Had a small writing realization yesterday morning (yes, this took me a whole day to squeeze enough time to write out) that felt worth sharing. I’ve been circling a sci-fi project (tentatively calling it The Somniarch Spaces) for a while, trying to build it the same way I build big fantasy worlds - lore first, structure first, everything mapped out. Then, driving to work, I passed through a low bank of fog and had a simple thought: What if that fog were alive? No symbolism or metaphor, just a fundamentally alien premise. Felt more weighty, almost ominous to drive through it. Haven’t had that feeling in a while, it was nice. That flipped something for me. I realized Somniarchs doesn’t want empires or timelines yet. It wants moments. Little, strange instances where something impossible is briefly true. A fog that experiences itself, a fire that reacts to hunger, a building that develops a dim sense of self. Those small, unconnected pieces will gradually build up into a bigger answer to its central question. It was a good reminder that different projects want different entry points. Sometimes forcing the “right” method is what stalls you. Or heck, just not yet knowing the one you need exists! Curious if anyone else here has had that moment where you realized you were trying to write the right thing in the wrong way.

And with this, we have the finale of our first challenge! Huzzah everyone, we made it through January. If you participated (or even if not, no biggie) I invite you to describe below what you wrote this month. I have only one condition: PHRASE IT LIKE A WIN EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T HIT YOUR INITIAL GOAL. If you wrote a few poems and half a chapter of your WIP, you won because you exercised your skills. If you jotted down a few quick sentences in between errands and family stuff, you won because you gave yourself room to imagine. If you took a few extra minutes to put some extra flair into a caption or landing page or whatnot (copywriter territory), you won because you exercised your unique creativity. If you had a moment late at night where you reached that weird liminal time when your responsibilities for the day fade and everyone else has gone to bed, and you should really go to sleep but you had damn near no time to yourself the whole day and needed to decompress, so you sat down in front of an empty document or notebook and stared bleary-eyed at it for ten minutes before writing three words (and then erasing two) - if that was the ONLY writing thing you did this entire month, then you still won! Why? Because you persisted. I made this group because writing is hard, especially when you're alone. You need time, and that's hard to get, and it's tough making money with it even in business writing contexts, let alone trying to monetize creative stuff. We keep coming back to it not because it's necessarily the 'best' or 'most optimal' use of our time - (not that those things even exist, but that's a whole other ramble) - but because there is a longing for creative expression inside of every human being, and this is the means by which we are drawn to show it. So go ahead and tell us how your writing was this month - what you did, what you struggled with, what you'd like to focus on going forwards! Above all, thank you all for being here and for sharing parts of yourselves.

This has been a big week! Lotsa people joining. As always, if you've been active already and are tagged here, no worries, everyone gets an intro ping regardless to help provide an entry point. Without further ado, please welcome: @Dawn Stanton, looking to share and explore poetry! @Steven Hensley, here to work on his sci-fi/fantasy ideas. @Chisom Okoronkwo, focusing on sharpening sales copy (which is as valid a type of writing as any other, with its own intricacies!) @Brian Mulcahy, who's just browsing currently. @Ron Roy, who writes kids books and has been decently present already. @Paula Messina, here to tell her story with a lot of lived experience! @Anderson George, a marketer looking to improve how he communicates and presents ideas through writing. @Carmen Reeves, an herbalism and holistic health geek who wants to strengthen her wordsmithing. @James Joyce, joining because he wants to publish and is looking for guidance and momentum. @Emdad Hossain, who's working on a bunch of projects - blogging, comics, line art, all of which demand different use of words! @Lisa Harris, currently just browsing and checking out the community. @Marsha Lindsay, writing daily affirmations and faith-based encouragement to uplift others. You may have seen her around here or there. @John Kes Dizzy, writing short stories and with a passion for birds (the second best category of creature behind crabs)! @Casey Mcquiston, who's done some romance novel stuff! @Jessical Scachetti, who like many is balancing everyday life with a need to create.