Issue #11: There’s no wrong way
On shutting down intrusive thoughts, how to make writing more fun, and six writing prompts
Hello, tiny writers! 👋
Finding time for a full-blown writing retreat can be tough, especially when you have a full-time job and a whack of responsibilities. Sometimes all I can manage is a single day or an afternoon to myself. But I’m going to try something new. I’m planning to ride the GO Train (a commuter train running through Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe area) all the way to the end of the line and back again. That’s three-plus hours of solo writing time, where I’ll be stuck in my seat, unreachable and distraction-free. If it turns out to be productive, I’ll work regular GO-writing sessions into my schedule. (Hashtag potential maybe? #letsGOwrite?)
Wishing you focused writing time in this chaotic life.
Pardon the intrusion
Photo by Kim Tatiana / Canva
“Maybe you should just…give up writing.”
As intrusive thoughts go, this one’s a doozy.
It popped into my head while I was in the shower, where I think all my deep thoughts. I was washing my hair and ruminating over a novel I started working on nearly five years ago. I had been neglecting it and feeling guilty about my lack of progress. How could I call myself a writer if I wasn’t working on a novel?
I’ve been writing things since I was young. The first story I remember writing — on my mom’s typewriter, at the dining room table — was about a witch who orders a spell through a catalogue so she can turn her neighbour into a frog. That was just the start. I have notebooks and computer folders stuffed with micro fictions, short stories, poems, and essays. New ideas sprout up all the time, like literary dandelions.
Despite my evident love for the short form, I always felt like I needed to “graduate” to writing a novel. My first attempt at one was high fantasy, full of quests and magic and destiny, the scribblings of which have been thankfully lost to time. After that came the beginnings of a novel about a group of friends who go on an annual retreat, with all the secrets and revelations of a soap opera. I didn’t get any further than the first few scenes.
Over the years, more novel ideas have arrived and vanished, some staying longer than others, but none moving past the first chapter or two. I approached each fledgling novel with all the energy and excitement that comes with a new project. That energy and excitement always fizzled out, leading me to believe I wasn’t a real writer. Cue the intrusive thought: just give it up. Pack it in, loser. Quit writing.
I’ve never heard anyone say outright that writing a novel is the only way to achieve your writerly potential. But it’s a narrative that reinforced everywhere you look.
Sometimes the cue is positive, like that time a member of my writing group critiqued a short story of mine and said, “This should totally be a novel.”
Sometimes it’s a negative reinforcement. When you tell someone you’re a writer, they don’t typically ask, “How many short stories have you written?” No — it’s all about the big, beautiful book, baby.
Sometimes it’s what I see on social media, like when a Substacker celebrates their novel’s launch day, or an established writer promotes their bestseller. Or a social media influencer tells me their coaching program will help me finally finish that book.
It’s a narrative that’s wormed its way into my head, infiltrating my goals and dreams. Just recently, I considered consolidating a selection of spicy stories I’ve been working on into — surprise! — a novel. And all while still feeling guilty about the other novel(s) I wasn’t working on. Sheesh.
It's hard to get away from the belief that writing is a kind of progression. That you start with poems and flash fiction, and then move on to short stories and novellas, but a novel is your real debut.
As if word count is a proxy for how serious of a writer you are.
Literary history is filled with writers who are known for their shorter works, across all genres. Flannery O’Connor, Lorrie Moore, and James Baldwin. Ursula K. Le Guin, Phillip K. Dick, and Ray Bradbury. Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, and Zsuzsi Gartner. Angela Carter, Irenosen Okojie, and my beloved A.S. Byatt. Kafka. Chekhov. Hemingway. Add to that the amazing writers contributing their works to The Walrus, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the countless literary journals around the globe, not to mention all the Substacks that celebrate the shorter literary form. I dare you to tell them they’re not serious writers.
With talent, luck, and persistence, I will add my name to that list.
My short writings form a small but constantly growing body of work, each a tile in a mosaic that is never finished. Each one stands on its own, not as a warm-up to the real work of producing a novel. And that’s something to be proud of.
That little intrusive thought I had in the shower, to just give it all up? Hell, no. By the time I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair, I had shut that down. I’m not giving up. I’m following my own creative path.
Do you ever get intrusive thoughts about your own writing (in the shower or on dry land)? What do you do to defuse their power?
Maria
Exercise: Making writing more fun
Photo by m.kucova / Canva
I’ve been mentoring a university student who wants to make progress on his writing goals. He’s been struggling recently. He asked me, “How can I make writing more fun?”
His question got me thinking. Because while writing can be deeply satisfying, it can also be hard, solitary, and full of internal criticism and expectations. For many emerging writers, especially those just beginning to develop a writing habit, the blank page can feel like a slog.
