Write into the Week: March 29, 2026

“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”
–Pablo Neruda

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:  A Creative Check-In

With the start of April this week, we’re stepping into a new quarter of the year. This is a natural moment to pause and take stock of where we are in our creative lives. 

As a creative mindset enthusiast, I believe reflecting on your recent progress and process is the best way to help you plan for a successive and fulling next steps on your creative journey. So before rushing ahead or setting new goals, I think it’s worth looking back at the first three months of the year.  Not in a critical way, but in a curious and honest one. What actually happened in your daily life vs your writing life? What felt good? What didn’t?

If you set a writing goal for the beginning of the year, did you meet it? And more importantly, how does that make you feel? Was the goal too ambitious or not ambitious enough? Was it realistic, given your actual life, your responsibilities, your energy? (Reminder: While overly ambitious goals may seem like the road to success, they often lead to pressure and creative burnout.)

You might also ask yourself: What surprised me about my creative life during these past few months? What disappointed me? What am I most proud of?

Next, take ten minutes, and reread your favorite piece you’ve written so far in 2026. Let yourself feel proud of it. Then reflect on this: Where were you when you wrote it? What kind of headspace were you in? What was working—for you, your schedule, your mindset—that made that piece possible? Consider how you can lean into or fully replicate the setting and headspace that allowed you to write something wonderful!

From there, you can begin to look ahead. Not with pressure, but with intention. Based on what you’ve learned about yourself over the past three months, what feels realistic now? What feels manageable? What feels worth committing to for April, May, and June?

You don’t need to start over, or completely reinvent yourself as a writer. (Trust me, I’ve tried; it never works!) You just need to keep going—with a little more awareness, reflection and intention.

Writing Prompt: April & the In-Between 

To me, April carries a particular kind of energy—not quite a fresh start, not quite a continuation, but something in between. A special kind of liminal space that hints at the early stages of change, possibly the moment just before something fully arrives.

This week, I invite you to write a piece that captures a beginning in progress.

It could be something external, like a shift in season, a new environment, or a relationship that’s just taking shape. Or it could be something internal, like a quiet yet determined decision, a sudden change in perspective, or a feeling not yet fully understood.

Focus on the in-between, the process, the hows and whys. Consider how uncertainty plays a role in your choices, and the subtle signs that something is indeed changing, even if what, exactly, hasn’t fully revealed itself yet.

Literary Device of the Week: Liminal Space

A liminal space is a kind of threshold separating the space between what was and what’s about to be. Think of it like the doorway between rooms, the moment just before a decision is made, or the feeling of standing on the precipice of change.

In writing, liminal spaces are often where the deepest and most interesting emotional transformations happens. They can feel like an intense blur of reality and metaphor within a story. Picture a character waiting at a train station, still wondering if they should stay or go; the tense moments just before a life-altering conversation begins; or a tulip that has broken through its winter slumber but has not yet bloomed. These moments can feel quiet or even ordinary, but when written with intention, they carry tension, uncertainty, and loads of possibility.

Writers often use liminal space to slow things down and allow meaning to emerge gradually. Instead of rushing toward resolution or spoon-feeding emotional shifts to readers, a writer may choose to linger in the in-between—allowing readers the space for curiosity, to form questions, and to begin seeing the transformation that is just beginning.

Listening Recommendations

• From The New Yorker: The Writer’s Voice podcast – “Han Ong Reads, ‘My Balenciaga'” Ong reads his story from the March 23, 2026, issue of The New Yorker. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and of the Berlin Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Berlin. Ong is the author of more than a dozen plays and two novels, The Disinherited and Fixer Chao. 
• From The Lit Hub Podcast – “March 27, 2026” – In this episode, the hosts dig into the growing impact of AI on writing and publishing, alongside conversations about launching a new literary magazine through the Palestine Festival of Literature and overlooked book reviews from the New York Times Book Review. The episode closes with an essay reading by Casey Scieszka and a small press recommendation worth exploring.

Publishing Opportunities:

• Luna Luna Magazine – Submission Window: Open/Rolling Luna Luna is an online poetry journal that publishes 13 poets each month. Described as a space for lush poetics, fever dreams, & the dark ecstatic, you should review their previously published work to see if your poetry is a good match. 
• Changes Press – Submission Window: April 1-15, 2026 – Changes, a new book publisher, is hosting their first ever opening reading period for manuscripts of original poetry, poetry in translations, and proposals for archival projects. Open to emerging and previously published poets! Submissions do not open until April 1st! 
• Barrow Street Journal – Submission Deadline: April 30, 2026 – Open call for poetry submissions. From the Journal, “Send us your forms and your formless, your weird darlings, your rough edges, your overcorrected—We want to read it all! Emerging, seasoned, somewhere in-between, we’re interested in poets writing from all stages, locations, and perspectives.
• Deep Vellum Publishing – Submission Window: April 1-30, 2026. Open call for poetry collection submissions. There are no reading fees, but submissions are capped at 500. A Submittable link for submissions will be available on their website on April 1st. Get your manuscripts prepped! 

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.