Monday Motivation: Creating a Writer's Joy List

[Writers Digest]

In this issue, learn the importance of creating a writer's joy list; plus, much more.

In this issue, learn the importance of creating a writer's joy list (and how to use it); plus, an interview with Lish McBride, 28 flash fiction prompts, and more!  Writer's Digest Online | Writer's Digest Shop | Online Education Creating a Writer's Joy List Most writers love writing. Not everything surrounding writing sparks the same love. Deadlines loom. Inner critics get loud. Social media becomes a highlight reel of “Look who wrote a novel before breakfast.” Creativity starts to feel less like art and more like an emotional rollercoaster. (Reclaiming Mental Space as a Writer.) That’s usually the moment a writer decides they need more discipline, a stricter schedule, or a new productivity app. What they often need instead is gentler. They need a Joy List. Read more... MORE MOTIVATION Writing Through the Threshold Grief isn’t tidy. Mine came crashing in, like an anvil from the sky. I lost my sister unexpectedly. She was only 46. Then the pandemic hit and I, like everyone else, was in an existential crisis. That’s where poetry came in. Or maybe better said, it’s where poetry came out. Read more... Lish McBride: Every Book Teaches You Something "Read as much as you can, write as much as you can, and be stubborn. While it’s great to listen and learn from critique, don’t let anyone stop you from creating the story you want to tell." Read more... 28 Flash Fiction Writing Prompts Find all 28 flash fiction writing prompts for the 2026 February Flash Fiction Challenge Challenge in this post. Read more... Achieve Perfect Pacing This issue is dedicated to pacing in any and every interpretation of the word as it relates to both writing and publishing. That means, how to keep the pace going as you draft a novel or work on revising it, and how to build in pauses that force readers to stop and think about what they’ve read. It also means advice for indie authors on how to pace the release of their books, understanding traditional publishing timelines, and much more.   Click here to learn more >> The "Right" Time to Write I picked up a pen one night with the intention of jotting down some work-related notes and ended up writing a novel. Thankfully, it never saw the light of day and those pages, all 300, are packed away in a black plastic bag somewhere in my past. But that first novel, to give it some credit, was a learning curve that taught me many things, including the value of a disciplined writing regime. Read more... From Your Writer's Digest Editor: Robert Lee Brewer Robert Lee Brewer is a senior editor for Writer’s Digest and former editor of the Writer's Market book series. He is also the author of Smash Poetry Journal and Solving the World's Problems. He got some yard work done yesterday. Active Interest Media 2143 Grand Ave Des Moines, IA 50312 USA View online You received this email because you are subscribed to newsletters from Writer's Digest Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive.