Gentle 30-Day Writing Challenge: Week 3 Check-In

Greetings, writers!

It's hard to believe that we’ve just wrapped up Week 3 of the Gentle 30-Day Micro-Writing Challenge, and with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Time flies! It feels like the perfect moment to pause and reflect.

This week’s theme—Mining Memory & Emotion—has been about dipping into the past, noticing small details, and letting memory rise without pressure to explain or resolve it.

Reflection on Week 3

From writing a letter to your younger self to recreating a childhood meal through sensory detail, these prompts encouraged us to connect deeply with memory.

They reminded us that emotions don’t need to be forced into neat conclusions. Sometimes it’s enough to let a single moment stand as it is.

For me, prompt #17 about recreating a childhood meal was especially useful. I ended up scribbling notes about my childhood kitchen during Thanksgiving prep—the steam from mashed potatoes, the clatter of pans.

While it wasn’t a polished piece, it transported me right back to that space. I really liked how this exercise served as a reminder of how memory work can be grounding as well as generative.

Bonus prompt: A Thanksgiving letter

This week included the prompt to write a letter to your younger self. For a Thanksgiving twist, try this variation:

Write a letter of gratitude from your present self to a younger self—choose any age you like.

Thank them for something they carried, endured, or taught you, no matter how small. While you can write about heavy topics, it's also fun to take on lighter things: bringing home a stray kitten, hanging glow-in-the-dark-stars, or getting through the 5th-grade science fair.

This exercise blends memory with gratitude, and it’s a beautiful way to honor the season while keeping the focus on your writing practice.

Looking ahead in the 30-day writing challenge

Next week, we’ll be Opening to Possibility with with prompts that invite curiosity, invention, and play—the perfect way to close out the month.

I know the week of Thanksgiving is busy. But if possible, keep showing up for your creativity—ten minutes a day really is enough. That’s the heart of this 30-day writing challenge.

If you can't grab ten minutes, see how much you can jot down in five minutes, two, or even 60 seconds.

This challenge is really about building rhythm. A minute is enough time to capture an idea you want to explore in the future.

Happy writing, and Happy Thanksgiving!