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Welcome to my first post of 2025! I thoroughly enjoyed the holidays with family and friends, traveled to Cancun to ring in the New Year, and now it’s time to get back to the writing desk. I hope you are also refreshed and ready to work on your resolutions for the year.
Let’s talk about inspiration. Because every great goal can languish if inspiration wanes. Let’s say, for example, you want to write a novel this year. Or (like me) complete a collection of short stories. You’ll want to break that down into small manageable goals. I know it sounds so trite, but it’s really what makes big stuff happen. It’s all about little steps along the way.
I know someone who started writing a novel at this time last year. He set a goal to write 500 words per day. He didn’t judge them or edit them. He just kept moving the story forward. And in the last few days of 2024, he wrote the last few scenes of the book. Now he’ll go back and launch the editing and refining process.
Writing a book can take more time. It can take less. It’s different for everyone, and it’s different for every book. The main thing is to chart a course, keep at it, and find ways to keep yourself inspired when you’d rather do anything but have to sit down and write.
Inspiration
I personally have a number of ways of keeping myself inspired and interested in the writing process. I’ve had a dry spell for a bit as I’ve been marketing my first book, among other things. But now I’m pulling out my kit bag of tricks and getting the fire burning again. One thing I love to do is to set a time and just start writing. I think it’s a bit like doing warm-up exercises before you launch into your actual workout. And yet at the same time, it’s building writing muscle.
And of course I also love writing prompts. Last year, one my stories won a second place prize in a competition. I wrote the story in a couple of hours because I was inspired by a prompt! You can read about this and other stories I’ve published on this page of my website.
And that brings me to Write Club!
In case you’re not familiar with Write Club, and you’re looking for a) writing prompts, or b) a writing workshop to join, you’re in a good place. Below, I’ll share a little information about our group (yes we are open to new members), and provide the prompt of the month as well as some inspiration for writing a story based on the prompt.
Write Club’s January, 2025 Writing Prompt
For the month of January, 2025, Write Club members must write a story based on this prompt: on the road. And anyone else who chooses to do so can write for this prompt as well.
The reason for this particular prompt is that several of us will be submitting to a particular travel-themed horror anthology. If you want to learn more, please contact me through my contact page: https://bit.ly/ContactJayna.
Being on the road is often inspiration of its own. You see sights and experience things that are out of the ordinary compared to your normal life. (Unless of course you travel for a living!) If you love a road trip, I recommend getting in your car and taking a day drive or a weekend drive for inspiration.
Ideas from Our Friend AI
I will personally never use ChatGPT or any other AI tool to write my stories. But I do love AI as an idea generator. Even if I don’t use the specific ideas (and I rarely do, in fact), there’s something about the process of generating ideas that I find inspiring. Here are three road trip horror story ideas from ChatGPT to inspire you:
1. The Silent Driver
While driving through a desolate stretch of highway, a group of friends in a rented van starts to notice strange things about their driver. They picked him up at a small, eerie gas station after their car broke down, and he offered to take them the rest of the way for a ride. As the miles pass, they realize he hasn’t said a word and doesn’t even acknowledge their questions. His eyes are constantly fixed on the road ahead, but when they finally try to confront him, they find that he’s not human—his face is a horrifying mask of dried skin, and he’s been dead for years, trapped in a loop of driving the same road forever. Now, they’re in the van with him, and there’s no escape from the cursed road.
2. The Highway of Lost Souls
A couple on a road trip stumbles upon an old, forgotten highway that isn’t on any modern map. Intrigued by the idea of exploring something off the beaten path, they venture deeper into the highway. The further they drive, the more strange occurrences begin to happen—disturbing radio static that seems to speak their names, inexplicable shadows darting past their car, and strange figures standing by the roadside, asking for help in whispering voices. As night falls, they realize that the highway is a supernatural trap for travelers who get lost and never leave, becoming the next set of souls forever wandering on the road, their memories erased. The couple must find a way to escape before they too become part of the haunting.
