Hi friends! I woke up today to unseasonal rains and there’s an unmistakable nip in the air. Autumn might be sooner than usual, and winter, colder. Have you noticed the season changing where you are? Let me know in the comments! It is interesting how a small change triggers a big one. Perhaps you’re more intent and energetic now, perhaps you’re looking to work on drafting and editing as a new season kicks in, perhaps you feel lesser so than in the summer months.
A new day, like a new season, ushers in new feelings and reflections. We are, as writers, highly observant beings. Writers have, since long, used these observations to craft pieces. “The Best Season is the One You Are In” by Laura Carnes Williams comes to mind, and so does many more. In fact, my 2024 craft essay “Seasonal: Writing About the Seasons” curates a list of many such tiny stories around seasons, and shares helpful prompts if you’re inspired.
If you don’t feel like creating at this continuous season of chaos worldwide, that is understandable too. Many are struggling. Me too. After going full-steam in mid-September, I have done zero writing since. But I’ve had a good start to my birth month October, with acceptances, event invitations and more–so that has kept me going. When we are not in the right frame of mind, quality suffers. I am a firm believer of writing only when inspired. I shared as much in an interview to L’ Esprit Literary (published on their Instagram handle) following their kind nomination of my historical fiction “Confinement, Departure: Paris, 1790” for the Year’s Best of the Net. What is order in the midst of chaos–asks the piece, and what tiny “departure from order” can have grave consequence?
Questioning “order”, Roddy Doyle, seems to doubt the very process of the Booker Prize, of which he is the Chair of the judging panel. In September 2025, Doyle reportedly described most of the novel submissions for the prize as “terrible”. Some have interpreted this as a criticism of the state of contemporary literary fiction, which they view as having become too conservative and predictable. However, his comments were also seen as an honest assessment during a period where judges read over 150 submissions.
Did you read any of the shortlisted, or plan to? Let me know in the comments.
Speaking of contests, I flagged two in an earlier newsletter–and talked about how winners somehow seem to get repeated in them. Same winners in different editions. Personally, I RARELY participate in contests, that is like very very rarely--like once in two years, so it hardly matters to me. However, I’m aware how contest wins can help emerging writers–and totally get the reason why writers enter. If I had a lot of money, perhaps I’d enter more. If you are interested, ChillSubs has come up with, what they call, a “contest transparency calculator“.
In case you have used it, let us know–and do share your experience in the comments, so others can benefit too.
Remaining on contests, there is no dearth of free -to-enter contests either–HERE is a helpful list curated by Erica Verrillo with October deadlines. Also, check out Tales From Moonlit Path‘s themed contest of Halloween based on movie quotes (See site); 2000 words max. Prize: $50. Deadline: October 13, 2025. Also check out ALCS TOM-GALLON TRUST AWARD Deadline: October 31. This is an annual award for a short story–I entered last year and they do respond back timely. Authors “must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth, or the Republic of Ireland” who “have had at least one short story accepted for publication” (although the story submitted for the prize may be published or unpublished). To close this list, I’ll pin just one more. Opening October 15 (cap of 200 submissions) is BOOK XI, which seeks “philosophically informed creative work” and pays $200 for each piece published.
In my observation, creative nonfiction is a genre that is seeing rapid expansion–both in terms of its practitioners and in terms of venues that publish. Last month, a writer who had benefited from my Manuscript Consultation Program many months ago, reached out again. It is such an honor to work with repeat writers–you literally see their growth over the years. After receiving feedback on her flash fiction piece, she inquired if I also advice on CNF. I don’t usually do, but I make exceptions, and as a returning writer, she was an exception. So she sent in a second piece. And as it turned out, it is such a delight to work on flash CNF–especially with the evolving forms, and the risks writers are taking nowadays. Plus, I realized that out of my 8 Pushcart-nominations, two are for creative nonfiction (from Timber Journal and Emerson Review)! Perhaps I should write more creative nonfiction–as should you!
Structure is such an essential, non-negotiable, stylistic choice, whether you write fiction or nonfiction. However, you can also choose somewhere in between! “Positioning Your Piece as a Cross Between Memoir and Fiction” can guide you.
Do you experiment with structures? If so, what is your most preferred form or structure? Let us know in the comments.
“There’s a risk in learning how to write well: the danger of forgetting why you started. I worry that someday I’ll become so polished, so precise, that I’ll lose the very thing that made my writing matter in the first place—my belief that stories can mean something. “, says Sean Collard (in CRAFT Literary; August 2025: “The Risk of Forgetting Why“). It is so nice to read about similar experiences and be relieved that others have the same doubts as us. Sean further says: “And if I can do that—if even one person reads my work and feels less alone in the dark—then it was worth it. Every scar, every edit, every risk.”
Another craft essay that caught my eye was “The Vocabulary of Emotion: Five Ways to Convey Emotion in Fiction“, also published in August (in Career Authors).
Finally, as always, do share your good writing news with me. Right now these are a trickle coming through, but if I receive enough, we can have a separate post cheering on and sharing each of your publishing (and perhaps, also personal) milestones.
Before I go, please remember to subscribe (it’s free!), and if you’re able, please support my work through a small donation on PayPal. Thank you.
This blog is a monthly newsletter published on the first week that is truly a newsletter–updates from the literary world, open windows, a few personal updates, some tips, opinions and conversations, and a round-up of recent work I truly recommend. If you enjoyed this, please share with your friends. Consider subscribing, commenting and/or liking this post. Thanks!
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