Hi hello g’day, we are now on day THREE of 2025. I will be trying to write for 10 minutes every single day this year, and I’m posting (and doing) a daily ten-minute writing exercise on the daily podcast And Now We Write to keep myself accountable.

We have four themes going in January, and for our exercise today we’ll look to the long and living legacy of Japanese literature for a spark of inspiration.

Here’s today’s ten-minute writing exercise:

The Pillow Book is a collection of all kinds of writing including essays, anecdotes from the Court, poems, and … lists. Sei Shonagon’s list of Moving Things included a hen sitting on her chicks, a field in autumn, and old priests doing their religious exercises. Brainstorm a list of Moving Things.

If you’re also trying to write a bit more this year, I’m posting kickoff prompts every day that may help you get that ice broken and those fingers tapping. So subscribe to the daily podcast And Now We Write and/or come right on back here to the site for another writing prompt tomorrow.

The writing exercise themes for this month are:

• First lines and beginnings
• The 3am Epiphany by Brian Kitely
• Sparks from Japanese literature
• Borrowed forms

Most days will have a standalone writing prompt on one (or more) of these themes — I’ll post them here and also on that day’s episode for And Now We Write.

But as extra motivation/reward for making it to that critical three-week mark, we’ll also write a complete work of flash fiction together the week of Monday, January 20 – Sunday, January 26, so there will be actual complete works of fiction coming out of this challenge! Ten minutes a day, starting from a blank sheet of paper, and you’ll exit the week with a complete work of flash fiction of ~900-1200 words. No pre-work needed. And of course, zero homework.

See you tomorrow for a new day of writing … I can see it in the stars (that’s a clue).