Giveaway: Scholarship for Alchemy

Update: Congratulations to Dee, who has won the Alchemy scholarship! I would love to see all of you in the course, so I'm leaving registration open a bit longer. We're just three days into it, so it's still easy to jump in.

Good news: I have a last-minute scholarship for a spot in the online writing course!

Alchemy featured guest Kyran Pittman has decided to offer up her complimentary spot in the course to someone who's been dreaming of attending. (Kyran will share her wisdom this week on finding and writing stories from her life.)

To enter, please leave one comment on this post with your biggest writing challenge, frustration, or dream. I'll use the random number generator at Random.org to choose the scholarship recipient at 5:00pm (ET) on Wednesday (October 13).

The course started on Monday, but it's easy to catch up! So leave a comment below (or skip the lottery and just sign-up). I'd love to see you in the Alchemy community, where creative souls from five countries have already gathered to learn and write together. It's going to be magic!

Comments

[~Kristina]

my biggest writing challenge is sharing my work. i'm afraid of how others will receive it and so instead keep it tucked away.

[Savannah B]

My writing dream is also a frustration: finding time to do it properly. It's hard to balance a homeschooling schedule, a two-nights-a-week waitressing gig and full time mommyhood, much less find a spot for myself- and writing is for myself. But I have decided it's time to become a better writer, even if it means getting up at (or staying up until) dawn.

[Kirsten Michelle*]

my biggest challenging lies in convincing myself that the stories within are worthy of sharing.

[Sara]

My biggest challenge is finding the balance between telling the truth and respecting the privacy of others. There are many stories waiting to be told, but because of their content I find it difficult tovwroite them, for fear of damaging others.

At the same time, my writing dream is to teach women to tell their true stories. I want to travel, teaching and collecting the stories of women who have been silenced/are silenced and share them with the world. And I am so incredibly drawn to this class, I can't even explain.

[Marthe]

Ohhh, I'm crossing my fingers!

My biggest writing challenge is to stop editing myself while I write. I have a tendency to judge myself too hard and stop the words from even hitting the page. I'm currently working on it using The Artists Way by Julia Cameron.

My writing dreams is to combine my writing with photography in some way. I'd love to publish a book with both photographs and writing. I would also love to work for magazines and develop my blog into something I can live from.

[Sam]

My biggest challenge is confidence and the constant need to make everything sound perfect - ARGHHHHH

[Tricia]

My biggest writing challenge is to write the truth without worrying what people will think.

[Chris]

My biggest challenge is having confidence. Sometimes it's easy to put off writing because I'm worried that I'm not good enough or that I'll never get anywhere with it.

[Dee]

My biggest writing challenge is believing I'm any good at it.

[Corinne]

My biggest challenge is just DOING it :) Sitting down and carving out time...

[Gail]

My biggest challenge? I've actually got a couple....

1. Moving beyond shame and doubt and trusting that it is ok to say my truth
2. Allowing myself to FOCUS for any length of time so that writing gets done (which I think has to do with #1)

The last of my four children recently started college. Being a mom has become more of a NOUN than a verb these days. I love that they are strong, capable, happy and independent... but lately I find myself searching for what comes next. I don't have a solid plan in place for THIS part of life, but writing is calling to me.

[MMC]

Prioritizing my writing is my biggest challenge. It is difficult amidst the chaos of daily life to find time for myself and my writing.

[Andrea Recor]

Hello! This course sounds exciting!!!! My writing challenge is inability to focus and organize what I want to do with my story. I have a fabulous and scandalous and beautiful and lovely story to tell....but I can't figure out quite how to organize it in a cohesive manner..... and I also struggle with all the other responsibilities in my life that seem more important. They aren't. I need to believe. xo

[Pamela]

My biggest writing challenge is fear. It often stops me from writing even before I start. I also tend to edit as I write which I know is the kiss of death. HELP! This burning desire to write, and write well, must be quenched soon before I burn out!

This is an incredible opportunity for all of us and I wish the best of luck to all. Thank you!

[stefanie renee]

My biggest challenge lately is just showing up and not getting in my own way
and
getting over the years of talking myself into a corner about NOT being a writer and that I have bad grammar.

would love to be a part of this beautiful class

xoxo

[Judit]

Wow, what a generous offer!
My writing challenge is to get my stories out of my imagination and down on paper. I see the magic disappear from them as soon as the words hit the paper.
Plus finding time to actually sit down to write.
Would love to get the scholarship.
Happy writing to all of us!

[Robin]

Thank you so much for offering this spot! My greatest creative challenge is literally WRITING THE WORDS down. I get snippets all day towards "something" but I simply refuse to put my butt in the chaiir for fear that I will have nothing to write once I put the initial words down.

Robin

[Elizabeth Harper]

Choosing which story to tell is my biggest challenge. I write everyday and my husband is always a bit surprised when he finds me sitting with a book rather than at my computer working on something.

I lack the gift of focus right now ... whichever story screams the loudest holds my attention for the day and with so many ideas vying for time I sometimes feel like the " Old Woman who lived in Shoe" only I have words instead of children clutching at me at for all hours of the night and day.

[Wendy]

My biggest challenge is not getting bogged down in trying to edit things and to just push forward getting content down. I get distracted by the shittiness of the first draft sometimes.

[Kristen]

two challenges. first, writer paralysis. i sit down to write and suddenly can't. i get paralyzed. fear? afraid people wont like what i write? not sure. second, constant editing. rather than letting the words flow i constantly edit. i've started two books and finished zero. i would really like to just write. write.without.fear.

[Kristen]

okay, i have to add a third. which is probably really my biggest challenge, that leads to the others. i think all of my writing is *crappy* I just sent the draft of a first page and literally cringed when hitting send. *sigh* it was just the first page. why the stomach knots? love to write. need to write. want to write without.fear.

[Elaine]

My biggest challenge is that I edit myself even before I write down my thoughts. And then I often re-work drafts so much that I think I lose some of the authenticity and personality . And finally, despite all that editing, I still think I'm too wordy & imprecise.

Thank you, Jennifer & Kryan, for offering this scholarship. So generous.

[joanne]

my biggest writing dream is to read back over something i've written and simply say, "yes" ...