February's Let's Write Together
PROMPT POST!
If you didn’t make it tonight’s Writing Prompt Party, now is your chance to join this month’s fun with a little chat and your opportunity to write to our prompt!
First, Let’s Talk About How You Pitch Substack To Writers
I was recently in a writing group where someone mentioned that they kept hearing that authors should start a Substack, and they wanted to know who tried it and what they thought about it. That got me wondering:
What is your advice to fellow writers when it comes to creating a Substack platform?
Are you pitching the platform to writing friends far and wide, or do you have a cautionary tale for those who have yet to join Substack? Is there somewhere else you think writers should begin? And do you agree with the advice this writer keeps hearing that all authors should have a Substack page? Let us know in the comments!
Now, On To Our Month-Long Fictionistas Prompt Celebration!
If you missed the post with all the information and instructions you can read via the link below. Don’t worry you can still participate. Grab your laptop or pen and paper and join the fun!
The doc below describes the original model of this celebration, remember this month WE won’t be deciding which substacks will be getting a spotlight shone on them, YOU will! Next week we will come back with a more detailed explanation, but, in short, when the thread post comes out next week, we will be asking participants to read, react, and RESTACK each other’s stories with a special focus on sentences, or passages, they quote in their Notes.
And Finally… The Prompt
This month I brought back an oldie but a goodie, Rory’s Story Cubes. This is visual prompt. Rory’s Story Cubes is a box of nine cubes with line drawings on them . The goal is to write a story using as many, if not all, of the nine images in your story. Keep in mind that the interpretations of these images is completely up to you!
I will first share a photo of the cubes as I shared them in tonight’s meeting:
Your prompt:
Write a story using your interpretations of the images on the cubes above.
I will describe the nine images from left to right, top to bottom.
a castle tower, or a rook
comedy and trajedy masks
an arrow pointing in a south-east direction
a flame
a cresent, perhaps a cresent moon
an airplane
a die, with three pips on top, five pips facing downward, one pip on the left (these are the only faces of the cube we can see)
a worried face
a house with one door, two windows and a chimney
Please remember that my interpretations of these pictures is exactly that, my interpretation. If you see that house and think, That’s going to be an Applebees in my story (as one attendee of our Writing Prompt Party did, you are not wrong! Let these cubes serve your story!
What now?
Now that the party is over, it’s time to polish your piece to get it ready for next week’s discussion thread. Get your polished story (no longer than 1000 words) on your Substack page, or on a a view-only Google doc, and put the link in the comments of the thread post we will share next Thursday.
Once you share your stories, the community will start reading, reacting, and restacking your fiction!
Let’s write together this month, Fictionistas!
Share the Fiction Love!
Do you know a writer who is looking for this kind of inspiration and community support? Don’t forget to share this post so we can read their stories too!
I’m Jackie, a fiction author, freelance writer, and historian. I enjoy rooting for the underdog and stirring up trouble. Unsurprisingly, my alignment is Chaotic Good. My Substacks are Unseen St. Louis and Story Cauldron.
I’m Nicole creator of all things Stop Writing Alone including a podcast, a YouTube channel, and a Substack community hosting multiple monthly Live Zoom Events for writers seeking community. If you are ready to truly stop writing alone, join here.
