Woman in the World
Your August assignment
Every month, in an effort to drum up new material, I go out into the world and do something scary. I don’t go as myself, I go as an undercover investigative journalist. I go to places that I, Joy Sullivan, wallflower, poet, and anxiety expert extraordinaire would never go. Places like rage rooms, silent retreats, canyons, hot springs, cuddle parties. Then I write about the complicated emotions that come in those unexpected places. And thus, the Woman in the World series was born. It’s the most fun I’ve had writing in years.
Too often, I see writers try to figure out everything in their head in front of their laptops with nothing but their imagination. IMO, that’s a one way ticket to writer’s block and burnout. I’ve written previously about limit lines, but it’s the simple idea that every brain needs structure to corral it toward brilliance. It’s why we love due dates, prompts, and accountability.
So, I’m inviting you to join me on my next writing assignment. Every month, I'll give paid subscribers the structure of a themed prompt and location. Your job is to find a place that loosely fits the theme and go write about it. I’ll give you a deadline and, on that date, we’ll have a thread for paid subscribers where you can share your experience and anything you wrote. It’s amazing how community can inspire motivation and excitement to create.
You can have an alias name if you want. Mine is Thursday Jones. It's like a hot detective stripper name. But for writers. You’re welcome to borrow it.
The goal isn’t just to write, but to also experience something new. Go do something that scares you. At the very least, you’ll get a good story and a supportive community that wants to hear all about it.
Below is your themed prompt and deadline for August. This monthly writing/adventure challenge is open to anyone (you don’t have to identify as a woman to participate). You don’t even have to identify as a writer. You can simply be a human who wants to go explore and push your limit line a bit.
Let’s go get weird and do some field research.
August prompt + deadline