this week’s prompt:
“What is that?”
Happy writing!
Pitches and Submissions
Prompted is always open to pitches from writers with something to say about the creative process, creative routines, creativity, or really anything mildly writing-related — including reported pieces and interviews. Got something a little offbeat and weird? Awesome.
Did a Prompted prompt inspire you to write something? Please submit! I'd love to feature it in the newsletter.
Rates start at 25 cents per word
musings
Apologies for not being in your inbox last week, the week got away from me.
This week, instead of blabbing away like I usually do, I want to hear from you, dear reader. Tell me about what helps your creative process that has nothing to do with actually sitting down to write.
For me, it’s running or walking outside. There’s something about getting around on two feet that opens up my mind. (And research backs this up, by the way.)
Last week, during half-marathon training, I couldn’t stop thinking about how to connect two characters in my WIP. Over the course of several miles, I was able to untangle the problem and come up with a potential solution. TBD on whether it works, but if I need to go back to the drawing board, I’m more likely to head outside than bang my head against my desk.
How about you? Does nature get your creative juices flowing? Is there some other non-writing activity or ritual that helps you with your art?
Next week, I’ll be talking about generative AI again. Stay tuned.
things that caught my eye
Current obsession: The Atlantic’s new daily puzzle [Bracket City]
🪶When Is Your Creative Work “Done”? — via Slate.
🫠AI Floods Amazon With Strange Political Books Before Canadian Election — via Bloomberg.
✏️ CBC Poetry Prize — open for submissions until June 1st, 2025.
✈️ The New R&R: Rest and Reading. Why Book-Club Retreats Are Trending in Travel — via Simcoe.com.
📚Most Americans Want to Read More Books. We Just Don’t. — via NPR. (I think a lot of this has to do with disappearing leisure time in our productivity-obsessed society.)
deadlined stuff from previous weeks
✏️ Waterston Desert Writing Prize — submissions open until May 1, 2025 at 11:59PM PST.
✏️2025 CRAFT Short Fiction Prize — open for submissions until May 18, 2025.
✏️ Applications Open for 2025 Writers-in-Exile Humber Scholarship (applicants must be members of PEN Canada’s Writers in Exile program) — Deadline June 2, 2025.
✏️ Banff Writing Residency for new writers of YA and Children’s Books — Application deadline June 4, 2025.
open submission calls
✏️ Cursed Morsels has a submission call for single-author horror and weird fiction short story collections by BIPOC writers only. Open until 2026 calendar is filled.
✏️ Seize the Press is looking to publish dark speculative fiction, strict 7,500 word limit.
✏️ Okay Donkey is open to poetry and flash fic submissions, no deadline but there’s a monthly cap on free submissions.
what’s your non-writing writing must-do activity?
artwork by Angela Miklos Creative