Write into the Week: December 28, 2025

Elle | Community Manager  |  December 27, 2025  | 

Our Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

–Wendell Berry

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: What We Carry Forward into 2026

Ending a year can make us feel like we’re supposed to know something—what it all meant, where it led, and what comes next. Don’t beat yourself up by trying to answer those questions. Both life and writing have taught me that clarity doesn’t always arrive on schedule. Neither plot lines nor life choices wrap themselves up neatly with a bow just because it’s December 31st. Sometimes what we carry forward into the new year isn’t an answer to last year’s woes, but a question that’s lingered and grown more precise.

There are seasons when the work feels so obvious it’s almost easy, and seasons when it feels stalled, uncertain, or aggravatingly quiet. I don’t think those moments mean we’ve lost our way. Often, they mean we’re being asked to listen differently—to notice where we hesitate, where we’re lost, and where the current slows or deepens. That, too, is movement. That is progress.

As this year closes, I’m less interested in resolutions than in attention. (TBH, I don’t really believe in resolutions in life or writing.) Instead, ask yourself: What are you already in the middle of? What’s keeping you there? What questions do you still need to ponder awhile longer? What part of your writing life feels worth carrying forward into 2026, even if you don’t yet know where it will lead?

If you’re ending 2025 without a clear map, you’re not doing anything wrong. You may simply be standing at the place where the real work begins.

Writing Prompt:

In these last days of 2025, instead of setting goals or resolutions for 2026, lean into and write toward what you don’t yet know. Begin with one of these opening lines (or invent your own):

  • What I’m still in the middle of is…
  • The question I’m carrying with me is…
  • I don’t yet know how to… but I keep returning to it.

Let your words wander and your writing meander. The goal isn’t  clarity or conclusions. Stay with the uncertainty long enough to notice what it’s asking of you. Listen, and let that inspire your creativity into the new year. 

Reading Recommendations: Best Books of 2025 Edition

Every year, I look forward to Best Books lists more than almost any other end-of-year roundup. I love seeing how many of the books I read made the cut, adding some of the ones I missed to my ever-growing TBR, and, most of all, noticing the patterns that emerge across lists. These roundups aren’t just about crowning winners; they’re a way of tracing the stories, questions, and unique voices that shaped the literary conversation within the year.

Below are a few of my favorite Best Books of 2025 lists. These aren’t meant as a report card of what you did or didn’t read this year, but more of invitation to read more deeply, more curiously, and a little outside your usual lanes.

Listening Recommendations:

  • From The Writer Files Podcast: “The Writer Files Holiday Party 2025” – This festive year-end episode gathers the best of 2025: reflections on how long novels really take to write, why notebooks still matter, lessons from Kafka, Didion, and Pressfield, and a return to beginner’s mind (plus the Dunning–Kruger effect). Along the way, host Milena shares her favorite reads of the year, revisits standout interviews, and celebrates the books, ideas, and conversations that shaped the writing life this year.

Publishing Opportunities: 

I decided to hold off on publishing opportunities this week. Don’t worry, they’ll return next week! In these final days of the year, I’d much rather you focus on reading and writing things you genuinely enjoy. Rest. Take a creative break if you need one. Then return in the new year ready to continue this creative journey with renewed energy and curiosity.

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.

Join us on Instagram for more writing inspiration!

We’re sharing writing tips, creative prompts, and a steady stream of encouragement—follow us @writersdotcom. Click below to check out one of our latest posts on writing creative nonfiction.

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Elle | Community Manager

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.

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