I listen to music all the time, except when I'm writing, so it's a bit odd I find it distracting. :)

I think I can pinpoint phases in all the years I've written something. Initially it was all on my own and then I discovered all kinds of challenge, prompting and exchange communities and I think at one point the majority of my writing was for that. I remember loving it and I try to give myself prompts to get inspired - only to turn around and work on something completely different and prompt independent. I think what I miss the most about the prompts is the structure it had given me whereas now I'm just meandering between tons of ideas without really finishing anything. On the other hand, those stories are longer than anything I've written typically written for prompts.

I started out pretty much the same. And doing challenges has certainly got me to go outside my ordinary writing zones. Right now I have a hard time writing if I don't feel super inspired, so I don't dare to sign up for challenges because I don't want to end up with a prompt that I don't feel anything for. And yes, most of my prompt-based fics have been on the short side. :)

I'm also really tempted to do this meme myself the more I read your replies! Especially the idea to do it in several smaller batches to spread it out more :)

I hope you do!