Welcome to the monthly newsletter from Write Club, authored by me, Jayna Locke. Each month I publish some writing tips and inspiration as well as our writing prompt of the month.
It’s March, and perhaps you are inspired by leprechauns, pots of gold and four-leaf clovers… or not. But now just wait a second. You know what I’ve discovered? I have learned that any word or idea can spawn a story.
I hope you have tried this. Pick a word or two or three — let’s say gold, clover and meadow — and just start writing. See what happens. Some of my best stories have come from writing with nothing particular in mind. I love it when the story takes on a life of its own and goes in a direction I couldn’t have predicted if I had plotted it out. (Yes, I’m mostly a pantser.)
Writing a Story for March
March is a time of preparing for renewal. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are ready for the end of winter and the onset of spring. We crave green. Even if it’s green beer.
I’ve committed to writing at least two stories per month for 2025, and I’m enjoying writing seasonal themed stories. So at least one of the two stories will be based on the month of the year, a season or a holiday.
Last month I wrote two stories inspired by the prompt “heart.” One was very poignant and emotional, written in second person, which is sometimes fun. The other was a horror story.
The moral there, I think, is that any prompt or idea has many many possibilities. I’d love to hear from you if you like this challenge — writing at least one story per month based on the month or the season.
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, and provide the prompt of the month as well as some inspiration for working with the prompt.
Write Club’s March, 2025 Writing Prompt
For the month of March, 2025, Write Club members must write a story based on this simple prompt: clover. And anyone else who chooses to do so can write for this prompt as well.
What do you think of when you think of clover? Do you imagine a meadow on a spring day? A leprechaun with a four leaf clover tucked into his hat?
When I was thinking of this word today, I was reminded of an old song that one of my sisters and I sang at one of our sisters’ weddings, called Today, which is a lovely and sentimental song. The lyrics in particular that were called to my mind are at the beginning of the second verse:
I’ll be a dandy, and I’ll be a roverYou’ll know who I am by the songs that I singI’ll feast at your table, I’ll sleep in your cloverWho cares what the morrow shall bring
And then I discovered that John Denver was one of the people who helped make the song famous. Perhaps this will inspire you!
Short Story Ideas for the “Clover” Writing Prompt
I don’t know about you, but I find AI to be a lovely tool for generating ideas. I will never use it to actually write anything. I personally think that’s cheating. I also hate the results. In fact, I recently read a book by one of my (formerly) favorite authors that I am 99% sure was written at least in part by AI. I was so disappointed. I had read four of her previous books, all stunning, beautifully written works that captured my heart and imagination and were hard to set down.
Imagine my surprise when I read another book of hers and found it to be full of flat, platitudinous tropes. You can read my review on Goodreads, if you’re curious.
I digress! At any rate, I think chatGPT and other tools have their place. I do use them for image generation, for example, since I can’t always find what I’m looking for on Pixabay.
I created some story ideas with chatGPT to get us thinking about where we can go with this prompt. Check them out:
1. Thriller: The Fourth Leaf
In a quiet countryside town, botanist Evelyn Carter stumbles upon a peculiar patch of clover growing behind her new home. Among the clusters of three-leafed plants, she finds a strange mutation—clovers with four leaves, but their veins are unnaturally dark, almost black. Intrigued, she begins studying them, unaware that every time she plucks one, an inexplicable tragedy befalls someone in town.
At first, the deaths seem coincidental—an old man collapsing in his garden, a farmer crushed under his tractor. But when Evelyn notices a pattern linking each death to the clovers she’s taken, paranoia grips her. Desperate to understand, she digs into local folklore and uncovers an unsettling legend: the fourth leaf on a clover is said to bring luck, but if it grows too dark, it carries a curse. The more she disturbs them, the more the town suffers.
As her research unravels the truth, Evelyn realizes that someone—or something—has been watching her all along. A shadow moves in the fields at dusk, whispering through the rustling clover. When she tries to destroy the plants, she finds them regrowing overnight, thicker and darker than before. As she races to undo the damage, Evelyn must confront an eerie choice: sacrifice herself to break the curse or let the town’s misfortune spiral further out of control.
With time running out, she makes one final decision—one that will determine whether she can escape the clover’s grip… or become its next victim.
2. Poignant Literary Story: Where the Cover Grows
Every summer, twelve-year-old Annie and her grandfather, Henry, spend their afternoons searching for four-leaf clovers in the meadow behind his house. It’s their special ritual, a quiet game of patience and belief. Henry always says, “The rarest clovers find those who need them most.”
But this summer is different. Henry is growing frail, his hands trembling as he sifts through the grass. Annie refuses to believe he’s sick, clinging to their tradition as if it can hold back time. She scours the field relentlessly, determined to find the luckiest clover of all—one that will make him well again.
As the days pass, Henry teaches Annie gentle lessons about love, loss, and the beauty of fleeting moments. He tells her that some things, like clovers and summer breezes, are meant to be cherished rather than held too tightly. When Annie finally discovers the perfect four-leaf clover, she rushes to show Henry—only to realize he has quietly dozed off in his chair, a peaceful smile on his face, never to wake again.
Heartbroken yet comforted, Annie presses the clover between the pages of Henry’s favorite book, carrying his wisdom with her into the years ahead. And every spring, when the first clovers sprout in the meadow, she returns—no longer searching for luck, but simply to remember.
3. Romance: “The Clover Promise”
When struggling artist Lily Harper moves to the Irish countryside to escape a painful breakup, the last thing she expects is to fall in love again. She rents a charming cottage on the edge of a sprawling clover field, where local legend claims that if two people find the same four-leaf clover, they are destined to be together. Lily scoffs at the idea—after all, love has only ever let her down.
Then she meets Aidan Callahan, the quiet but kindhearted farmer who owns the land. Aidan has his own wounds, having lost someone he once loved. Drawn together by shared loneliness, they form a tentative friendship, spending long afternoons walking through the fields, talking about dreams they’ve abandoned and the lives they’ve yet to live.
One evening, as the golden light fades, Lily finds a four-leaf clover and jokingly offers Aidan half of it. He hesitates before tearing it carefully, pressing his half into her palm. “A promise,” he says softly.
As their bond deepens, so does Lily’s fear of opening her heart again. But when an unexpected storm threatens Aidan’s farm—and the life he’s built—Lily must decide whether to run once more or take a chance on love.
In the end, she finds herself back in the field, searching desperately through the grass. And when she finally finds another four-leaf clover, she doesn’t hesitate. She rushes to Aidan, pressing it into his hand. “A promise,” she whispers back.
I hope that gets your brain wheels turning!
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 open to adding 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. In fact almost all of my published short stories were written from Write Club prompts.
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!
Featured image source: Myshoun on Pixabay
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.