not succeed. However, I did this with the same intention I approached daily writing with. Putting a deadline on a writing project helps me to channel my creativity and fight my anxiety around writing. Bee and I ended up coming up with an interesting concept for a play and co-writing the start of it. Now, under a mentor, we are continuing to work on the play together and having a wonderful time doing so. This play would not have existed if I didn’t seek to challenge myself and have fun creating something with my friend.

4. Performed at two open mics

This semester, I also conquered my fear of performing at an open mic! My first open mic was hosted by Souletri. I was scared to get up in front of everyone there and perform my piece (I had written it a mere few hours before) but I had a wonderful experience and got lots of words of encouragement after! My second open mic was at my community college. My creative writing professor signed me up to read as a part of a writer’s showcase followed by an open mic. I performed a second piece during the open mic portion of the event to push myself to conquer my stage fright further.

5. Started sharing my poetry on social media

While doing my daily writing challenges, I’ve slowly gotten more comfortable sharing my writing online through Instagram stories. The responses I’ve gotten from people who enjoyed my work made the act of sharing my pieces feel less daunting. Sharing it also helped me stay consistent because I wanted to be able to post nearly daily as well. I haven’t been sharing each day’s writing, but I have been sharing my writing from most days and that has been empowering.  

If you are also a creative writer or wanting to get into writing, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself! Fear and perfectionism can take the fun out of creative hobbies and professions, so we must be brave in the pursuit of growth.