Okay, fine. I'll make an outline.
a prompt to spark your imagination
this week’s prompt:
Someone spills a drink.
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.
musings
I had planned to send out Prompted last week, thinking I would come home from my grandfather’s funeral and have the energy to think straight. Well, folks, I did not.
March was a bad writing month for me. But I’m happy to say I think I’m back on track. I met up virtually with a fellow writer last night to do some writing sprints and managed to create a semi-organized outline of my novel. It’s wild how much it has changed since I first wrote it. It grew out of its original container like mutant radioactive slime. And the struggle has been figuring out how to fit the various timelines and POVs together.
I don’t write in a linear fashion. I do it out of order with no regard for space and time. Pure vibes. But I’ve never felt this connected to a piece of work before. And I knew I had to take some time to sit down and figure out the boring stuff. For me, that’s plotting and outlining. Last night’s session unlocked some stuff, so I’m excited to dig into another sprint on Sunday. My goal is to write at least one scene and potentially do some free-writing to unravel something I’m still not quite sure how to tackle.
Are you heading into the weekend with a writing goal in mind? Let me know in the comments!
things that caught my eye
My hot take of the week: The White Lotus finale was too dramatic and not funny enough. ⚡
🛸China Miéville Says We Shouldn’t Blame Science Fiction for Its Bad Readers — via TechCrunch.
❌ Majority of Attempts to Ban Books in US Come From Organised Groups, Not Parents — via The Guardian.
☎️ Stop Reading Books on Your Phone — via The Strategist.
✏️2025 CRAFT Short Fiction Prize — open for submissions until May 18, 2025.
👽Following the “Mom Rule.” On Writing Sci-Fi My Mother Could Get Behind — via LitHub.
🫠Are Em Dashes Really a Sign of AI Writing? — via Rolling Stone. (you’ll have to pry my em dashes from my cold dead hands!!!)
🥳 5 Writers Make the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize Shortlist — via CBC Books. (Congrats!!!)
deadlined stuff from previous weeks
✏️ Fractured Lit Ghost, Fable, and Fairy Tales Prize — submissions open until April 14, 2025.
✏️ Call for submissions from the League of Canadian Poets for poetry reflecting the theme of Love Loves Our Loving for an upcoming chapbook. Deadline Tuesday, April 25, 2025.
✏️ Waterston Desert Writing Prize — submissions open until May 1, 2025 at 11:59PM PST.
✏️ 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.
i hope your weekend words spill out effortlessly, like pollen tumbling from newly opened spring flowers.
artwork by Angela Miklos Creative