Write into the Week: March 1, 2026

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
–Zora Neale Hurston

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 Monday and Friday write-ins, and meet our community of writers.

Happy writing this week!

—Elle, Curriculum Specialist & Community Manager

Writer to Writer: Writing as Weather

I’ve spent the last couple of months back in the Netherlands. You can count on a lot of things here—more bicycles than people, piping hot french fries, insanely steep staircases—but you can never count on the weather. One day last week, I woke up to snow flurries, followed by intense sun that left me not needing a jacket, and fell asleep that same night to the sound of rain.

Writing is often like Dutch weather. Some weeks, writing feels like a thunderstorm—charged, electric, and impossible to ignore. Ideas arrive fast and strong, while sentences crackle and flash onto the page. Sometimes, you barely have time to keep up. Other weeks, writing feels more like fog, or humidity that’s hard to move through. Or like a long stretch of gray sky holding a storm that never comes, where nothing dramatic happens at all.

The mistake we often make is believing that only the storms and flurries count.

But weather is weather. A light drizzle still nourishes the ground and helps the grass grow. Fog softens the landscape and forces you to slow down and become more observant. Heck, even drought teaches you something about what the soil needs. Creative energy moves in patterns that are seasonal, atmospheric, and sometimes entirely beyond our control. Expecting creative lightning to strike every time we sit down to write is not only unrealistic—it’s unkind to our creative selves to hold such high expectations.

If your writing feels slow, muted, or strangely still right now, resist the urge to label it “unproductive.” Ask yourself instead: What kind of weather is this? Is it a day for admiring gathering clouds? For clearing leaves? For letting something invisible build beneath the surface before it blooms in spring?

You don’t have to force a storm. In fact, you can’t. Trying is only a frustrating act of futility. You only have to show up dressed for the day you’re in, prepared for whatever may come.

Writing Prompt: The Unexpected Metaphor

Write about one thing as if it were something entirely different. Pick an image or object that seems unrelated to the subject you want to write about, and make it the central metaphor of the piece. Ideas:

• Write about grief as if it were a parking garage.
• Write about ambition as if it were a houseplant.
• Write about friendship as if it were a malfunctioning vending machine.
• Write about your childhood as if it were a border crossing.

Resist the first, easy comparisons. Don’t reach for the metaphors that make immediate sense. Instead, stay with the strange one. Let it stretch. Let it confuse. Let it surprise you.

Note: the goal isn’t cleverness. It’s discovery.

Reading Recommendations:

Poetry:

• “Love Language” by Madelyn Chen. “What more did you want from me.” Something I’d like to ask several ex-lovers, and so ends “Love Language” by Chen. Have a read, and consider how you’d answer the question.

Fiction:

• “Butt Dials” by Matt Barrett. Janice and her brother, Jeff, only talk when she forgets to lock her phone, and, inadvertantly, butt dials him. Take a peek inside the workings of this fictitious sibling relationship, when the tie that binds is an accidental phone call.

Nonfiction:

• “Sleeping Children” by Kevin Peraino. This essay begins with the luminous marble sculptures of Victorian Rome before turning inward, tracing a quiet line from art’s illusion of permanence to Peraino’s own exhaustion and unraveling after years of war reporting.

Listening Recommendations:

• From The Lit Hub Podcast – “February 27, 2026” – In this episode, host Drew reports from the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute, reflecting on the strange rhythm of early-year reading and the current state of independent bookselling. The conversation also touches on threats to NASA’s research library, why independent bookstores matter, and includes a literary voicemail teaser involving Proust—plus a new book recommendation to add to your list.
• From the How to Write for a Living Podcast – “Why doing things the hard way matters more than ever (with Dani Zacarias)” – In this episode, writer Dani Zacarias shares her unexpected path from criminology student to leader in the creator economy, reflecting on her work at Wattpad, Skillshare, and Sendowl. The conversation explores what sustainable creative careers actually require—ownership, courage, and artistic integrity.

Publishing Opportunities:

• Sun Magazine – Submission Deadline: April 1, 2026. From their website: What’s your reaction when you spill some salt on the table? What do you do when an open ladder is in the way of where you’re going? When’s the last time you opened an umbrella indoors? Does the presence of a black cat prompt dread, or do you just want to pet it? For some, even bothering with these considerations is irritating, irrational. For others, they can be matters of great importance—years of bad luck, or worse, might result if they’re not taken seriously. (Does saying, “Bless you” after someone sneezes still count?) Cross your fingers, choose a fortuitous date (maybe not the thirteenth?), and send us your true story on “Superstition” by April 1.
• Fractured Lit’s Ghost, Fable, and Fairy Tales Prize – Submission Deadline: April 19, 2026. Winner receivers $3,500 and publication! Currently accepting submissions of stores 1,000 words or fewer about ghosts, fables, and fractured fairy tales. Please see the website for more details!

Residency, Retreat, & Fellowship Opportunities:

• Hedgebrook Writers in Residence – Application Deadline: April 18, 2026. Hedgebrook’s Writer-in-Residence Program supports women-identified writers from all over the world for residencies of two to three weeks. The cottage, all meals, and the entire residency experience at Hedgebrook is free to selected writers. They accept applications for writers working in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, and playwriting.
• The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize 2026 – Submission Deadline: May 1, 2026. Awarded for the best piece of writing on the theme of JOY. Submissions can be fiction, non-fiction, or non-academic essays up to a maximum of 1,250 words. The top three submissions win a monetary reward. Please see the website for more details.

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 mindset support, 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.

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