Every month we feature a different writing challenge.
Here’s our challenge for December.
The One-Hour-a-Day December Writing Challenge
December is busy, but you can still move your writing forward in just one focused hour a day.
This challenge is simple:
Every day in December, set aside one hour just for your writing.
No multitasking. No email. No “quick scroll” on your phone. Just one clean, protected hour.
You can write:
- Your novel
- Short stories
- Blog posts or newsletters
- Revisions of a current project
- Planning, outlining, or brainstorming for the new year
The project doesn’t matter. The hour does.
How the Challenge Works
#1. Pick your hour.
-
- Morning before everyone wakes up
- Lunch hour
- Right after work
- Before bed
Choose a time you can stick with most days. Put it in your calendar like an appointment.
#2. Decide your focus for the month.
One main focus keeps you from spinning in circles.
For example:
“Draft 20,000 new words on my novel.”
“Revise my picture book manuscript.”
“Write 10 blog posts for my author website.”
#3. Set a tiny daily target.
Just enough to give you direction:
500–1,000 words a day, or
One specific scene or section, or
60 minutes of revision with no word-count goal
#4. Track your progress.
Use a simple checklist:
Date
Start time / end time
What you worked on
One sentence: “Here’s what I accomplished today.”
Mindset Reminders for December
- Done is better than perfect.
You’re building a habit, not writing a masterpiece in one month. Messy words still count. - Missing a day isn’t failure.
If you skip a day, don’t wait for Monday or January. Just come back the very next day and write for an hour. - Small steps add up.
One focused hour a day for 31 days is 31 hours of writing. That’s a lot of pages. - You are allowed to prioritize your writing.
Your hour is not selfish. It’s you honoring the work you feel called to do.
And now, if you’d like some accountability for this challenge, become of member of Monday Morning Manifestors, where we check in with each other every Monday to help each of us reach our writing goals.
