A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts. These exercises can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing.

Brought to you in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

Listen to Episode 60

If writing sometimes feels like a chore, author Melissa Scholes Young has some advice for how to change your outlook.

“I like to think about when I show up to my writing desk as sort of a date rather than a punishing part of the process,” she says, “and I wanna set that date the night before.”

That means setting out her favorite pen, journal, and coffee mug—all of which helps her look forward to her writing time.

Shifting perspectives is something Melissa likes to do in her work as well, and she shares a writing prompt that will help you think “bigger and then smaller about the world.”

She also discusses her new Lexington bookstore Bond House Books, the art of revision, and more. Listen below!

A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts. These exercises can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing.

Brought to you in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

Listen to Episode 59

Author and editor Josh Boldt knows how challenging it can be to find a publisher. “It’s just really hard to find the exact right fit that you need,” he says. “So the person out there that’s…feeling that way right now, I’m there with you.”

On this episode, Josh discusses Brown Hound Press, a literary magazine he started partly as a way to reach other writers like him.

He also shares a writing prompt that will help you get out in the world, something that’s important to his own creative process. Listen below!

A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts. These exercises can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing.

Brought to you in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

Listen to Episode 58

Author Mandi Fugate Sheffel has always kept a journal, which she thought of “as this internal thing, a summary of my thoughts and feelings for the day.”

She had to learn to pay more attention to sensory details. “What you recognize in a moment is significant as a writer,” she says, because “that’s where voice comes from.”

On this episode, Mandi shares several writing prompts, including one that will help you become a better observer.

She also discusses why she opened a bookstore in Eastern Kentucky and the joys of attending the Appalachian Writers’ Workshop. Listen below!