3. The Haunted Rest Stop
On their way to a remote cabin in the mountains, a family makes a stop at a seemingly innocent roadside rest area. It’s dark, cold, and there’s no one else in sight, but the convenience store is open. As they get food and supplies, the father starts to feel uneasy—there’s something off about the way the cashier is watching them. He tries to brush it off until the night takes a darker turn: they can hear strange noises outside, and when they go to check, they find that the rest stop has been abandoned for years, yet the cashier and other people inside the store are still there. They are trapped in a time loop, and every visitor becomes part of the horrific scene that repeats itself over and over. The family must fight to escape before they too become part of the ghostly employees who eternally work the haunted rest stop.
I hope that gets your brain wheels turning!
How to Learn More About Write Club
As I mentioned earlier, our tiny little writer’s workshop is open to a few new members. Here’s a little more about us.
Write Club is an online writers’ group for short story authors. We are seeking a few writers with experience who are looking for an online writing community for mutual support, writing critique and comradery.
Although Write Club is small, we are distributed across the globe, and we connect with one another through our Discord server. Discord makes it possible for us to benefit from involvement in a writing community, so we get support and feedback for our stories, without traveling or taking too much time away from everything else going on in our lives — especially writing!
If you’re not on Discord yet, it’s super easy to set up an account. Just start at the link above. However, if you’d prefer to get in touch directly, you are welcome to reach out via this contact page. https://bit.ly/ContactJayna.
The Focus of Write Club: Getting Our Work Published
In Write Club, we are all short story writers with a focus on writing for mainstream publications, literary journals and genre magazines. We are committed to publishing our work in the many professional publications and short story anthologies accepting submissions. Some of our members are successfully published, and others are on their way, with the help of the honest yet caring critiques from our workshop members.
How Does the Community Work?
Each month we launch a new writing prompt. Write Club members are required to write a short story based on the prompt, and then review and critique each other’s stories. These requirements are central to who we are. Every writer needs an outside eye to help them see what they may have missed and to provide perspective. This invaluable feedback can make all the difference in taking a story from promising to published.
The next phase is to revise our stories based on the workshop feedback, and (optionally) do another round of critiques. This method helps us to prepare our manuscripts for professional editors.
If you are a short story writer and are intrigued by Write Club, here are two options:
- Watch for our monthly writing prompts, which are published at the beginning of each month on jaynalocke.com. Feel free to use them to inspire your short stories. You can post them on Hive, Medium, Vocal, your WordPress blog, or wherever you like. Note that we do not offer critiques for those who are not members of our workshop. This is just for inspiration!
- If you are serious about short story writing and want to submit your work to publications such as literary, sci-fi or horror magazines, you are also welcome to check out our Write Club workshop.
What Are the Requirements for Write Club Members?
Here’s what’s expected of our members:
- You should already have a strong foundation in short story writing, excellent English skills, and a desire to continue your development as a fiction writer.
- You should have the goal of publishing your work in professional publications.
- You must be ready to commit to writing one story each month.
- You must be willing to provide helpful feedback to other writers and support their journey as well as your own. We are all required to critique every story produced within the community.
To connect with us and check out our workshop, just pop in as a visitor in our Discord server and tell us about your interests. We would love to connect with you to see if it seems like we’re a good fit for your writing journey!
Looking for Writing Resources?
I love to share tips and ideas about creative writing! Here are two treasure troves for you:
- You can find many of my tips and resources on my website, in the On Writing section.
- I also share writing tips in The Ink Well community on Hive. See the complete catalog for the full list of articles.
Have fun and keep writing!
About Jayna Locke
Jayna Locke is a Minnesota writer who has had a lifelong love of fiction. Her short stories have appeared in a range of literary journals, including Great Lakes Review, Portage Magazine, and Bright Flash Literary Review, as well as several anthologies.
Her collection of short stories, Somewhere in Minnesota, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kirk House Publishers, and indie bookstores. She is reachable through her contact form at bit.ly/ContactJayna.