Walking Through My Life Paula Knauer I’ve always loved to walk. To propel myself from one place to another. Putting one foot in front of the other. My mother used to tell me that even as a toddler I had a very sure-of-myself confident walk. I am not sure how confident I am now that […]

New submissions coming soon. Click here to send in entries!       See earlier submissions below to inspire you…

A Zoom Retirement Party for My Sister, Lauri By Donna Eisel I grew up as an older kid in a family of nine children. I was 11 years old when Lauri was born, and I doted on her from the time she came home from the hospital. In a large family, older kids help care […]

What people are saying about Educated: A Memoir “Westover has somehow managed not only to capture her unsurpassably exceptional upbringing, but to make her current situation seem not so exceptional at all, and resonant for many others.”  — The New York Times Book Review “Westover is a keen and honest guide to the difficulties of […]

What do YOU think about the motto, “Progress, Not Perfection”? I might add another motto: “Writing as Fun, Not Work.” How have YOU overcome writer’s block? Do you find it useful to think of writing as “talking on paper”? Please share with us your process or your results. We’re always happy to hear from you! […]

Visitors to this website submit their responses to the Monthly Challenge.  Here are the responses so far: Bonnie King of Edgewood, Washington, wrote the following review of Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming:      I found Michelle Obama’s book Becoming as exceptional as she is. Her life story is a model of determination and perseverance, encouraged […]

Here you are invited to read pieces relating to the Monthly Challenge about kindness. Here’s a great quote about kindness: “Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers”   — Kahlil Gibran A Remarkable Act of Kindness Found in a Published Memoir Diane Platz with Joan Tornow One of the most remarkable acts of kindness […]

  Here you are invited to read brief pieces relating to the Monthly Challenge about “Back to School Memories.” Something of My Own By Mieke Tazelaar I loved my pencil box. It wasn’t the classical shape, but square, not as long, but large enough to place my pencils diagonally. It also contained a green eraser […]

On this page, you can read essays that people sent in that related to the August Challenge.           Suspenders in a Photograph: A student in one of my classes brought in a photograph of her and her brother from when they were very young and living in the Netherlands. The family […]

Summer memories can be of a single day, or they can be a composite of memories that took place over months or years.  Below are some essays about summer memories that have been submitted by visitors to this website.  After reading these essays, we hope you will write some of your own and submit them […]

SUBMISSIONS … Below you can read a couple of “Poignant Moments” essays by yours truly, as well as one by Mieke Tazelaar.  After reading these, we hope you will send in  descriptions of one or two poignant moments in your life. These could be about highly significant events. Or, they could be about something as simple […]

Some people commit to writing for a certain length of time. Others prefer to commit to filling up a certain number of pages, or typing out a certain number of words. While these guidelines may appear mechanical, they free up the creative part of our brain. These guidelines quiet the critic who is demanding that […]

Here are some microjoys – simple pleasures – sent in by others. What are some of YOUR holiday microjoys? Sarah Bennet, Seattle: A white Christmas! Looking out the window on Christmas morning in Seattle and seeing the trees wearing fluffy white coats! Janet Crenshaw, Spokane: Getting a phone call from my son who is stationed […]

  On this page, you can read essays submitted on the topic of “Holiday Memories.”  Then, you can submit your own essays!   The Glow of Christmas Joan Tornow Mary’s grandmother smiles at her and urges the child to open the present that is wrapped in stripes of green and gold. Mary leans close under […]

On this page, you can read essays by visitors to this site.  These essays are a response to the monthly challenge.  Enjoy!  Be inspired!       Phyllis Mitchell drew the diagram or “map” depicted here to represent the farm she grew up on. This helped her elicit a wealth of memories to write about. […]

Below are essays on the topic of “Back to School.” After reading these, we hope you will write about some of your own memories of school. Then, submit them to us for publishing on this site. Thank you!   Drawing Our State Flower, The Goldenrod Miss Cecil did try to introduce some creative art, instead […]

  On this page, you can read essays that people sent in, relating to the monthly challenge, “On The Porch.”   Music in the Open Air (Concerts on the Porch) By Michael Yanega Music was always been a vital part of the life of our family. Only one person of the seven in the household, […]

Do you find amusement in everyday life? Why not capture in writing some of the amusing anecdotes or observations that you find yourself sharing with friends and relatives. In writing about these events, or observations, you can emphasize the humor or other qualities that you find interesting. Please share your writing with us by clicking […]

Is writing, for you, like wearing a pair of loose pajamas? Or, do you feel more like the tortured artist that Thomas Mann describes? How do you approach writing, and what parts of the process do you find most easy, most difficult, and most rewarding? We look forward to hearing your experiences!       […]

Here you can read submissions from writers just like you!  And, below, you have an opportunity to submit something you’ve written!   From an anonymous contributor: Returning to Seattle via plane, I was delighted by a comment from the woman sitting next to me. Peering out the window as we descended, she said, “It’s like […]

What do YOU think about the motto, “Progress, Not Perfection”? I might add another motto: “Writing as Fun, Not Work.” How have YOU overcome writer’s block? Do you find it useful to think of writing as “talking on paper”? Please share with us your process or your results. We’re always happy to hear from you! […]

I invite you to submit excerpts from your writing that relate in some way to the writer, Michael Perry. This may be something you’ve written that captures a memory evoked by a current-day event. Or, it could be writing in which you describe the size of something without using standard measurements — but rather convey […]

“To make it better, to make it last.” Those are the last eight words of Edie Clark’s final essay in the collection, As Simple as That. Do these words evoke motivations in your own life? What have you tried to make better? What have you tried to make last? In what ways have you made […]

            How does the light of candles, Christmas lights, or other kinds of light enhance your winter nights? We’d love to hear your paragraphs or essays on this topic! WINTER LIGHT By Debra Steckler Valpey, Normandy Park, Washington tiny bright lamps twirl and twinkle within my holiday tree and I […]

We would love to hear YOUR holiday memories. Please submit them, using the link below. Here is an entry from Phyllis Mitchell in SeaTac, Washington: Turkey-less Thanksgiving in the ‘30s Phyllis Mitchell At our one-room rural school in mid-November, our Halloween wiener roast was a fading memory, and the window decorations of black cats and […]

NOTE: Submissions do not necessarily focus on first grade, but on the overall school experience. It’s great when writers take the ball and run with it wherever they like! Finding Comfort Amid the Confusion of First Grade (Name withheld) I was a shy and often bewildered child in elementary school. Surrounded by a swarm of […]