Writing marathon

And writing prompts

Good day, friends. I hope you are all doing well and are ready to do some writing this Sunday, April 6, 2025, 10am-1pm Eastern Standard Time.

Remember, the goal of a writing marathon is to sit down and write. That’s it, so please do what works best for you. (That includes shortening or lengthening your writing time according to your schedules.) Many people find that having a specific time and place to write is very helpful.

Set your intention, your purpose

Set your intention for the writing session. Maybe you want to finish a draft of something or write about new topics or write a book proposal. Or maybe you just want to brainstorm a new topic or explore different approaches to a given topic.

Two tips. Your work pace is very important. Work with alacrity and enthusiasm — you’re doing something you want to do. Also, you might also want to set up your writing space, whether at home or in a cafe, to conduct a weekly or daily writing marathon as needed (maybe just for an hour or two).

Five-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Joyce Carol Oates writes 7-8 hrs per day in longhand from 8 am until 1 pm, then writes 2 or 3 more hours each evening!

The first video (from NaNoWriMo) contains seven 20-minute sprints, 3 hours total. Only use the video if it’s helpful to you. I prefer longer chunks of time for deeper concentration, so I’ll be using the second video instead as I write along with you.

Please feel free to use any video of music or none if you prefer to just set your phone alarm or timer.

New Writing Prompts & Prompts from Stream of Consciousness Post

• Write a story that incorporates randomly generated words: RandomWordGenerator.com

• Create a humorous (or successful or unreliable) character.

• Write about your best memory ever. Maybe you experienced unexpected joy.

• Write about an ordinary moment you later realized was meaningful.

• Begin documenting victories, sources of joy, accomplishments.

• Set your story in the stands at a major sporting event

• Set your story during a total eclipse

• Free Write - write a stream of consciousness piece for a character [20 mins?] in one uninterrupted flow.

• Write about a person/place that had a profound impact on you.

• Write about a fear you decided to overcome and how it was overcome.

• Who is your favorite artist? Why?

• Write about the best decision you/your character ever made and how it impacted your/their life.

• Write a short story in 10 words or fewer.

• Write a dialogue of 1-word responses — no full sentences, as in this Carol Burnett skit. It’s an interesting challenge.