2026 Get Started Right Writing Challenge: Day 3 Get your writing started right in 2026 with the Get Started Right Writing Challenge. The third day involves making a love-hate list.

On Monday, I started the 3rd sort-of-annual (3 of past 4 years) Get Started Right Writing Challenge. It's a 12-day challenge, so there's still plenty of time to join in, and today's task is to create a love-hate list. More details here: www.writersdigest.com/2026-get-sta...

#getstarted #writing

Catherine Dang: Focus on the Paragraph in Front of You Author Catherine Dang discusses the shocking true story that helped inspire her new coming-of-age horror novel, What Hunger.

Sometimes the big battle for me is staying centered when I write, so this interview really spoke to me.

"No matter how long it takes, don't stop building." -Catherine Dang

#writingcommunity #writing #horror #scary #literary #fiction #writers #thriller

www.writersdigest.com/catherine-da...

How Long Does It Take to Go From Idea to Publishing a Book? Editor Robert Lee Brewer explains that the publishing journey looks different for everyone, but there are a few things authors can do to help themselves through the process.

In this piece, several authors share their experiences with how long it took to go from book idea to published book.

#publishing #writing #perseverance #gettingpublished #writingcommunity #publishingcommunity #literaryagents #authors #bookpublishing #books

www.writersdigest.com/how-long-doe...

Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 750 Every Wednesday, poets from around the world can find a Wednesday Poetry Prompt at Writer’s Digest. This week, write a something hidden poem.

As a writer, there's something to be said for showing up. This morning marks the 750th Wednesday (since May 2008--and excluding Aprils and Novembers when I show up every day) that I've shown up with a poetry prompt and an example poem on the WD site.

www.writersdigest.com/wednesday-po...

Writing for Kids: The Balancing Act of Fart Jokes and Difficult Topics Award-winning author Rex Ogle discusses the balancing act of navigating difficult topics and fart jokes when writing for kids.

"Breaking wind is one of the rare biological body functions that gives anyone of any age the giggles. It’s universal. We all fart. We all suffer too." -Rex Ogle

#amwriting #graphicnovels #yalit #kidlit #farting #suffering #beinghuman

www.writersdigest.com/writing-for-...

For last week's Wednesday Poetry Prompt, I prompted people to write a pivot poem. Here's what I wrote as an example.

#amwriting #poetry #poetryprompt #poem #poems #poeming #genesis #light #forgivness #grace #pivot

I don't want to say that I predicted Pope Leo XIV, but you can find this poem in my Solving the World's Problems collection. It's the only poem in the collection with an epigraph.

#poetry #poems #popeleoxiv #newpope #chicago

Yeah, it's the objectification of the term (and how it's used in gun culture) that I'm personally trying to avoid.

It's a small thing, but I made the personal decision a few years back to request an "author photo" instead of a "headshot" whenever possible (though there are some situations when the latter is the best term I can use).

Are there terms/phrases you use instead of others?

#LanguageMatters #choices

Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 737 Find your weekly Wednesday Poetry Prompt, the first one since the 2025 April PAD Challenge. This week, write a blame poem.

It was a little weird to go a week without poeming after doing it daily in April, but it's time to pick up where I left off with the weekly Wednesday Poetry Prompts. Today's prompt is to write a blame poem.

www.writersdigest.com/wednesday-po...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Prompts Here's the list (updated daily) of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day (PAD) Challenge poetry prompts for folks who want one post to check each day.

For the 30th and final day of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, poets (and other party people) are prompted to write a remix poem.

Here I've collected all 30+ prompts from this year's challenge.

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 24 For Day 24 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, poets (and other time keepers) are tasked with writing a time of day poem.

For Day 24 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a "time of day" poem.

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

My poem for #WorldBookDay dedicated to the lovely #bookmark, in all its forms.

#amwriting #poems #poetry #bookmarks #odes

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 23 For Day 23 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, poets (and other bookish types) are tasked with writing a book poem.

For Day 23 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a book poem.

