After celebrating the 100th day of Daily Prompts, @mariannewest began the "Over 20 Club" on January 29, 2018, and here is her explanation of how it works. "I have a list of freewriters who have written at least 20 freewrites. Every Monday, I will invite 5 authors to write a post showing 3 or more freewrites they liked and are past their payout." It gives us the opportunity to look back, tell our own story on how we began freewriting, and to show our freewrites from the past that may have been missed. Thank you for the invitation Marianne.
This is how I began my freewriting journey. My interests on my blog are: cats, dogs, nature, story telling. My love for writing began in the 11th grade when I had to write a poem and a story for a homework assignment. I didn't pursue writing because it was just a hobby; nothing more. When I joined Steemit, it was my first time blogging and I spent the first 2 weeks looking around and learning the ropes before I posted anything. I began with poems and only had a handful of readers, if I was lucky. I then began writing stories. Most were humor and some were long, taking 2-4 different posts to complete. I had a few more readers with positive reviews, but I was still disappointed. So I began doing something different; posting photos for the daily color challenge. More people were interested in that, so I stopped writing. I then began a 60 day nature series and in between that, I searched for writers one last time. I had decided to remove "story telling" from my interests if I didn't find anything that suited me. That is when I found Marianne's Freewriting Challenge.
I didn't even know what a freewrite was. It was only 5 minutes, not hours and days like my stories, so I had nothing to lose; except for my pride. My first freewrite was Day 10: splinter. It was nerve wracking for me and I almost didn't post it. Encouraging words came from @snook and Marianne. When I told @snook that I almost didn't post it because I didn't think it was good enough, she replied, "There is no good or bad, no right or wrong. Just have fun." Marianne thanked me for playing. "Oh, I get it now. It's like a game, it's meant to be fun, no pressure. I can do that!" And that was the beginning of my freewrite journey. All of my free time was spent on my daily nature series and I had other commitments, so I had to stop freewriting during that time. I missed it and the friendly community so I popped in a few times to do a freewrite. Marianne's encouragement along with others, had me wanting to return as soon as possible; Day 60 was that day.
The freewrite community has grown and I wish I could read every single daily freewrite because I enjoy them and I want to spread the love, but I haven't found the time to do that...yet. And it still boggles my mind of what others write with just one word; I was even blown away a few times with what I wrote. I never read a freewrite until after I have posted mine because I don't want to be swayed. I want my mind to be completely open and free. And I love how Marianne allows us to be free, in every sense of the word. There is only one rule and that is to use the daily prompt in your daily writing. Another thing that I love is the freewriting community, which is filled with encouragement, friends, and love; it feels like home. Thank you Marianne, and to all for your time, encouragement, support, and friendship.