january writing prompts
plus two free upcoming workshops and writing exercises for new year reflection
Hi friends,
Going into the new year, I want to thank you for being here and supporting my work. Whether you’re new here or you’ve been around since day one, you are appreciated. You all are my pen pals: writing to you, listening to your stories, connecting with you in community, these are a few of my favorite soul-filling things.
In 2024, you’ll continue to receive field notes and reflections from my creative journey, always with the intention to encourage and enable you to write your own.
Below you will find the monthly prompts for January. If you’d like to write in community with us, we’re gathering on Zoom on Friday, January 5 from 7-8 pm et for freewriting and sharing. Registration is free and you can RSVP here.
“Your mind can latch onto a prompt very literally, or lead you toward something altogether different from the suggestion at hand. I’ve also found there are some writers for whom, no matter how they’re prompted, the same story emerges—a story that stubbornly won’t go away until it gets dumped onto the page. Sometimes it’s the story you need to write; other times, it’s the story you need to get out of your way before anything else can come through. Either way, being prompted helps move the writer forward. — Sari Botton
Do you realize that your creative urges come from a story inside of you that needs to emerge? Writing is a powerful tool for self-discovery and expression. I find that no matter what I’m writing, there are themes and patterns that show up and give me clues about my inner mysteries.
Each month I provide these prompts to spark an idea or train of thought that gets you writing about your mysteries. When you read the prompt, what memories, images, feelings, or thoughts come to mind? Using these prompts as writing triggers, you can explore your voice and creative impulses to see what stories come forward.
Read on for a reminder about the other free resources available to you as a subscriber, as well as upcoming workshops.
other free resources
The Practice Session #11 w/ guest Laura G. on January 7 @ 2 pm et
Our next session of The Practice, our monthly group journaling session, will be free to all subscribers. I’ve teamed up with Laura G. from The Gift of the Year, who has provided her free annual planner to share with our community. You can download it here to access an online fillable version and a printable version. In our session on Sunday, January 7, we will focus on the 2024 portion of the planner. You can register for the Zoom info to join us here.
more free resources
All subscribers have access to our resource library (pwd: AML2020THRIVE) which is periodically updated with new exercises. Consider the following tools to support you with your new year reflections.
11 writing exercises to support a creative mindset — When you have an inspiring thought, idea, or impulse, it becomes a seed that you can plant and grow. But the seed will only grow if you believe in its possibilities, water it, speak life into it. The exercises in this guide help you open mental pathways to develop a more flexible, creative mindset.
5 identities you have to release to unblock your creativity — You go through your life, you learn, you grow, and you release the versions of you that didn’t know better. You release the mindsets that once protected you and helped you survive. And sometimes this release triggers feelings of grief and loss. It’s not always easy to let go of what once made you feel safe. We get stuck there sometimes, between who we were and who we are becoming. If this sounds familiar, I created a writing guide that helps you explore this complexity. It breaks down five identities we need to release to unblock our creativity and includes prompts so you can take stock of how they might be affecting you.
creative courage 2023 new year challenge - The challenge is a series of videos with self-discovery exercises to guide you in taking stock of where you are, where you want to be, and how to move through uncertainty to align your decisions and actions with your creative callings. The next version of you must be an inner reality before it’s an outer reality, and this challenge is about doing the inner work.
creative courage writing intensive
Registration for the next cohort of The Creative Courage Writing Intensive ends on January 7 and we start on January 11. This is my signature offering that lays the foundation for how I coach, mentor, and of course, navigate my own creative journey.
We break the heart-centered work of self-discovery down into a process that benefits you, not just creatively, but holistically. You will be guided through a 3-month transformation of how you think about your creative work and how it fits into your life. With mentorship and community, you will develop the courage to ask yourself hard questions and explore the answers through creative expression. All while learning strategies to cultivate a lifestyle that fuels that courage.
To learn more, you can get all the details here.
write with us in january:
January 5. Free Writing the Layers Monthly Workshop // 7 pm et
January 7. The Practice Journaling Session #11 - Creating Your 2024 (free) // 2 - 3:30 pm et
January 11 - March 21. The Creative Courage Writing Intensive // various dates
January 21 and 28. Journaling Techniques for Writing Memories (w/ The Writer’s Center) // 1 - 4 pm et
join the inner story circle:
For an all-access writing group to support your personal story work & creative development, you can join us in the inner story writing circle. A monthly subscription for people seeking creative guidance and community for the heart-centered work of writing about their lives. Each month members have access to a variety of virtual sessions to study, share, and celebrate personal storytelling. You can learn more here.