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2025 New Year Writing challenge
One look back, one leap forward!
Happy New Year!
Running through February 02, the New Year Writing Challenge offers an opportunity to reflect on 2024’s lessons and surprises, plan your 2025 roadmap, and envision the trends that will shape our industry in the coming year.
There will be at least one winner per prompt, and each winner will receive:
- 6-month DEV++ membership
- Gift from the DEV shop
- Exclusive Winner Badge
All valid submissions will earn a completion badge.
We hope this challenge helps you feel grounded and ready to tackle whatever’s ahead. Read on for the prompts!
Key Dates
- Contest start: January 01, 2025
- Submissions due: February 02, 2025
- Winners announced: February 13, 2025
Badge Rewards
Find Out More
Ask questions and share your ideas on the 2025 New Year Writing challenge Launch Post.
View Launch PostChallenge Prompts
Retro’ing and Debugging 2024
Reflect on your journey through 2024. What lessons did you learn, what challenges did you face, and what achievements made the year memorable? Share your retrospective on how the past year shaped your growth.
How to submit
In order to participate, you will need to publish a post using the submission template below.
Judging Criteria:
- Style and Presentation
- Clarity
- Originality
Compiling 2025
What does your personal roadmap for 2025 look like? Share your goals, aspirations, and plans for the new year. Whether it's learning a new skill, tackling that side project you can’t stop thinking about, or embracing growth opportunities, tell us how you're compiling a successful 2025.
How to submit
In order to participate, you will need to publish a post using the submission template below.
Judging Criteria:
- Style and Presentation
- Clarity
- Originality
Predicting 2025
Tell us what you think 2025 has in store. Predict the trends, technologies, and/or tools that will dominate our industry headlines. Will AI continue to lead the charge? What other innovations might disrupt the field? Share your vision for the future of tech.
How to submit
In order to participate, you will need to publish a post using the submission template below.
Judging Criteria:
- Style and Presentation
- Clarity
- Originality
2025 New Year Writing challenge FAQ
Participation
Can I submit to multiple prompts?
Yes, you are welcome to submit to multiple prompts.
Can one submission qualify for multiple prompts?
Yes, if your submission addresses multiple prompts, it can qualify for multiple prompts.
Can I work on a team?
No, this challenge is for individuals only.
How old do I have to be to participate?
Participants need to be 18+ in order to participate.
If I live in X, am I eligible to participate?
For eligibility rules, see our official challenge rules.
Submission
Do submissions have to be in English?
Non-english submissions are eligible for a completion badge but not eligible for prizes due to the current limitations of our judges. We will not be judging on mastery of the English language, so please don’t let this deter you from submitting if you are not a native English speaker! We hope to evolve this in the future to be more accommodating.
Can I use AI?
Your writing must be original but you are allowed to use AI for light support and assistance.
Judging and Prizing
Can there be ties?
In the event of a tie in scoring between judges, the judges will select the entry that received the highest number of positive reactions on their DEV post to determine the winner.
How will I know if I won?
Winners will be announced in a DEV post on the winner announcement date noted in our key dates section.
When will winners receive their Forem Shop gift?
The DEV Team will contact you via the email associated with your DEV profile within, at most, 10 business days of the announcement date to share the details of the shop gift.
When will I receive my DEV badge?
Both participation and winner badges will be awarded, in most cases, the same day as the winner announcement.
When will I receive my prizes?
The DEV Team will contact you via the email associated with your DEV profile within, at most, 10 business days of the announcement date to share the details of claiming your prizes.
2025 New Year Writing challenge Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to 18+. Contest entry period ends February 02, 2025 at 11:59 PM PDT. Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law or regulation. All entires must be submitted during the content period. For Official Rules, see New Year Writing challenge Contest Rules and General Contest Official Rules.
