This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “magnify,” was the word choice from Barbara. Check out her blog here!
The bots are at it again, scraping this website and artificially boosting my visitor and view numbers in order to feed AI.
I used to get an emotional lift out of my increased stats on WordPress. They made me want to do more, work harder; they provided incentive to keep writing.
Now?
The bots, to me, magnify the effect AI is having on our humanity.
Why bother trying when there are machines that can surpass all our efforts? Write books in the blink of an eye, draw anything we can come up with on a whim without ever putting pen to paper?
We are important, damn it.
Our efforts are important, and so are our talents. The details we envision when we create CAN NOT BE INCLUDED when a simple prompt is typed into a machine.
We must never lose our appreciation for what we create. For what we imagine. For what our lifetimes of experience supply to our work and make it human.
This soapbox-elevated post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!
And we’re off and running! Welcome to the 2nd prompt of Just Jot it January 2026. Our prompt is brought to us today by our very own Barbara. Thank you, Barbara! Please be sure to visit Barbara’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 2nd, 2026 is “magnify.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.
Here are the rules:
1. Please be sure to copy the URL for THIS POST and paste it in your own so your link shows up in the comments here. If you’re not using WordPress, be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Thursday, January 2nd, 2026.
2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
5. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.
6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
Hello, and welcome to the first prompt of Just Jot it January 2026! Today, our prompt is brought to us by the wonderful Emily. Thank you, Emily! Please be sure to visit Emily’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 1st, 2026 is “mindfulness.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.
Here are the rules:
1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Thursday, January 1st, 2026.
2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
5. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.
6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
It’s that time of year again … Just Jot it January time! It’s hard to believe it’s the twelfth year of the Just Jot it January challenge, but here we are, ready to start the blogging year off right.
Just Jot it January, AKA JusJoJan, is a challenge to write a post every day of the month of January. Linking your own post to the prompt comments is a great way to meet others in the blogging community. Find followers, make friends, and generally share your words with the world.
Watch out for the first Prompt Me post coming within the next couple of hours for your chance to participate in the creation of the challenge. There will be one Prompt Me post today, December 31, 2025, and one Prompt Me on January 17, 2026.
Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules: (If it’s been a while since you read them, please give them a quick scan.)
1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
8. Have fun!
Below, I’ll fill in the prompts as I have them, along with a link to the blog of the person who supplied the prompt if it wasn’t me.
Yay! We did it! We made it through what seems like the longest month in history, January 2025. 🎉
I mean seriously, is it just me? Or was that a looooong month?
Despite time traditionally flying when you’re having fun, I did have a wonderful time blogging every day and visiting other blogs whenever I could. I hope you did too!
So tell me how you did with the challenge this year. Did you post every day in January? Did you at least jot something somewhere? Let me know in the comments, or write your own “I did it! #JusJoJan25 Edition” post in the next few days, even if you only posted once, and link it back here.
Thank you so much to everyone who joined in on this, our 11th annual Just Jot it January! Here’s your annual participant badge to use in your “I did it” post or to pin anywhere you’d like.
Well hello there! It’s time for our final prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today’s prompt is more of a SoCS-style prompt in that it’s not an entire word. But don’t feel obligated to write a stream of consciousness/no editing allowed post. Plan away!
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 31st, 2025 is “fini.” Find a word that has “fini” in it and use that as your prompt word. Have fun!
If you’d like to see the entire prompt list for Just Jot it January 2025, you can find it HERE.
Be sure to come back tomorrow, February 1st, for the annual “We Did It!” post. 😁
Here are the rules:
1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Friday, January 31st, 2025.
2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.
6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
Welcome! I’m here with our thirtieth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Our prompt today comes to us from the wonderful Wendy. Thank you, Wendy! Please be sure to visit Wendy’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 30th, 2025 is “hesitation.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.
Here are the rules:
1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Thursday, January 30th, 2025.
2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.
6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
A lovely snowy day for a walk, aka I’m one of the few people silly enough to be out in this.
Photo: A snowy sidewalk stretching off into the distance with the road on the right side of the frame and houses, fences, and trees on the left. The snow is falling gently.
If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure.
Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules:
1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
2 a) The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
1. Make it one sentence.
2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.
3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.
4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!
5. Have fun!
Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com
3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
Hello! I’m here with our twenty-eighth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, our prompt is courtesy of our dearest Dan. Thank you, Dan! Please be sure to visit Dan’s blog to read his posts and say hello. And follow him while you’re there if you’re not already.
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 28th, 2025 is “confusion.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.
Here are the rules:
1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Tuesday, January 28th, 2025.
2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.
6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
lindaghill.com 