Emerging from Stillness
Writing prompts for winter's liminal spaces
Get your pens (or typing fingers) ready! Today marks the launch of our first quarterly writing prompts. In the past, we have offered a single-word theme to spark your thoughts, but our new format allows us to widen what we’re looking for and expand the submission window itself. Even if you don’t plan to write anything, we hope these ideas inspire moments of reflection as you move through your days.
We are interested in the interconnected nature of life, place, and experience – the way landscapes, traditions, and human connections change while maintaining an essential thread of continuity. We look for writing that honors time’s movement, emphasizes connection, and celebrates cycles. Whether through nature, personal transformation, or history, life unfolds in patterns that repeat yet always evolve – and we want you to consider your place within these larger, ongoing stories.
Writing Prompts:
A Place You Have Watched Change – Write about a landscape, city, or home that has transformed over time. What has shifted? What remains? How has your connection to it evolved?
Where Do You Go When Winter Feels Endless? Write about a place that offers refuge from winter’s hold —a destination, a hidden corner of the world, or even a ritual that transports you elsewhere.
A House Through Time – Every home carries the stories of those who have lived there. Write about a place that has sheltered multiple lives, including your own.
A Keeper of Tradition – Interview someone who carries forward a craft, ritual, or practice passed down through generations. Are there seasons to their creative process?
The Garden’s Eternal Return –Some things return, year after year, no matter how harsh the winter. What in your life has proven itself to be perennial?
You can now submit your work on our website at anytime – we will consider entries for these prompts until the end of March. Note that we’ve made some changes to our submission process, so please read through all the directions before submitting.
Keep in mind that we’ll be featuring guest contributions on our Substack regularly, and promoting writers on our Instagram as well—so don’t wait too long! The pieces we select will also be considered for inclusion in the next print edition of Fieldfare, currently scheduled for publication in October 2025.
We look forward to reading your work!
Mendy & Skye
I am very intrigued by your model! We are at a crossroads, and the time for independent ‘small batch’ of anything that consistently shows up is the best antidote to the choke hold being put upon the arts, education and publishing industries. It seems you’re providing a conduit for all three at once.
Bravo👏🏻
I’ve been on Substack for a week and you’re going to actually get me to write. I’ve been trying to write for a while- but I can’t pass this opportunity.