Last week I posed a question in a few writing groups I’m in: would a monthly writing theme be helpful to you as a writer?
Do you want to write about a topic, a subject, or an idea together?
The answer was a resounding yes.
A monthly framework to write: join me for a new theme, each month.
So, let’s write together each month around a topic or a theme. Each month, I’ll put forward a topic for consideration with a call to write.
What’s in a monthly writing prompt?
- Read below to find out this month’s theme.
- Take the theme, explore it, and anytime this month (October 2016) write a poem, essay, or reflection of your choosing. You can take photos, post on Instagram, share on Twitter, or publish an essay.
- Leave a link to your work in the comments on this post. Share it using the hashtag #MoWriting (it’s short for “More Writing” and “Monthly Writing.”)
We can all read through the posts (check the links in the comments!) and get to know more of each other’s work and writing.
October’s writing theme: routines
Welcome to October, a time for introspection, reflection, and turning inwards.
Keeping in line with the idea of a monthly theme (which is itself a pattern and a routine), the first theme is all about Routine.
- What does it mean to have a routine?
- What does your routine look like?
- What is routine, and what is not?
- Does having a routine help you? When does having a routine not help you?
- What are the routines in your relationships, your partnerships
- What is your routine in your work?
- Where do you want more, or less, structure and habit?
I find myself craving more routine as I take off on my next business adventure (yes, it’s happening already.) I’m drawing and detailing and designing in notebooks. I’m creating structures for expansion, creating places for community.
Why I’m creating this
Writing together has always held me accountable and let me dive deeper. Rather than flitting from one idea to the next, I want a way to dive deeper into a subject and explore it through multiple posts, as well as hear ideas from other authors, writers, and creators I admire. Using monthly themes and habits has been a successful tool in my own practice.
I’m borrowing these ideas from two organizations I admire greatly: Thousand Network has monthly themes for the Thousand Women’s Circle that I’m a part of, and Holstee’s Mindful Matter blog explores monthly themes, which I adore and have written for. So I will add to the room and create a monthly theme here on this website, for anyone who wants to join.
Going deeper with community
One of my desires is to find a way to bring more people together in community. Writing a blog alone is not enough; I want my business and my practice to bring creative people together. When we work together in creative ecosystems, collaborate on work (even if the work is first done solo), and find people to be in community with, our work grows richer and stronger.
Over the past few years, I’ve had a chance to see what happens with community through our writing groups, the Grace and Gratitude workshop, and in the private mastermind that kicked off a few weeks ago. (If you want to learn more about the next round of the Mastermind and put in an application for consideration, sign up here). Each time I admire how much you grow, especially as you learn from each other. If I can design things that bring people together — in community and around ideas — I’m content.
By finding and sharing your writing with each other — and by letting you discover each other through the comments and hashtags — I hope that you’ll all get to meet more of each other. I get to meet so many amazing people through writing on this blog, and I’m searching for ways to bring this community closer together over the coming years.
The prompts are free and the love is abundant!
So, go write about your routines, push publish on your essays and images, and leave a comment below with a link to your piece.
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