Modern Women: October Writing Prompts
Let’s get writing!
The transitional point of September is behind us and now that the adjustments have been made and we are finding our feet in the new normal, let’s take a moment just to check in from the whirlwind and say hi! What a hectic few weeks it has felt like and I’m sure you’ve noticed the increase in amazing new writers and flood of submissions we’ve been publishing. It has been inspiring.
As you know I love a prompt when the words seem to stall or perhaps, I’m feeling less enthusiastic about putting my pen to paper. I’ll be honest, Autumn is my favourite writing season, there is something about this time of year which fuels my creativity, and I could happily spend each and every day with a pen or brush in hand. Maybe I embrace the archetype of the witch or the wild woman of the woods and it’s that vibe which creeps into my work.
Before I say too much about this month’s theme, I’d first like to invite you to show some well-deserved love to the responses for September’s theme of ‘migration’.
Where we find ourselves and the journeys we have taken to arrive there are huge pieces of our identity puzzles and you showed beautiful depths of self-awareness and vulnerability in sharing your stories.
This powerful piece by Naomi Mac Millan focused on the parts of ourselves that we sometimes wish wouldn’t follow us when we leave everything else behind.
inthewaves wrote a beautiful piece about the people we leave behind and the sacrifice we make in choosing a different life.
I loved the perspective Jody Lynn McBrien shared as she wrote of her choosing not to migrate but to live as her heart called her to, by having more than one true home. She reminded me that there really are no rules about where or how we need to live, just ourselves and our closest loves to align with. A truly inspirational read for me this month.
And now, with no further ado…
The prompt for October is:
Labels.
Now more than ever we seem as a culture to have created an endless supply of labels with which to define ourselves and the people around us. Sorting each other into increasingly smaller boxes and leaving less and less room for the parts which overlap.
Women especially are often carry a weight of expectation in the labels that they wear… mother, daughter, single, childless, career-woman, feminist.
And then there are the labels that are said about us… bitch, witch, whore, slut, golddigger, pushy, aggressive, emotional, bossy, trophy wife, ice queen, clingy, bimbo.
Some labels we reach for and seek out, others we avoid and feel the pain of their usage like emotional blows instead of physical ones. They all come with a narrative and an image that overlaps our own, almost similar to the make-up we sometimes choose to wear.
How have labels affected you?
What are the labels you treasure? Which have you sort out?
Which have been used to hurt you? Or been used as weapons to keep you on a specific path?
What are the five labels you would choose to describe yourself?
Which are the labels you own and wear like beautiful jewellery, and which are the ones that weigh you down and feel like shackles?
Have labels helped you define who you are or enabled you to find the language you needed to explain yourself to others?
In addition to these questions, I’d like to offer these quotes to inspire you further…
Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people. Martina Navratilova
Labelling makes the invisible visible, but it’s limiting. Categories are the enemy of connecting. Link, don’t rank. Gloria Steinem
It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to. W.C. Fields
A theme is a way you invite your imagination to think about something familiar from a new perspective. We all use labels on a daily basis, but can you think about them in a new way and wonder where yours came from and whether you chose them or where they given to you?
I invite you to let your writing lead you as you ask yourself questions that you haven’t given time to before. We’re often surprised at the answer that arise, but like a deja vu, our words and sentiment are a memory of an unspoken conversation now let out into the light.
Follow your imagination and try not to worry about the structures or styles you think are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, just to walk through whatever door in your mind chooses to open and enter willingly.
For those new to our monthly prompts please note that they are open to you not just for the month in which we release them but for whenever they strike a cord of inspiration within you, so feel free to look back through previous months.
Whether you respond to one of the questions I pose or the overall theme in your own way is entirely up to you, and we welcome work in any style, whether that is poetry, prose, fiction or an essay. The choice is yours.
Our only request is that you share genuine, heartfelt and down-to-earth stories that you think other women might be inspired or empowered by.
If you are submitting a response to a prompt, please include the tag ‘prompt’ when sending it to us and add a link at the bottom of your piece to the prompt you are responding to.
