What to Write This Week

a new weekly series

I’m happy to announce a new series, What to Write This Week. Every Monday, I’ll share a story or essay with you that you can read online, and I’ll provide a prompt based on the published piece.

The idea is to start off the week with an inkling of a thing you might write, a little jumpstart to get you thinking and moving the pen. I’ve been writing for my entire adult life, and sometimes I still need someone to tell me, “Write this¹.” We don’t all have a muse sitting on our shoulders most of the time! Allow me, then, to be your quiet, dependable Monday muse.

Paid subscribers will get every What to Write This Week post, as well as the archives. Free subscribers will get a What to Write This Week post once a month.

What to Write This Week, #1

Read Story in Blank Space by Kris Broughton.

Write a piece of meta-fiction— a story that is "aware" of itself as a story, a story that makes reference to its own story-ness. It can be as short or as long as you like.

For a deep dive into metafiction, read:

• Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

• If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

• or the title story of the collection Lost in the Funhouse by John Barth.

Michelle Richmond is the New York Times bestselling author six novels, most recently The Wonder Test, an Amazon Editors’ Pick. She mentors beginning and experienced writers through Fiction Master Class.

Current course offerings:

• Launch a great Substack in my six-week self--paced course, Writing for Substack

1. See The Strange Art of Inspiration.