Write into the Week: March 16, 2025

Elle LaMarca | March 16, 2025 |

“A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life. Living in this manner—continually and stubbornly bringing forth the jewels that are hidden within you—is a fine art, in and of itself.”

–Elizabeth Gilbert

Dear Writer,

I hope you’re having a good start to your week. In this newsletter:

A writing prompt to inspire your creativity.
Reading and listening recommendations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Publishing, residency, and retreat opportunities available now.
Join our free Friday write-in, and meet our community of writers.

Happy writing this week!

—Elle, Curriculum Specialist & Community Manager

Writing Prompt

If creativity is the key to a bigger, more interesting life, what does that life look like? Write a piece that follows a character (or yourself) on a journey where creativity leads the way. Consider both the struggles and the triumphs (big and small) along the road of a creative life.

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

“The Rememberer” by Aimee Bender for The Missouri Review. A surreal, poignant short story about love, loss, and transformation, in which a woman watches her lover, Ben, evolve backward through time, physically becoming more and more primitive. This piece plays with reality and metaphor in a way that highlights the power of storytelling to reshape our understanding of life.

Nonfiction:

“My Mustache, My Self” by Wesley Morris. Morris weaves a riveting, sometimes funny, often probing and moving essay about what might be the most boring topic — growing a pandemic mustache.

On Writing:

“I wish you a sexy, dangerous, jazz-shaped immortality.” Diane Seuss’s Advice for Life as a Writer. Some unconventional, humous and endearing advice on living a writerly life. The link includes a video recording, if you’d prefer to watch or listen, and a transcript of Seuss’s speech, if you’d prefer to read.

Listening Recommendations:

From The Deep Rooted Healing Podcast with Emma Freeman: Emma reads, “For the Artist at the Start of the Day, a Poem by John O’Donohue”. A poem about the quiet, sacred moments before creation begins, capturing the artist’s relationship with their work.
From the Writing Excuses Podcast: “20.10 Interview with Chuck Tingle: Breaking the Rules” A talk about breaking the rules—both in terms of how to publish and what to publish, and the odd and creative ways one writer breaks the rules.

Publishing Opportunities:

Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest – Submission Deadline: March 31, 2025. Top prize: $1,000. Submission fee: $10. Gemini Magazine is hosting it’s annual short story competition. The are accepting short stories of all lengths and genres. Winners will be published on their website.
The Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize – Submissions Deadline: March 31, 2025. Top prize: $1,000. Here’s your chance to have your chapbook published! Established in 2001, The Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize highlights one book a year that excels in the chapbook format. The Prize comes with a $1,000 advance, a standard royalty contract, and 10 copies of the published book.

Residency & Retreat Opportunities:

Dorland Mountain Arts Residency in Temecula, CA – Application Deadline: April 1, 2025 Offering a self-directed Residency Program designed to nurture the artistic growth of individuals in various creative fields such as artists, writers, musicians, composers, and photographers. Nestled in a serene private reserve, residents can immerse in the quiet tranquility of their cottages and engage in optional communal activities to foster connections and collaboration. All artists aged 21 and over who desire time alone in a natural setting to pursue creative work are encouraged to apply.

Monday and Friday: Free Group Writing Sessions

Come write with us! Community write-ins are a great way to meet other writers, and carve out space in your calendar for your writing.

Monday: Write Into the Week with Elle

Join me (Elle) for an hour of goal setting, community, and dedicated time to write! We’ll meet on Monday at 11 AM Eastern time, at this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83999379617

Friday: Open Write-In

Join the Writers.com staff for a 90-minute writing session each Friday from 11 AM to 12:30 PM Eastern time. We will write together for the first hour. In the last, optional half hour, we’ll share our writing with one another and connect.

To add yourself, join our newsletter using the join box above, and add yourself to the “Friday Write-Ins” list at the bottom of any email. We’ll send you a Zoom link the morning of the call.

Posted in: Write into the Week

Elle LaMarca

Elle is a writer and novelist originally from southwestern New York, now residing on the central coast in California. She does not miss the snow even a little bit. As an avid traveler, Elle can frequently be found wandering the globe, having lived in and explored over thirty countries, all while gaining inspiration for her writing and new perspectives on life. Elle is a former educator and Teach for America alumna, having taught in Los Angeles, Baltimore and Boston. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from George Mason University and a M.A. in Education and Curriculum Design from Johns Hopkins University. She is passionate about well-crafted sentences and memorable metaphors. Elle is currently at work on a novel and a collection of personal essays.