Introducing The Draft Cleanse™: A January Writing Challenge (With Zero Wellness)
January has a way of showing up loud.
Everywhere you look, there are promises of reinvention: cleanses, resets, productivity systems, discipline masquerading as care. Diet culture resurfaces in new packaging, insisting that worth is something you earn through restriction and optimization.
Writers don’t need that.
So this January, we’re offering something different.
What Is The Draft Cleanse™?
The Draft Cleanse™ is a 31-day writing challenge running throughout January on Instagram. It borrows the familiar language of diet culture—cleanse, reset, resolution—only to turn it inside out.
This challenge is intentionally anti-diet culture and anti-productivity shame. It’s designed to invite writers back into their work gently, playfully, and without the pressure to “fix” themselves or their drafts.
There are no word count goals.
No morning routines.
No tracking, optimizing, or earning your place.
Instead, participants are offered one low-stakes, slightly ridiculous writing dare per day—prompts meant to spark contact with your work, not control over it.
What This Challenge Is (and Is Not)
The Draft Cleanse™ is:
Anti-diet culture
Anti-restriction and optimization
Pro-gentleness
Pro-unfinished work
Pro-honesty over polish
The Draft Cleanse™ is not:
A productivity program
A habit overhaul
A promise that you’ll finish anything
A “New Year, New You” project
January doesn’t get to decide your worth, and neither does your word count.
A Note on Language & Care
Because this challenge uses the language of diet culture critically, we want to be clear and transparent:
If references to “cleanses,” restriction, or diet culture are activating or uncomfortable for you, we encourage you to skip, mute, or engage in ways that feel safe. Participation is always optional, flexible, and self-directed.
Your well-being matters more than this challenge.
How to Participate
The Draft Cleanse™ lives on Instagram and is open to anyone who wants to join—at any point in January.
Here’s how it works:
One writing dare is posted per day throughout January
Participate however you can: feed posts, Stories, comments, private writing, or simply reading along
Posting is optional; lurking counts
Skipping days is expected and welcome
If you’d like to share your work publicly:
Tag @unsolicitedpress
Use #TheDraftCleanse
We’ll be reposting favorites throughout the month—honesty and chaos encouraged.
Why We’re Doing This
At Unsolicited Press, we believe that writing doesn’t need to be optimized to be meaningful. Drafts don’t need to be disciplined into submission. Creativity doesn’t respond well to shame.
The Draft Cleanse™ is an invitation—not to become a better writer, but to return to the work as you are.
Results are not guaranteed.
But something honest might surface.
Join Us—On Your Own Terms
You can start on January 1.
You can start late.
You can participate for a day, a week, or not at all.
All of it counts.
Follow @unsolicitedpress on Instagram to join The Draft Cleanse™, and save the posts that speak to you. January is long. There’s room to breathe.
