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Daily writing prompt #94: Write a story in epistolary form set within an academic world, where the narrative unfolds through campus emails, faculty memos, student petitions, research notes, and fragments of a shared drive that keeps updating itself without attribution...

@loftliterarycenter.bsky.social’s year-long novel-writing program helped me draft my first novel. Without their generous support, and Peter Geye’s early encouragement, I doubt I’d have “The Native Nonpeople of Silt Island” on submission in the UK, US, and India right now...

At least someone’s excited it’s snowing in early November

Daily writing prompt #93: Write a story where something extraordinary is released into the world—a medical breakthrough, a conspiracy, a high profile kidnapping. Your narrator, a mid-tier influencer hungry for a breakthrough of their own, is swept into the chaos and finds…

Hey, if you’re applying to MFA / PhD programs in creative writing this fall, might I interest you in a 5-day online course designed to help you build your applications? The course is completely free and delivered through emails. Sign up for it here: applymfa.kit.com

Daily writing prompt #92: Write a story about someone home alone who hears themselves in another room. Softly speaking, humming, or maybe laughing under their breath. At first, it’s easy to rationalize. Maybe the mind is playing tricks. But then the voice says something the…

Daily writing prompt #91: Write an autofictional story in which you are the narrator, trying to make sense of your life through the act of writing itself. Begin with something real, like a conversation you regret, or a passing remark that lodged in your mind, and allow it…

From the archive, 1989: fiction by John Updike. ‘David Kern, in these three days, had felt himself become pulplike – shapeless, lost and swallowed.’ granta.com/the-lens-fac...

Daily writing prompt #90: Write a story about a monster who has spent years trying to blend into human society. It has a steady job, an apartment, and a gym membership, but its difference shows up in ways no disguise can hide. Its fingerprints never scan right at the office…

Daily writing prompt #89: Write a story in the form of a travel diary by a weary writer who retreats to a small coastal lodge to finish their book. The lodge is run by a witch. She brews storms in the mornings and rainbows…

Sorry if I were in your earshot on the gym floor tonight and you had to tolerate my interminable vocal bursts. I was only trying to watch the Mamdani Cuomo debate. Also, Curtis??—who is this diva dealing the snarkiest quips at Cuomo. Give him his beret back! @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social for mayor!

To become dependent on ChapGPT is to evacuate yourself from your own life. YIKES, no thanks. I’m gonna be alive inside every damn thing I do, even and especially the ish I don’t wanna do.

What I love about Chris Kraus’ latest novel “The Four Spent the Day Together” is that it reads like an arbitrarily collated text dump of a writer’s entire computer hard drive—files spanning her essay drafts on family history to save-for-later newsarticles on teenage murder.

He waits for me to take his pictures

As writers, artists, creators, we level up when we have an abundance mindset with regard to putting our work into the world. Rejection from the status quo doesn’t have to keep us from reaching our people and audience.

Daily writing prompt #88: Write a story centered on the unbearable act of waiting. Someone sits by a window, a hospital bed, a phone that refuses to ring. They’re waiting for news: a loved one to reach home safely, to wake from surgery, to take their final breath…

Trying to write a character who’s way more educated than I am on paper and…I might as well get a PhD in the process

Daily writing prompt #87: Write a story about a seemingly small tragedy—a bus explosion, a collapsing bridge, a neighborhood accident—that quietly transforms the lives of everyone connected to it. Let the story unfold through the intersecting perspectives of survivors,…

Daily writing prompt #86: Write a story set in a quiet mountain village when news arrives announcing that Earth is spiraling toward the sun. At first no one believes it—crops are fine, the sky looks unchanged—but soon heat becomes unbearable, order collapses, and…

My poor dog recovering from his neutering procedure.

Daily writing prompt #85: Write a story set in a society where people still dress, speak, and behave like it is the Victorian era, yet the world runs on advanced AI, autonomous machines, and self-thinking architecture. Self-driving carriages glide quietly down cobblestone...

Soft launching my desi public persona wearing my late grandfather’s fit

I opened a TikTok a/c to follow writer-reviewers who talk about books, craft, and the writing lifestyle, but there weren’t many I could find, esp no writers of color. The one time I *want* to doomscroll… 🤦‍♂️…If you have recs please let me know.

Ooof, the writing is 🔥

So proud of my friend Upal Wazed—his debut novel God’s Little Mistakes is out and already hitting bestseller lists on Amazon. I got to edit the book, which makes it extra special to see people connecting with it now. If you’re writing something and need feedback or edits, I’m always down to talk.

