Stuti Srivastava
@stutisrivastava.bsky.social
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📥 34
📝 64
Here to lurk, explore, understand, and be Substack:
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords
“Calm down.” I will calm down when publishers stop replacing book covers with movie posters, thank you very much 📚💙
4 days ago
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All I want is to publish my work, get accepted by every litmag I submit to, win every writing contest I enter, & land a major book deal without ever having to self-promote is that too much to ask (there's only one correct answer, and it does not end in the affirmative).
#writersky
#writingcommunity
13 days ago
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open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
Adulting promax in my latest
#Substack
piece. Have a read?
#writingcommunity
#amwriting
#writersky
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Things I was wrong about
On coming face-to-face with that which I did not want to face
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/things-i-was-wrong-about?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=split
15 days ago
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reposted by
Stuti Srivastava
Matt Kendrick
17 days ago
"The charpai, as we called it, looked like it might give way any moment, but its confidence stared you right in the face." Such a rich sense of atmosphere in this piece from
@stutisrivastava.bsky.social
; love the creativity of the personification in this
add a skeleton here at some point
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I like em dashes and I cannot lie Getting mistaken for ChatGPT can’t deny That when a thought stream comes undone And a side thought has begun —you get sprung
#sorrynotsorry
#writingcommunity
17 days ago
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reposted by
Stuti Srivastava
Laila Miller
19 days ago
Celebrating the Brits' National Flash Fiction Day. Honoured to have my story, "Standing Still" published by FlashFlood Journal. A new story is posted every 5 minutes for the 24-hour period. Enjoy!
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/stan...
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'Standing Still' by Laila Miller
It’s September, there’s going to be a killing frost, and your mum would have taken the geraniums in, he says. They can’t take frost. Winters...
https://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/standing-still-by-laila-miller.html
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reposted by
Stuti Srivastava
Laila Miller
19 days ago
"with a curated pressure. I crumbled into the ground" Love how this story by Stuti Srivastava in
@natflashfictionday.bsky.social
grounds the reader and simultaneously sends us to another world.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Enjoyed the imageries and the judicious and effective use of words in this one 🫶🏽
add a skeleton here at some point
19 days ago
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This memory piece by
@sudhasubraman.bsky.social
encapsulates the tenderness and ache of endings so well 💜@natflashfictionday.bsky.social
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/its-...
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'It’s Time and You Know It!' by Sudha Subramanian
Because your body doesn’t feel the same anymore. You wake up in the night to check if the breath still belongs to you or has dissipated like...
https://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/its-time-and-you-know-it-by-sudha.html
19 days ago
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Loved this surreal, spellbinding piece by
@rachelmhollis.bsky.social
that arrested me with the unexpected
@natflashfictionday.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
19 days ago
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Loved the craft behind this superlative flash by
@sudhab.bsky.social
- a whole story in a single sentence!
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/lost...
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'Lost Connection' by Sudha Balagopal
When Mother calls, Sonia itches to extricate from the repeated grievances: lazy nurse-attendant, unsympathetic doctor, thieving pharmacist, ...
https://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/lost-connection-by-sudha-balagopal.html
19 days ago
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reposted by
Stuti Srivastava
Sumitra Singam
19 days ago
@natflashfictionday.bsky.social
"Any wall I could see was peeling, broken, or reproachful."
@stutisrivastava.bsky.social
with this amazingly evocative flash
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/crow...
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'Crows Remember, Don’t They?' by Stuti Srivastava
Badi Dadi lived in an old village-style house with an open courtyard, surrounded by rooms, kitchen, and storage areas on all sides. Any wall...
https://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/crows-remember-dont-they-by-stuti.html
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The title itself gave me goosebumps, no wonder this piece was such a ride. Ahh the imagery 😍
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/all-...
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'All the Ways We Died' by Sumitra Singam
As babes, you toddling with the cleaver, your Ma yelling. As fresh pupils, you whispering the answer, us caned by Sister Adele. As fourth gr...
https://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/all-ways-we-died-by-sumitra-singam.html
19 days ago
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On the occasion of National Flash Flood Day, my flash piece just went live on the Flash Flood Journal page 😊 Thank you
@natflashfictionday.bsky.social
for this - enjoying all the wonderful reads!
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/crow...
