Challenge
Microwave Toast
Reader’s Digest has my first gut punch, heartfelt writing piece published in their Best Life Stories book entitled “Microwave Toast”. It can also be found on Audio Books now. It was written several years after my husband passed away at the age of 58 from Early Parkinson’s Disease and a rare form of dementia diagnosed at the age of 49.
By Barbara Gode Wiles2 years ago in Writers
The Poem That Made Me a Poet
It started as an assignment. I was in my second year at Western Washington University, and was lucky enough to snag the last seat in Jane Wong’s class on food writing. The course focused on our connection to food. How it inspires us, challenges us, fills us with nutrients and love.
By Katherine J. Zumpano2 years ago in Writers
Casino Addictions, Memories
In the dimly lit corners of memory's labyrinth, there exists a relic of my literary infancy. A story, earnestly penned during my youth, beckons like a whisper from the past. It tells of a rainy day in a nameless town, of souls ensnared in the allure of a casino's neon-lit illusions, and of lives entangled in the threads of fate, or perhaps misfortune. As I revisit this embryonic creation, it awakens emotions I had long buried beneath the layers of time.
By ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR2 years ago in Writers
From Innocence to Insight: Navigating the Nuances
In the soft glow of youth, during the tumultuous transition to a freshman in high school, I ventured into the realm of self-expression through my first ever written piece. It wasn't an assignment or a task, but a self-inflicted venture into vulnerability—a love poem. Raw and unfettered, it was inspired by a boy who unknowingly occupied a significant space in my adolescent heart. Every line, dripping with youthful exuberance, was a testament to the sheer intensity of a first crush.
By M Dannenfelser2 years ago in Writers
Down to the Nub. Top Story - September 2023.
Memories of my childhood are vivid but disjointed, like a movie trailer that flashes various exciting bits, but not in context and out of order. Thus I can't be sure which of the stories I wrote as a child was the first.
By Sonia Heidi Unruh2 years ago in Writers
Penning the Grayscale
We never forget our first love, do we? Most 'firsts' are clumsy and awkward. They're the beginning of a journey. In love, they're often heart-breaking. We learn their lessons—of love lost, perhaps unrequited, and of own capacity to adapt to change.
By E.K. Daniels2 years ago in Writers
Cancun,Mexico
I have been writing since I was a child. However, the first piece I ever wrote that I can remember was when my mother, stepfather, and I went to Cancun, Mexico. I am not sure of the exact year. I want to say about 1995-1996 we traveled down there.
By Adrianne Kirksey2 years ago in Writers
Johannesburg fire: New quest for casualties in South Africa. Content Warning.
The burst, in the stuffed and censured five-story building, guaranteed 74 lives, including 12 kids.The fire, what began in the early long stretches of Thursday morning at the five-story Osindiso building, is accepted to have been touched off by candles utilized for lighting inside the construction, as per Johannesburg Public Wellbeing MMC Dr Mgcini Tshwaku.
By Kush Kedijang2 years ago in Writers
My First Attempt. Runner-Up in Writers Challenge. Top Story - September 2023.
When I was 17 I decided that I'd start writing a fantasy novel. Seems reasonable, right? Did to me at the time, too. I knew absolutely nothing about writing a book, so I simply took up a notebook and a pen and began scribbling. I wrote seven pages in that feverish first session, and figured upon reading that it was good enough (it wasn't, by a long shot!) and that I enjoyed it enough (this, however, completely fair and reasonable) to continue.
By Dave Rowlands2 years ago in Writers
Writing Changed My Life
I can remember loving to write ever since I could string a sentence together. I grew up in a very dysfunctional and abusive environment. Writing became my escape, my therapy and ultimately my passion. At first it started as me just writing down my thoughts in a notebook. I would sit for hours on end letting my thoughts flow onto paper. This was during the days when computers weren't even a thing yet. I took actual pen to paper and wrote until my hands would cramp. I always had trouble verbally expressing myself so writing was my voice, even if I thought nobody was listening.
By Sue McGaughey2 years ago in Writers
