Thank you for being a part of our community! As promised, we plan to publish twice monthly in our new format. The first newsletter of the month is our regular round up with an editorial note, book recs, writing opportunity, and more. Our second will be Permission to Begin: Voices in Progress which includes writing prompts, inspirational writing quotes, and eventually some of your writing. Thank you for your patience with us as we grow in growing you as a writer.
XO,
Ashley, EIC & Founder
WRITE WITH US
Each issue, we offer prompts to spark your creativity. Share your responses with us using #PermissionToWrite on social media. Tag us @permissiontowrite.
Prompt 1: THRESHOLDS
Write about a moment of crossing over—between cultures, identities, or stages of life. Begin with the sentence: "The door was both an entrance and an exit."
Word count suggestion: 300-500 words
Prompt 2: INHERITED OBJECTS
Select an object passed down in your family or community. Describe it in detail, then imagine its journey through different hands before reaching you.
Try writing this piece without using the words "heritage," "tradition," or "memory."
PROMPT 3: FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE
Write a complete story in exactly 100 words that includes:
A misunderstanding
A natural element (fire, water, earth, air)
A phrase in a language other than English
Remember: Exactly 100 words—every word counts!
WORDS OF WISDOM
"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it."
James Baldwin | Novelist, playwright, essayist
“Silence never brought us anything. Survive and teach; that’s what we’ve got to do and to do it with joy.”
Audre Lorde | Black lesbian feminist warrior poet
“I tell my students there is such a thing as ‘writer’s block,’ and they should respect it. You shouldn’t write though it. It’s blocked because it ought to be blocked, because you haven’t got it right now. All the frustration and nuttiness that comes from ‘Oh, my God I cannot write now’ should be displaced. It’s just a message to you saying, ‘That’s right, you can’t write now, so don’t.’”
Toni Morrison | Editor, Novelist, Literary Fairy Godmother
Love these!