As a writer and a blogger I find that my mind can sometimes be so busy and so empty at the same time. Being a writer is too hard. My head has all these things to say and write but these things hide when I have five minutes and a cup of coffee in hand, ready to tackle that glorious white page. And there I forget. There the page stares at me mockingly, challenging my use and existence and it taunts me to tears of heartbreaking frustration. You want to be a writer then? So write. Write Nadine! Just write…

It isn’t so easy. Not always. Not when everyone else’s lives demand so much of your own. Not when every corner of your being wants to hide from everything that is yourself. Do something? For you? Ha! How DARE you? But that’s why we keep our blogs isn’t it? Something for us… An indulgence. A guilty pleasure. It’s quick and easy and it’s fun. But sometimes even bloggers block happens! And that one just seems even more ridiculous.

It is in these moments of self stampeding that I try to reach out for the hands of other writers who understand. As easy as it is to believe that there are no heads quite so messed up as our own, humanity dictates that very many of our hearts break and heal the same way. And if it’s possible that your break and my break are the same, then it is possible that my break might heal the way yours did… Right?

I read a lot of stuff about creativity. I read about how to coax it out of yourself. How to sustain it. How to make sure it flourishes. Yes. I read. The reading does little more than ignite a delicious spark of hope. It’s the doing that makes the difference. Nothing like a good statement of the obvious….

The point is I am doing  a “doing” blog challenge, inspired by the sometimes odd exercises put forward by  many of the writers out there who seem to have it a lot more together than I do. Because they do help. Even the silliest of them do. I’m doing it because I  need it, and because I’ve heard the whisperings that some of my blogging friends might need it too.

I am going to be posting a new challenge every couple of days. If you would like to take part in The Katalina Blog Challenge, simply do the challenge and then share the link to your challenge on the challenge. Mouthful? That’s how we roll!

So basically: every time you complete a challenge you can post the link in the comments section of that particular challenge (I will approve it!) so that others can see what their fellow bloggers are up to. You can also tweet the link to me (@KatalinaBooks) and I will share it for you.

The challenge will be set in a way that anybody can do it at any time. It won’t be about any sort of specific time frame or about any sort of specific order. I hope to set challenges that will force you to think outside of yourself a little, challenge you a little and also make you smile. Remember that while it won’t be necessary to do all the challenges, it is often the tasks that our instincts rebel against that prove to be the most beneficial.

So, whether you have bloggers block, or I-use-my-blog-as-an-excuse-to-ignore-my-novel block, or even if you just love to take part in blog challenges, I hope you will join me.

I really look forward to reading the posts to come…