Write into the Week: May 11, 2025

Elle LaMarca  |  May 10, 2025  | 

“Writing is the painting of the voice.”

–Voltaire

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

Imagine your voice (or a character’s) as a color, a shape, or a texture. How would it look on a canvas? Use that image as inspiration for a poem, flash piece or a new scene

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

  • “Lottie Woodside and the Diamond Dust Cher” by Marie-Helene Bertino. “Thirty years folded into a drawer like holiday linens.” Surprising and full of heart, this short story follows Lottie through a slightly offbeat day as she begins to reorient her life after the end of a long marriage. It’s a tender, yet powerful, story of reemergence and survival.

Nonfiction:

  • “Braving Imposter Syndrome at Hula-Hoop Camp” by Abby Alten Schwartz for Oldster. In this personal essay, Schwartz reflects on stepping outside her comfort zone to attend a hula-hooping retreat at age 44. With honesty and humor, she explores how confronting self-doubt can lead to unexpected joy and personal growth.

Poetry:

  • “All this weight” by Thomas Holten for Main Squeeze. Through vivid imagery and introspective lines, Holten’s poem invites readers to reflect on the complexities of desire and the weight of our internal landscapes.

Listening Recommendations:

Publishing Opportunities:

  • Bear Review – Submission Window: Open. Open to poetry submissions. Up to 5 previously unpublished poems per submission. From their website: “Our only criteria: your writing is alive on the page, has urgency and has something at stake. We’re big readers, so we admire pieces that make the old new.”
  • Thin Air Magazine – Submission Window: Open. Seeking fiction and nonfiction submissions up to 3,000 words, and original poetry. From their website: “Based at 7,000 feet, Thin Air Magazine has no choice but to invite work that takes us to dizzying heights with its innovation and insight. The editors aspire to foster diversity, authenticity, surprise, and excitement while making the literary world accessible to everyone.”

Residency and Retreat Opportunites 

  • Dorland Mountain Arts Residency – Application Deadline: June 1, 2025. A beautiful retreat center where artists, writers, musicians, and composers can create in a secluded and protected natural setting. Dorland is located near Temecula Valley Wine Country, about 100 miles south of Los Angeles and sixty miles north of San Diego in California. 

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.

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 about love.

 

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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.

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