“As writers, we’re often trained to seek momentum—significant events, turning moments, the big emotional payoff. Especially in memoir, there’s pressure to magnify the trauma or spin a grand arc of triumph. But when I sat down to write, what called to me weren’t the headlines. It was the folds in between.” — Mary Monoky, “What Stillness Taught Me About Story,” August 6, 2025, The Brevity Blog
Misconception . . . Prompt #856
Write about something someone thinks about you, but it’s not true. A misconception. Just Write!
Even Introverts Can Support Authors
Charlotte Wilkins We had an interesting discussion in my Jumpstart writing group the other day about being an introvert and how hard it is sometimes to be around people. Well! As writers and readers, it’s important to support authors. One possibly easy way is to attend author events. Charlotte Wilkins offers suggestions on how to be a successful participant at author events. “I attended the two book readings to support these authors, yet I’m the one who learned so much from them: relax and be yourself; having a sense of humor about yourself puts your audience at ease; read short snippets that makes the listener wonder what’s to come (Woodson says you must have intention in every line to pull the reader forward); be generous with your responses; hope for the best, prepare for the worst; and stick a couple of questions in your pocket just in case. It seems…
Mistranslation . . . Prompt #855
Playing With Abstract Poetry Abstract poetry is a form of poetry that prioritizes the auditory and emotional impact of words over their literal meaning or conventional grammatical structure. Prompt 1 – The Warmup Write for 2 minutes about something troubling or sad. Write for 2 minutes about something using the opposite emotion: joyful, hopeful. Write for 2 minutes on something from nature, something from the natural world. Keep that writing nearby for Prompt 2. Why write an abstract poem “Science has shown that when we engage in play, we increase brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, where creative thinking happens. “You are not striving for perfection. You’re striving for perfectly unpredictable.” — “Words Gone Wild,” by Dr. Finnian Burnett, Writers Digest, Nov/Dec 2025 Prompt 2 Write an abstract poem, using only the words you have written in Prompt 1. Write for 15-20 minutes. It doesn’t have to make sense. It shouldn’t…
Symbolism . . . Prompt #854
Photo by ArtHouse Studio on Pexels.com Using Symbolism in Writing Symbolism refers to using a material thing to represent a nonmaterial thing, usually a tangible item that illuminates an intangible concept. Paraphrased from “Thematic Writing” by Jane K. Cleland, Writer’s Digest, Jan/Feb, 2024 The importance of Symbolism Symbolism has the power to evoke an emotion or an idea without overtly saying it. When we pair a part of a poem, story, scene, character, or emotion with a repeated object, we begin to transfer the character’s wants, needs, and dreams onto that object. The symbol serves as an echo of that idea or sentiment, without retelling the story. Symbolism is the secret language of storytelling, adding depth and layers to what appears on the surface. It’s like finding a hidden treasure within a story, enriching the reader’s understanding and enhancing the reader’s appreciation of the narrative. Examples of Symbolism An object…
Time . . .
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Waste Not By Desiree Cooper “Time stretching languid in the humid afternoon tastes like caramel cake. It smells like pine needles in the rain.” —excerpted from “Waste Not,” by Desiree Cooper, River Teeth, Beautiful Things, September 29, 2025 Desiree Cooper is the author of the award-winning collection of flash fiction, Know the Mother. Her fiction, poetry and essays have appeared in The Best Small Fictions 2018, Callaloo, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Rumpus, and Best African American Fiction 2010. Her essay, “We Have Lost Too Many Wigs,” was a notable essay in The Best American Essays 2019. “Using truth and wit, Desiree Cooper was the perfect conduit for university presses to have larger conversations about diversity and representation through books starting with their covers. Cooper, an electric speaker, is a master at navigating the tricky waters of difficult conversations by never excluding failures, but instead owning and…
Sanctuary
“When you take sanctuary within yourself, the world can be falling apart around you and you will be okay.” — “Giving Up The Ghost” by Samantha Rose
Get Into The Habit
“Forget about inspiration and get into the habit of writing every day. Habit has written far more books than inspiration has. If you want the Muse to visit you, she needs to know where you are: so stay at your desk.” —Philip Pullman Quote in “Write it All Down” by Cathy Rentzenbrink. #justwrite #amwriting #iamawriter
Zoom In, Then Linger
Ethan Gilsdorf on Zooming In and Lingering: “In personal essay, memoir and creative nonfiction, we want to bring to our pages a sense of verisimilitude, of intruding upon someone else’s circumstances, of grasping someone else’s fleeting take on the world.” How to do this? Gilsdorf suggests: “The language of cinematography is a useful analogy: in a wide or medium shot, the viewer is distant from the subject; in close-ups and extreme close-ups, the frame of reference is tight. In writing, this means: rather than quickly cutting away, or keeping the viewer far removed, like a drone hovering high above, we can zoom in on the subject of our attention, or pan across it, slowly. We can train our writerly efforts to pause. To not skip over— but to linger, loiter, dawdle, stay put, wait.” Excerpted from “Stay a Little Bit Longer: The Art of Zooming In and Lingering,” The Brevity…
Hey! I feel like that too.
“Be brave with it. Be brave with the thing that you are most scared to talk about, that is the thing you need to be able to talk about. There are so many tragedies in you and joy in you that need a voice, and you would be so surprised to see that when you voice that thing you are so scared of how many people across the world will go, ‘Hey, I feel like that too. Thank you for putting a voice to how I feel.’” —Nikita Gill Quote in “Write it All Down” by Cathy Rentzenbrink.