Raven · June 2026 · 30 Days
Write in public.
Face the consequences.
A 30-day writing challenge built on commitment, not cheerleading. Your name, your pledge, your outcome: visible to everyone.
Free to enter. New users: your 30-day trial and the challenge are the same 30 days.
The premise
Most writing challenges
are designed to feel good.
They offer badges, community, encouragement, and pep talks from famous authors. They are optimised for participation, not completion. The consequences of failure are, by design, precisely nothing.
Raven's 30-Day Challenge is different. The consequences are real. Your outcome, UPHELD PLEDGE or ABANDONED PLEDGE, is posted publicly with your name. No excuses. No footnotes. No participation trophies.
No AI is involved at any point. No writing is shared. Raven's end-to-end encryption means it is structurally impossible for anyone to read what you've written. The only things that go on the public board are your name, your word count pledge, and your outcome.
The rules
Simple. Non-negotiable.
01
One title. Thirty days.
You dedicate one title to the challenge. All other titles are locked for 30 days: unreadable, uneditable, inaccessible. Only your dedicated title can be written during the challenge period.
02
A public word count pledge.
You set a cumulative word count target across 30 days. This is not a per-session goal. Your writing will not be deleted if you miss it, but your outcome will be public regardless.
03
Your outcome is visible.
Your display name, your pledge, and your outcome (STILL WRITING, UPHELD PLEDGE, or ABANDONED PLEDGE) appear on the public board for the duration of the challenge. No writing is ever shared.
04
No cancellation.
Once started, the challenge cannot be cancelled. You can still use Raven's session options (including freewriting) within your dedicated title. But the commitment stands.
05
No AI. Anywhere.
Raven does not use AI in any part of this product. All word count tracking is arithmetic. All writing is end-to-end encrypted. The numbers are self-reported commitments tracked by mathematics alone.
06
The window: 1–30 June 2026.
Challenges can only be activated between 1 June and 30 June 2026, enforced server-side. You can look around at any time. You just can't start until June.
How it works
The mechanics of accountability.
One title. Locked attention.
The moment you activate the challenge, all titles except your dedicated one are locked. This is not a suggested constraint. If you attempt to open another title, Raven will refuse. Your commitment includes your attention.
Baseline word count.
At activation, Raven records the word count of your dedicated title. Progress is measured as words added above that baseline. You are not penalised for what you've already written, only for what you write during the challenge.
The public board.
Live at writewithraven.com/challenge for the duration of June. It shows how many writers committed, how many are still writing, how many upheld or abandoned, and a list of every participant with their pledge and current status.
Seven emails from the Raven.
A confirmation, an early check-in, a weekly progress note, a halfway warning, a three-week reminder, a final alert, and a verdict. Raven's voice is, as ever, sardonic and direct.
The verdict. It stands.
At the end of 30 days, Raven compares your word count against your pledge and records the outcome: UPHELD PLEDGE or ABANDONED PLEDGE. Your status on the public board is updated. The record stands.
Public board, example
Cost
Free. Entirely.
The challenge is free to enter. Full stop.
If you're a new user, you'll start a 30-day free trial when you register. The trial period and the challenge period are the same 30 days. You participate at no cost. After 30 days, Raven is $5/month or $48/year, but that's a problem for whoever you are once the month is up, who will by then have either upheld or abandoned a public pledge.
Your 30-day trial.
Your 30-day challenge.
Same 30 days.
Register. Activate the challenge. Write. No payment required to participate. No commitment beyond the one you make to the Raven.
Start for freeRaven was built by Brad Harris, founder of Imagnary House, a children's and YA publisher shortlisted multiple times for the Bologna Prize for Best Children's Publishers of the Year and an alumnus of the Frankfurt Book Fair Invitation Programme. He built Raven because, as a publisher who evaluates manuscripts for a living, he got tired of tools that replaced writing rather than produced it. No AI is used in any part of Raven. All writing is end-to-end encrypted. The challenge tracks word counts, integers, and nothing else.
Make the commitment.
Face the outcome.
The Raven will be watching. As ever.
Enter the challengeOpens 1 June 2026 · Free to enter · No AI · View the public board