#writingcommunity
#amwriting
#writersky
#flashfiction
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'Crows Remember, Don’t They?' by Stuti Srivastava
Badi Dadi lived in an old village-style house with an open courtyard, surrounded by rooms, kitchen, and storage areas on all sides. Any wall...
https://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/crows-remember-dont-they-by-stuti.html
19 days ago
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This one's special 🥲
add a skeleton here at some point
19 days ago
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reposted by
Stuti Srivastava
National Flash Fiction Day
19 days ago
FlashFlood: 'Crows Remember, Don’t They?' by Stuti Srivastava
#nffd2026
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'Crows Remember, Don’t They?' by Stuti Srivastava
Badi Dadi lived in an old village-style house with an open courtyard, surrounded by rooms, kitchen, and storage areas on all sides. Any wall I could see was peeling, broken, or reproachful. Her room was next to the entrance, but she spent most of her time on a wooden cot placed outside her room. The charpai, as we called it, looked like it might give way any moment, but its confidence stared you right in the face. It was early evening, and I was sitting in the courtyard after visiting the farms and devouring local food at the village square. Badi Dadi was oiling her long, silvery hair. I asked whether she would oil mine, and her eyes gleamed as she beckoned me to sit on the broken floor beneath the charpai. After pouring oil on my hair parting, she started massaging my head, gently at first and then with a curated pressure. I crumbled into the ground. “Which oil is this?” I asked. “Rahat Rooh,” she said. “The younger brat gets it for me from Gorakhpur.” A quiet minute later, she added, “Whenever she comes, that is.” I told myself it was the intensity of the cooling oil that was forcing the tears out of my eyes. I looked around to find a witness to this moment but found none except a crow perched on the overhang. The next morning, I longed for my sunglasses after watching Badi Dadi not just cry but bawl when bidding goodbye. This time, I told myself it was the dust that was hitting my tear glands. As I left, a crow caw-cawed atop a bell hanging above the doorstep. --- Stuti Srivastava is a writer who looks to the earth before calling herself one. She likes to explore themes related to gender dynamics, inner worlds, and inequalities. When not binge-watching grisly crime thrillers, she will be found curled up with a book, lost in her world.
http://dlvr.it/TT1YBF
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Wrote my latest
#Substack
piece on coming into my feminism. Read and share your thoughts?
#writingcommunity
#amwriting
#writersky
open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
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Of course I’m a feminist. Aren’t you?
On discovering, questioning, and coming into feminism
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/of-course-im-a-feminist-arent-you?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=split
29 days ago
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Some days are for discipline and some are for this
#food
#foodsky
#donuts
about 1 month ago
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An institute where I once attended a creative writing course is now offering an AI workshop where you can train AI models to write in your voice. I saw the announcement email and immediately heard the sound of my heart chip off a bit (a lot).
#writingcommunity
#writersky
#amwriting
about 1 month ago
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Wrote about a very recent, very adult realisation for the latest edition of my
#Substack
newsletter - check it out!
open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
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Witness. Me. (And Yourself)
On opening the doors to the quiet power of witnessing
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/witness-me-and-yourself?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=title
about 1 month ago
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Picked up a Jeeves book after ages and was chuckling by page 2. It put me in touch with why I somehow stopped reading Wodehouse over the years, perhaps in search of more “serious” literary pursuits. I never paused to think why I loved these in the first place. Grateful for the wisdom of youth 📚💙
about 2 months ago
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“Smile for me” NO, I smile for myself. If I want to. When I want to. Except if you're sad and my smile will make you feel better. Or if you're an old person trying to click a photo while adjusting your glasses and smiling yourself when trying to get the subject to smile. Then, I'm sobbing.
about 2 months ago
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My latest
#Substack
newsletter on fair fighting rules
#amwriting
#writingcommunity
#writersky
open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
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Fight! But fight fair.