Here, I’ve pulled together some of my favourite strategies to help my mentee — or anyone — loosen up and enjoy the experience.
Make it weird.
Lean into your imagination. The stranger, the better. My mentee was trying to write a blog post chronicling his first few weeks at a new school — so I suggested he try writing it as a letter to his cat.
Other ideas:
Warm up with something silly. A ghost with stage fright. A vending machine that falls in love. A talking sandwich. Writing becomes fun when you let your ideas surprise you.
Write as someone else. Adopt a new voice – a pirate, a robot, a sloth. Writing in character can free up your imagination and shake off your inner critic.
Make it social.
Writing doesn’t have to be lonely. Invite others into the fun. My mentee and I often spend our virtual sessions working on our own writing projects. Having someone along for the ride can turn your writing session into something enjoyable.
Other ideas:
Collaborate with a writing buddy. Take turns writing one paragraph each in a story, and see where it takes you. Challenge each other with the improv standard, “And then?”
Share and celebrate the weird stuff you both come up with. Swap your strangest lines. Laugh about clunky metaphors. See who can come up with the most surprising portmanteau.
Make it a game.
Add challenges, rewards, and goals to boost the fun factor. My mentee and I incorporated timed writing sprints and “snowball” challenges into our sessions. These turned into tiny wins he could celebrate, which gave him motivation to keep going.
Other ideas:
Establish zany rules. Some examples: No adverbs allowed. Write without punctuation. Each sentence has to be exactly 10 words long. The first letter of each word in a sentence has to spell your last name.
Gamify the process. Earn rewards for reaching your word count or finishing your writing session. Roll the dice to choose from a deck of writing prompts or pull random words from a hat.
Did any of these ideas spark something for you? Drop a comment and share how you make writing more fun or which tip you want to try next.
Writing prompts: Fun and games
Le français suivra l'anglais.
Here are some writing prompts inspired by the theme of playing games. Pick whichever one speaks to you.
Write a scene that includes the phrase, "Ready or not, here I come!"
During family game night, competition between siblings gets intense. How far will they go to win?
A child finds the perfect hiding spot when playing hide-and-seek. What happens when the game ends but the child is nowhere to be found?
A woman signs up for a dating game-show as a joke. She’s not expecting to meet someone from work.
A non-player character inside a massively multiplayer game becomes self-aware. How does the NPC change the game — and the other players?
Imagine you receive a board game in the mail. The instructions say only: “Play or someone dies.”
Some tips:
Before you start, set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes. Keep writing until the timer dings. Avoid going back to re-read or edit your writing. Don’t aim for perfection; just keep going. After the timer dings, feel free to put your pen down and congratulate yourself on your mini-but-amazing writing achievement for the day. If you’re on a roll, don’t stop!
Did you come up with a variation on one of these prompts? Do share!
Suggestions d'écriture : Jeux et divertissements
Voici quelques suggestions d'écriture inspirées par le thème des jeux. Choisissez celui qui vous parle.
Écrivez une scène qui inclut la phrase suivante : « Prêts ou pas, j'arrive ! »
Lors d'une soirée jeux en famille, la compétition entre frères et sœurs devient intense. Jusqu'où iront-ils pour gagner ?
Un enfant trouve la cachette parfaite pour jouer à cache-cache. Que se passe-t-il lorsque le jeu se termine et que l'enfant est introuvable ?
Une femme s'inscrit à un jeu télévisé de rencontres amoureuses pour plaisanter. Elle ne s'attend pas à rencontrer quelqu'un de son travail.
Un personnage non joueur dans un jeu massivement multijoueur prend conscience de lui-même. Comment le PNJ change-t-il le jeu et les autres joueurs ?
Imaginez que vous recevez un jeu de société par la poste. Les instructions indiquent simplement : « Jouez ou quelqu'un mourra ».
Quelques conseils :
Avant de commencer, réglez une minuterie de 10 à 15 minutes. Continuez à écrire jusqu'à ce que le minuteur sonne. Évitez de revenir en arrière pour relire ou modifier votre texte. Ne visez pas la perfection ; continuez simplement à écrire. Une fois que le minuteur a sonné, n'hésitez pas à poser votre stylo et à vous féliciter d'avoir réussi à écrire une petite partie de votre journée. Si vous avez le vent en poupe, ne vous arrêtez pas !
Avez-vous imaginé une variante de l'une de ces suggestions ? N'hésitez pas à nous en faire part !
Translation provided by DeepL and my own meagre French skills. / Traduction assurée par DeepL et mes maigres compétences en français.
Thanks for reading this issue of Petits écrits / Tiny writings! I hope it inspired you in some way.
Did you complete one of these prompts or exercises? Go on and share it with another creative writer in your life!
Copyright 2025 © Maria Hypponen. All rights reserved.