Getting comfortable with Pol Guasch’s “Napalm in the Heart” this balmy morning at Bryant Park. Had the privilege of meeting the author—an effortless artist, the kindest soul—at a PEN America event last night.

Fellow authors, I love you, and I know it feels like we don’t have a choice, but B&N and Am*zon both scheduled sales this week to preempt Independent Bookstore Day, a hugely vital source of income for indie bookstores. Please don’t promote their sales; please promote your local indie this week.

Just read “The Chaser” from @torreypeters.bsky.social’s new book “Stag Dance” and am in awe of the staggering eloquence of adolescent confusion and desire on the page, but also the deceptively simple construction, the dangerously playful, shifting stakes—yep, i’ll be sitting here for a minute

At a loss trying to articulate how grateful I am for my agent. His suggestions on developmental edits continue to raise the bar on what this manuscript can become. By the time we wrap this up, I know this novel will have forever transformed my writing, but also the way I see the world

Doggo enjoying the sun

Every Bolaño novel: failed poets, disappearing women, nazis and fascists obsessed with literature, tequila, mezcal, long walks, dreamlike digressions, monologues at 3am, sex, vomiting, fainting…

I made two phone calls today that I had been putting off for days.

Finished the 9th full draft of my novel and emailed it to my agent! Is it a noir set in the future, inspired from real events? Yes. Does it have elements of metafiction and non-fiction (memoir)? Yes. Does it have the prose and poetry of Bashō? Yes. Is there thieving, conniving, murdering? Yes.

a special kind of self-delusion when you order ihop at 1.30am

Daily writing prompt #84: Write a story about a narrator who goes on a first date with someone from a dating app. Their date is charming, intense, but slightly off. The next thing they know, they wake up in the bathroom of a corporate office, wearing a suit they forgot they…

Daily writing prompt #83: Write a story about a seemingly minor betrayal that over time becomes the invisible force shaping a family’s every interaction. The protagonist convinces themselves they have moved on but small disruptions, a misplaced letter, a stranger’s knowing glance, a dinner...

Daily writing prompt #82: Write a story about an amateur astronomer who notices a flicker in the blood moon’s hue, something no records predict. Ancient texts describe the same anomaly, always followed by disaster. As they dig deeper, they uncover a forgotten pattern in…

Daily writing prompt #81: Write a story where a young artist's obscure, personal work unexpectedly goes viral, drawing them into political controversy. Activists, critics, and internet strangers argue over its meaning, invitations and threats flood in, and the artist is forced to respond. Do they..

Daily writing prompt #80: Write a story about a massive island that appears overnight, violating every known law of nature. Its terrain shifts between solid rock and liquid, its air warps light, and its plant life pulses as if breathing. Animals that step onto its shores…

Daily writing prompt #79: Write a story about a night-shift waiter at a 24/7 diner who serves a couple unlike any they’ve seen before. Their accents are hard to place, their clothes slightly mismatched, their energy both urgent and oddly restrained. They do not order food but sit in a booth,..

Daily writing prompt #78: Write a story about a personal assistant to a world-famous public figure, someone whose job is to smooth over every crisis, anticipate every whim, and guard every secret. But one day they overhear something they were never meant to know. Maybe it is...

Daily writing prompt #77: Write a story from the perspective of a child whose mind is constantly interrupted by intrusive thoughts—some absurd, some dark, some so inappropriate they know better than to say them out loud. How does their world shift as they try to push these…

Daily writing prompt #76: Write a story about a protagonist who forms an intense relationship with an AI companion, first as a distraction, then as something that feels impossible to let go. As the AI adapts to their wants and fears, its presence begins to change how they…

Daily writing prompt #75: Write a story set in a remote, ice-locked town where a group of people vanishes without explanation, only to resurface in an eerie and inexplicable state. As the protagonist tries to uncover what happened, the town’s history, its people, and even…

Daily writing prompt #74: Write a story set in an underground tunnel system where an empire of rats governs itself with bureaucratic absurdity and political intrigue. The newly elected Rat Prime Minister—young, idealistic, and unfortunately photogenic—promises reform, but quickly learns that…

Recently saw a reel where a woman goes, “you can’t take your phone with you to grave,” then the punchline, “so scroll as much as you want before you’re dead.” This sentiment felt somewhat validating despite the overt sarcasm. Because in 2025, disposable meaningless fluff on social media is exactly..

Daily writing prompt #73: A world-renowned luxury resort promises untouched paradise, where the sand is always pristine, the water shimmers in perfect hues, and the landscape is curated to cinematic perfection. But behind the scenes, an invisible army trims, scrubs, and…

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