If you're the kind of writer who has trouble staying motivated or completing things, the upheaval and uncertainty in the world (around AI and politics and climate change and economic instability) probably aren't helping.

Here's my answer to whether you should bother (spoiler: yes) and the fundamental step you can't skip if you want to stay motivated and keep going on the greatest adventure you could choose: life as a writer.

LINKS

Watch the video edition: https://youtu.be/RAvJexG1i4I

StoryADay Challenge archive: https://storyaday.org/writing-prompt-archive/

SWAGr monthly accountability posts: https://storyaday.org/category/swagr/

'Define Success' article: https://storyaday.org/how-to-become-a-highly-successful-writer/

The Dream of being a Writer, article: https://storyaday.org/the-dream/

Permission to Write article (and certificate): https://storyaday.org/write-more-permission-to-write/

The I, WRITER Framework for a Successful Productive Writing Life, article: https://storyaday.org/i-writer-framework/

Planning & Tracking Worksheets Bundle: https://storyaday.kit.com/products/story-a-day-planning-tracking-worksheets

StoryADay Superstars group: https://storyaday.org/superstars

Book a 1:1 Writing Strategy Session with Julie: https://members.storyaday.org/creative-coaching

SWAGr monthly accountability posts

A four-week momentum/rescue plan to help keep your writing life progressing outside the bounds of a challenge like StoryADay May.

How can you be successful as a writer if you don't define success?

But how do you define success?

In this episode I suggest a definition of seven different writing 'modes' you can build into your success framework.

A reminder to mark the end of the StoryADay May challenge, and not to simply keep sprinting.

What does success really look like for a writer?

In this episode, I share a surprisingly encouraging reminder from a 1951 editorial in Galaxy Science Fiction: even at the highest magazine rates of the day, it took "a stupendous amount of writing" to support a writer.

That may not sound comforting at first — but it is.

Because it means writing was never easy. False starts, abandoned drafts, stories that don't quite work, and the sheer volume of practice required are not signs that you're doing it wrong. They are part of the work.

A gentle but honest episode about ambition, effort, StoryADay May, avoiding burnout, and building a writing life that makes room for a stupendous amount of writing.

What will you write this week?

How many times will you show up for your writing?

Don't go from zero to sixty. Increase your commitment a little.

Give yourself the chance to discover what happens when writing becomes something you return to, again and again.

LINKS:

StoryADay Handbook 2026

StoryADay Handbook 2024 (the one that's really a writing course disguised as a challenge): Prompts from Week 3 of the StoryADay May 2026 challenge:

Day 17 - A Critical Day, from Mary Robinette Kowal

Day 18 - Expanded Idioms, from Julie Duffy

Day 19 - Inspired by Artemis II, from Julie Duffy

Day 20 - Making a Grocery List, from Brenda Rech

Day 21 - The Nitty Gritty, from Ruby G. Dubois

Day 22 - The Hero of their Own Story, from Julie Duffy

Day 23 - Beyond Sound and Vision, from Elizabeth Twist

StoryADay 2026 Handbook: https://stada.me/2026handbook

Here are some prompts that you might have missed, this month, to get your creative wheels turning.

Days 1-9

Day 10 - Darkness to Light, from Renan Bernardo

Day 11 - Inhumanity, from Julie Duffy

Day 12 - The Visitor, from Debbie Ohi Ridpath

Day 13 - Here's a Quarter…, from Michele Reisinger

Day 14 - Mine your Emotions, from Jluie Duffy

Day 15 - Anarchic Archetype, from Julie Duffy

Day 16 - I Think I Can, from Somto Ihueze

Keep writing,

Julie

In the light of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America organization's statement on AI and eligibility for the Nebula Awards, I recorded this bonus episode of the podcast to give you my perspective on where we are and where we're headed, regarding AI and the creative arts and, well, civilization as a whole.

For more like this, subscribe and follow along at StoryADay.org

And please share this with a friend.

A story got accepted… and another came back not accepted — and I'm weirdly thrilled. Here's why embracing rejection can strengthen your consistent writing habits, PLUS: a holiday writing prompt to keep you writing in December.

Links:

StoryADay Podcast episode 109: https://storyaday.org/episode109

The 3-Day Challenge: https://storyaday.org/3dc

Hi writers! This week I'm sharing a surprising example of how writing (and writers) can help people in the real world, inspired by a project announced by Brandon Sanderson. It leads to one clear lesson about what it actually takes to build a sustainable writing life — especially if you want to write consistently, keep your momentum, and grow beyond the "solitary writer" myth. Plus: a quick writing prompt about conflict you can use right away.

A short meditation on why sustainable writing comes from small, repeatable choices. We touch on Coetzee, Tom Stoppard, and the quiet ways stories ripple outward—then land on the core: build the habit, revise bravely, and let the work be enough.