On navigating the curves and blockages of conflict
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/fight-but-fight-fair?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios
about 2 months ago
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My first iced honey oat milk latte, and a bangin' one at that ☕️
2 months ago
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I WOKE UP TO AN ACCEPTANCE. From a journal I deemed pretty much impossible to get into. Let's believe in ourselves more and manifest so many more of these mornings 🙌🏽
#writingcommunity
#amwriting
#writersky
2 months ago
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My latest
#Substack
essay explores the prevailing dissonance of living in a body that doesn't feel mine
#writingcommunity
#writersky
#amwriting
open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
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My mind wants to divorce my body
On the prevailing dissonance of living in a body I can't always trust
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/my-mind-wants-to-divorce-my-body?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=title
2 months ago
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Me, I'm not tearing up watching Billie Eilish crumble into a heap being held by Justin Bieber singing One Less Lonely Girl during his Coachella set for the millionth time, no.
2 months ago
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In English we say: I feel sad In poetry we say: A sinking jellyfish Its tentacles clipped Sits in my heart That no more sings
#writingcommunity
#amwriting
#writersky
3 months ago
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The only reading train I haven't been able to jump aboard has been the audiobook train. It's a mental block I don't find myself eager to remove, but I also hear audiobooks are a great way to read more. Any tips and tricks from the more successful adapters out there? 📚💙
3 months ago
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A new
#Substack
essay on strange strangers strangering in wildly unpredictable ways
#writersky
#amwriting
open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
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“I respect women," he said. Then asked why they won't "adjust."
On strangers strangering in wildly unpredictable ways
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/i-respect-women-he-said-then-asked?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios
3 months ago
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Skipped the schedule for my newsletter for the first time since I started it. And instead of criticising myself per usual, I felt calm and assured for taking decisions to find some grounding over bleeding myself to meet deadlines. Yay me?
#writersky
#amwriting
#writingcommunity
#substack
3 months ago
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I am a writer. I cut open my empty moisturizer tubes to squeeze out four more days’ worth of product. I apply the moisturizer, feeling rather grand, and stare at my empty page and bank balance.
#writingcommunity
#amwriting
#writersky
3 months ago
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Coffee may or may not increase anxiety - that's a problem for after I've romanticized the coffee-making process and taken my first sip and gone “ahh”
3 months ago
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My latest Substack essay on a different kinda love-hate relationship
open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
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To bleed or not to bleed
On the hidden realities of that which can't be named
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/to-bleed-or-not-to-bleed?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios
4 months ago
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Slow reading Beloved by Toni Morrison and marveling at the blend of various genres and forms so masterfully executed by this genius woman
4 months ago
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In the quiet splendor of the night
4 months ago
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The switch from “I ran!” to feeling like an “also ran” is a sneaky one isn't it
4 months ago
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For a person who “doesn't like to plan too much,” I sure find whales swimming inside my body a little too easily at the slightest change of plan.
4 months ago
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open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
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Things men need to stop telling women
On saying out loud—rather mildly I believe—what's obvious but needs to be said anyway
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/things-men-need-to-stop-telling-women?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=title
4 months ago
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I look at some of my old writing and cringe hard. I also look at some of my old writing and gaze at it in awe, asking that version of me to lend me her confidence.
4 months ago
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Oh how I underestimated the power of a good massage! Today I learned a nice long massage stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and shifts your body to a calm state instead of a fight or flight state. An achievement for someone as hyperalert as I am. Tears tears 🥲
5 months ago
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add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
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reposted by
Stuti Srivastava
Thoughtbarf
5 months ago
"You look happier" "Thanks. I just ate."
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Erased, blended, engulfed By the moon's grace Emerged, submerged
5 months ago
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Sometimes my anxiety likes to sit between my throat and chest, stretch its legs, and put on a sunhat. As I've found out the hard way, the best thing to do is pull up a beach chair and sit next to it. Everybody wants to be seen, everybody.
5 months ago
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Wrote just over a 100 words Of poetry that's likely bad And I won't use anywhere But I wrote Sometimes that's enough
5 months ago
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open.substack.com/pub/gimmewor...
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Sue me, I like gifts!
On why giving and receiving gifts can be quite nice, actually
https://open.substack.com/pub/gimmewords/p/sue-me-i-like-gifts?r=1b0vso&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
5 months ago
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Everyone's good, I'm good too. Everyone's really good, I'm not bad. Everyone's SO good, I… have imposter syndrome.
5 months ago
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I need my space but also sit next to me but also don't speak to me but also let me love you but also know when to leave me alone. I ask for very little.
5 months ago
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reposted by
Stuti Srivastava
Indie Book Spotlight
5 months ago
Anyone else just so. very. tired?
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