#amwriting #poems #NationalPoetryMonth #WorldBookDay #poetry #books #reading #libraries #bookstores #readingcommunity #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #poets #writers #readers #poeming

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 22 On the 22nd day of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers are challenged with the fourth Two-for-Tuesday prompt of the month.

For Day 22 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, it's our fourth Two-for-Tuesday with poets encouraged to write a "tell me" poem and/or "don't tell me" poem.

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 21 Join poets from around the country and the world to write a poem each day of April. For today’s prompt, write a Blank Day poem.

For Day 21 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a "(blank) Day" poem.

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 20 For Day 20 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, poets (and other active line breakers) are tasked with writing a rest poem.

For Day 20 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a rest poem.

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 19 For Day 19 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, poets (and other particular personalities) are tasked with writing a persona poem.

For Day 19 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a persona poem.

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 18 For Day 18 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, poets (and other ne'er-do-wells) are tasked with writing a response poem.

For Day 18 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a response poem.

#amwriting #poems #NationalPoetryMonth

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 17 On day 17 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers are prompted to write a city poem (even if they're from a small town).

For Day 17 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a city poem.

#amwriting #city #poems #poets #NationalPoetryMonth #poeming #Cincinnati #Atlanta #Miami #LasVegas #Detroit #Columbus #NewYorkCity #Boston #Seattle #Portland #Springfield #Chicago #Dayton

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 16 On day 16 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers from around the world are prompted to write something fantastic.

For Day 16 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, the prompt is to write a "something fantastic" poem.

#amwriting #fantastic #poems #NationalPoetryMonth #magicalrealism #magic #spectacular #spectacle #poets #poetry #poetrycommunity #poeming

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 15 On the 15th day of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers are challenged with the third Two-for-Tuesday prompt of the month.

Day 15 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge is the 3rd Two-for-Tuesday prompt: write a poetic form poem and/or anti-form poem.

I was so inspired that I personally wrote a poem that's a #sestina AND #acrostic (new name: #sestinacrostic).

#poeticforms #poems

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 14 For Day 14 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers around the world are tasked with writing a losing poem.

For Day 14 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a losing poem.

#amwriting #poeming #poems #poets #poetry #NationalPoetryMonth #losing #loss #losses #lost #poetrycommunity

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 13 Join poets from around the country and the world to write a poem each day of April. For today’s prompt, write a Full Blank poem.

For Day 13 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, take the phrase "Full (blank)," replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.

#amwriting #poems #poetry #NationalPoetryMonth #poets

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 12 On day 12 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers from around the world are prompted to write a risky poem.

For Day 12 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a risky poem.

#amwriting #poems #NationalPoetryMonth #prompts #writers #writingcommunity #poets #poetrycommunity

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 11 On this 11th day of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers from around the world are tasked with writing a nature poem.

For the 11th day of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a nature poem.

#amwriting #nature #poems #NationalPoetryMonth #humannature #natural #seasons #spring #summer #fall #winter #supernatural

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 10 For the 10th day of the 2025 April PAD (Poem-A-Day) Challenge, writers are tasked with writing a number poem.

For Day 10 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write a number poem. (Could even be about the number 10.)

#NationalPoetryMonth #amwriting #dailyprompts #math #poems #poetry #numbers #counting #mathematics

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 9 For day 9 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers from around the world are tasked with writing an ekphrastic poem.

For Day 9 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, write an ekphrastic poem (that is, a poem inspired by another work of art).

#amwriting #ekphrastic #poems #poetry #writing #NationalPoetryMonth #poets #poetrycommunity #ekphrasis #painting #sculpture #art

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...

There's never a bad time to write about love.

#lovepoem #amwriting #love #poems

2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 8 On the eighth day of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, writers are tasked with the second Two-for-Tuesday prompt of the month.

For Day 8 of the 2025 April Poem-A-Day Challenge, it's my favorite Two-for-Tuesday prompt (the one I include in every poetry challenge): Write a love poem and/or write an anti-love poem.

#NationalPoetryMonth #amwriting #poems #AllMonthLong #poeming #love

www.writersdigest.com/2025-april-p...