Weekly Challenges

Draw, paint, or photograph a crowd – such as a group of shoppers at an outdoor mall or attendees of a parade – milling about or surging forward.

Set a poem or short story at the end of a party, after all but one or two guests have left. Confetti and plastic cups are strewn about the living room; there’s so much tidying up to do – but the night isn’t over quite yet…

Imagine you’re driving along a scenic stretch of road: a country lane lined with autumn leaves, a windy mountain pass, a cliffside highway with views of the ocean. Describe everything you see.

Through collage, photography, painting, or any other medium, lay out a perfect picnic spread on a perfect picnic blanket. If you want, incorporate one or more characters to nosh on it all.

Take inspiration from Kurt Vonnegut’s famous “Slaughterhouse-Five” line for a short story or poem: “Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”

You’ve made painstaking efforts to pause your everyday responsibilities and relationships to embark on a solo camping trip into the wilderness for one long month. What do you seek? What do you hope to discover inside yourself?