Writing Together: Celebrate the National Day on Writing with the Wolfpack 14-Day Challenge

Every October 20, writers around the country pause to reflect on a deceptively simple question: 

Why do I write? 

Since 2009, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has sponsored the National Day on Writing to elevate this question and amplify the many voices that remind us writing is essential not just to scholarship, but to everyday life. At NC State, the Campus Writing and Speaking Program (CWSP) has taken that energy and made it our own. The Wolfpack 14-Day Writing Challenge, now in its second year, begins on the National Day on Writing and transforms it into a two-week commitment to collective momentum. From October 20 to November 2, faculty, staff, and instructors of record from across campus will write side by side, sometimes literally, sometimes virtually, building a culture where writing is not solitary labor but a shared practice that strengthens our research, teaching, and creative work.

What Makes the Challenge Different

The challenge is simple: commit to writing for 30 minutes each day. Each morning, participants receive a short, focused email with a tip, a prompt, or a small action step. One day might nudge you to break down a big project into manageable pieces; another might guide you through revision strategies or habit-tracking tools. Along the way, you’ll check in with colleagues, share small wins, and celebrate progress. To extend the community online, participants can also post with the #WolfpackWrites hashtag across social media. Last year, nearly 80 faculty members joined the challenge, and the results speak volumes: a 98% completion rate, 89% reported stronger habits, and several colleagues launched new cross-college collaborations simply by showing up to write together. One participant even credited #WolfpackWrites with a measurable increase in publication output the following semester.

The difference isn’t in the word counts. It’s in the community. Writing becomes less of an isolated grind and more of a collective practice, where the Pack carries one another forward.

Launching with the National Day on Writing

We begin, appropriately, with a celebration. On October 20, CWSP will host NC State Writes, a day of writing activities across campus. Pop-up stations at Hunt Library, D.H. Hill Jr. Library, Talley Student Union, and Caldwell Lounge will invite passersby to join in. You’ll see boards where colleagues share their #WhyIWrite stories, a collaborative Wolfpack poem built line by line, quick-write prompts that spark creativity, and even short consults with CWSP Faculty Fellow. Anyone can participate by using the tags #whyIwrite and #wolfpackwrites on any social media platform.

And because celebrations should be visible, participants can collect CWSP swag, like stickers, pens, and notebooks, by joining activities or signing up for the challenge. At 12:30 p.m., we’ll pause for a collective “NC State Writes Together” moment, ten minutes of campus-wide writing that links us across spaces and disciplines.

Writing with the Pack: Online and Face-to-Face

For many, daily emails and accountability partners will be enough to spark new routines. But if you thrive on face-to-face community, you don’t have to do this alone. CWSP hosts weekly in-person writing groups at our Faculty Research Commons:

• Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. at Hunt Library
  
• Fridays, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. at D.H. Hill Jr. Library
  

These sessions follow a simple structure: 20 minutes of check-in and goal-setting, two hours of dedicated writing time, and 10 minutes of wrap-up reflection. They’re a perfect complement to the challenge, giving you built-in accountability and a physical space where writing is prioritized.

Why Faculty Should Join

Faculty life is crowded with deadlines, teaching demands, and service obligations. The challenge works because it respects those constraints. Thirty minutes is doable. But thirty minutes multiplied across two weeks becomes more than words on a page. It becomes a habit. Faculty from last year told us they came away not just with more pages written, but with renewed energy for their projects and deeper confidence in themselves as writers.

One faculty member in the College of Engineering put it plainly:

“This challenge helped me establish a routine that increased my publication output.”

Another, from CHASS, described how accountability partners became co-authors:

“[Wolfpack Writes] was instrumental in prodding me to get near the finish line on an article that I needed to knock out, and did so at an otherwise busy time.”

These are not just nice stories. They are proof that when faculty have time, community, and accountability, research and creativity flourish.

How Leaders Can Amplify the Impact

This program works best when departments and colleges demonstrate their support. Leaders can make a real difference by encouraging sign-ups in departmental newsletters, recognizing completers at faculty meetings, or connecting accountability partners across labs and programs. These gestures show faculty that writing is valued work.

Keep Writing with CWSP

The challenge is a gateway to something bigger. CWSP continues to support faculty with weekly Writing Wolves groups, PagexPage groups, writing retreats, and certificate programs that integrate writing and speaking into curricula. Taken together, these initiatives are shaping NC State into a national leader in writing-enriched education.

Writing is too often treated as something we do alone. This October, let’s prove otherwise. The Wolfpack 14-Day Writing Challenge runs October 20–November 2, beginning with our National Day on Writing celebration. Sign up here, explore the full slate of CWSP programming on the CWSP Calendar, or contact me at kkcole2@ncsu.edu with questions. 

If you would like to participate face-to-face during the challenge, join us at the Faculty Research Centers, Wednesdays at Hunt and Fridays at Hill from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., where writing is always the priority. Together, we’ll make NC State the university where writing thrives.

Details

• Wolfpack Writes 14-Day Writing Challenge
  
• Dates: October 20 – November 2, 2025
  
• Kickoff: National Day on Writing, October 20, 2025
  
• Sign up: https://forms.gle/cLgLo5yfpWFFwzyKA
  
• Explore more events: CWSP Calendar https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=Y18wNWU5ZDBlYTcyYzQ2NmY4NmY1OTc2NWUxYjk1NGU5YTU5ZjA2ZGJiNzVjNzQyZDM2MWMwOGQ3ODI1MDc2YWZmQGdyb3VwLmNhbGVuZGFyLmdvb2dsZS5jb20
  
• Questions? Contact Kirsti Cole kkcole2@ncsu.edu 

🐺✍️ #WolfpackWrites #WhyIWrite

Want to know what’s coming up next? Explore our full slate of programming on the CWSP Events Calendar.