Write into the Week: December 21, 2025

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”
–Willa Cather

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. Note: There will be no Write into the Week Zoom call on Monday, December 22nd. 

Happy writing this week!

—Elle, Curriculum Specialist & Community Manager

Writer to Writer: The Calms and Storms of December

December has a way of holding both stillness and chaos at the same time. Shorter days invite quiet and reflection, while the end of the year often brings its own storms: deadlines, emotions, family dynamics, exhaustion, the pressure to wrap up presents and any lingering bad habits before the calendar turns. Willa Cather’s line comes to mind during weeks like this, “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”

Writing lives in that tension, too. Some lessons arrive gently—clarity after rest, insight that comes from slowing down, understanding that only surfaces once the noise fades. Other lessons come through friction: drafts that resist us, weeks when life interrupts our plans, moments when the work feels heavy or uncertain. Neither mode is inherently better; both are teachers.

As the year closes, it’s worth asking not just what have I produced? But, also, what have I learned? What did the calm show you? What did the storms force me to see? Your writing doesn’t need to wrap up or resolve anything this week. It just needs to listen. Turn an ear to what this season, this year, and this version of you are quietly trying to say.

Writing Prompt:

Think back over the past year and identify two creative moments: one that felt calm, and one that felt like a storm.

Write a short piece that moves between these two moments. What did each teach you? What could only be heard in stillness, and what only revealed itself in chaos. Let the writing be exploratory rather than conclusive. This is not about tying things up neatly with a bow, but about noticing the gifts this year has already given you.

Reading Recommendations: Very Short Stories by Famous Writers

• “Give it Up” by Franz Kafka – “Give It Up” distills Kafka’s unsettling worldview into something brief, sharp, and quietly devastating. In just over 100 words, it accomplishes what many longer works fail to do by proving how much unease, ambiguity, and meaning can live inside a very small space.
• “John Redding Goes to Sea” by Zora Neale Hurston – In just a few pages, Hurston turns a boy’s riverbound imagination into a tender tale on longing, limitation, and the moment we begin to understand the distance between dreams and the real world. The story reminds us how much care and beauty can be held in even the smallest journeys (and stories).
• “Sticks” by George Saunders – This well-known piece of flash fiction takes a single, oddly comic image—a metal pole decorated for every conceivable occasion—and turns it into something quietly unsettling. In fewer than 400 words, this piece showcases how flash fiction can use humor and repetition to expose what’s missing as much as what’s on display.

Listening Recommendations:

• From The New Yorker’s The Writer’s Voice podcast: “Andrew Martin Reads, ‘Risk, Discipline’” – Andrew Martin reads his story “Risk, Discipline,” from the December 22, 2025, issue of The New Yorker. Martin is the author of the novel Early Work, and the story collection Cool for America. His new novel, Down Time, from which this story was adapted, will be published in March.
• From The Book Review podcast by the NYT: “What Did 2025 Mean for Books?” – From political tell-alls to the continued triumph of romantasy novels, it’s been an eventful year in the publishing world. Host MJ Franklin talks with his Book Review colleagues Alexandra Alter, Tina Jordan and John Maher about the biggest book stories and most significant reading trends of 2025.

Publishing Opportunities:

• Uncertain Stories – Submission Deadline: January 30, 2026. Now open for short story submissions for their winter submission session. They are looking for previously unpublished short stories of 1,000-15,000 words, with a supernatural or speculative edge. Visit their website for more details!
• The 2026 Colorado Prize for Poetry – Entry Deadline: January 31, 2026. The Colorado Prize for Poetry is an international poetry book manuscript contest established in 1995. Each year’s prizewinner receives a $2,500 honorarium and publication of his or her book by the Center for Literary Publishing. You do NOT have to be a resident of Colorado to enter. 
• Salt Hill Journal – Submission Deadline: January 31, 2026. Accepting salty new poetry, fiction, essay, and art submissions for their next issue. Their submission windows only open twice a year. Submit!
• Seedlings Studio – Submission Window: Open. A unique publishing opportunity! Seedling’s is currently on the hunt for novellas, poetry collections, and more for their new series: Seedlings Pamphlets. Submissions should be 50 pages max, and explore the human relationship to the natural world. Check their Instagram or 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

Note: There will be no Write into the Week Zoom session on Monday, December 22nd. 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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