Writing Challenge

Great Expectations

For this week’s writing challenge, we want you to ponder your best, and worst, expectations.

Our days are filled with expectations, from the most banal to larger, long-term intentions.

When I wake up each day, I expect that my house will be warm, there will be running water, coffee will be brewed, and my dog will be walked. From time to time, my daily routine is interrupted by forgetting to go to the store for more coffee or the downpour of rain that makes the dog immediately run back inside after I open the door. It’s a noticeable change, because I generally expect things to stay the same.

We generally do not expect random doors to nowhere to show up on our neighbors' front lawns.

We generally do not expect random doors to nowhere to show up on our neighbors’ front lawns.

Yet despite our hopes and assumptions about the future, the only constant is change. From a personal perspective, change helps us grow and develop throughout our lives. From a literary perspective, change drives a storyline forward and establishes a plot. While change may come at the expense of our expectations, it’s a powerful, and ideally beneficial, force.

As you may expect, this week’s writing challenge is about expectations: the expectations you set for yourself, or the expectations you set in your writing.

  • Consider what you may or may not take for granted on a daily basis, from the most general element — gravity — to the most mundane — that cup of coffee you buy every day. How would your life change if it were removed?
  • Take a draft post that you didn’t published because it didn’t turn out as you expected. Change the story, revise it, and publish.
  • Think of a time when someone, or something, didn’t meet your expectations. How did you come to terms with the disappointment?
  • For those who prefer a bit of wit, give us your best expectation versus reality post for all those times you’ve tried your hardest and failed majestically.

We’re looking forward to your posts — in fact, we’re expecting to love them.

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  1. To expect the unexpected. Sometimes this do happen, that thing u expect do not happen and that feels like crap because u expected it but nothing came from it.

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