Is it time to recontinue the writing challenges?

Question

Remember the Meta Writing Challenges? Well, I wasn't on Stack Exchange back then, but they looked like a fun way to build community.

Lately, I have felt that I myself am going through somewhat of a rut on Writing Stack Exchange, I just don't feel like answering questions. I don't know if the rest of you are too, but I've decided to get back my energy for this site by hosting another Meta Writing Challenge.

They were discontinued around three years ago, but currently, our chat rooms are some of the emptiest chat rooms on Stack Exchange, and Writing Meta is pretty empty as well.

I decided it was time for a change, so I am asking you now if it would be a good time to start back the Meta Writing Challenges?

I would set up prompts and themes, etc., and host the challenge. I would follow the exact same format as the previous ones.

Would anyone participate in these with me? Is this a good idea?

Answer 1

You may struggle to get participants

Ideally, yes, restarting writing challenges/exercises would be a great idea. They are a fun way for our users to interact and serve as another avenue for learning that doesn't quite fit into our normal Q&A style.

As you may have have noticed, our previous attempt ended in 2019 with very little fanfare. This was around the same time that our tag challenge ended due to a lack of participation. At the time we were waiting for site participation, and in particular meta participation, to pick back up. Unfortunately we have yet to see signs of that, if anything activity is lower than it was in 2019. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth trying.

I don't want to discourage you, if you have the energy and desire to organise and run some writing challenges I fully support you. Just don't be disappointed if you don't see quite as much activity as you hope. Maybe this will be a turning point, I hope it is. Good luck and I look forward to seeing the entries.