Still Waters

Settle down with a notebook and pen — yes, the old-fashioned kind that you hold in your hand! — and freewrite in response to any of the prompts below. Gaze deep into the reflection pool of your own hopes, fears, and fantasies about what it means to be a stylish writer. You may be surprised at what bubbles up!

Find a quiet space with your journal and settle in for some soul-searching about your authorial voice. What does authentic writing mean to you personally? If you’re a scholarly or professional writers, think beyond rules and conventions for a moment. When you imagine writing without any fear of judgment or criticism, what would you do differently? What words might you dare to include that you currently edit out?

Consider the writers who most inspire you — any writers whose words move you. What qualities in their writing do you wish you could embody? What aspects of your own personality do you most want to bring to your work? Write freely about the gap between how you currently write and how you dream of writing.

Take some time to explore the relationship between your writing style and your personal identity. What parts of yourself do you feel comfortable expressing in your academic or professional writing, and what parts do you keep hidden or safely “disciplined”?

Think about the conversations where you're most articulate and passionate. What is it about those moments that brings out your best communication? How might you invite some of that energy into your written work? If your writing style could be a bridge between your inner world and your professional world, what would that bridge look like?

Reflect on this: If someone read your writing without knowing who wrote it, what would they learn about you as a person? What would you want them to learn?

Create space for honest reflection about your relationship with stylish writing. What fears come up when you think about writing more personally or creatively? Are you worried about not being taken seriously? About crossing some invisible line of professionalism?

Write about what "good writing" meant to you when you started your journey as a writer. How has that definition evolved? What would you need to feel safe enough to experiment more boldly with your voice?

Now flip to desires: What kind of writer do you want to become? If you could wave a magic wand and write exactly as you wished, what would that look and sound like? What would it feel like to read work that was unmistakably yours?

Spend time writing about the readers you most want to reach. Not just the gatekeepers or evaluators, but the people whose minds you want to touch with your ideas. Who are they? What do they need from your writing?

Consider this: How do you want your readers to feel when they encounter your work? Inspired? Challenged? Welcomed into new ideas? What kind of relationship do you want to create between your words and their minds?

Reflect on the most meaningful compliment you could receive about your writing style. When someone says, "When I read your work, I feel...," how would you want them to finish that sentence? What could their words tell you about the writer you're becoming?

Journal about your writing journey so far. How has your style changed from your earliest “serious” writing to now? What influences have shaped the way you put words together? Which changes feel like genuine growth, and which feel like compromises?

Think about the writing advice that has been most helpful to you — and the advice that felt wrong, even if it came from authorities. What does your instinctive resistance to certain style rules tell you about your authentic voice?

If you could have a conversation with yourself from five years ago about writing style, what would you want your younger self to know? What permissions would you give? What fears would you help ease?

We’d love to hear how these writing prompts landed with you and whether they stirred any revelations. Please email us at writespace@helensword.com to share your thoughts.