Start Here | Micro Mondays | 10-Min LWS | 3 Things | Writing Workshops | Paid Subs
Here’s what’s happening at Writer-ish this month! New events are added each week so please bookmark this post.
Click on any highlighted date to be notified of when I go live on Substack. Live sessions are free; replays and bonus content are for paid subscribers. Not sure where to go next? You can jump to any section of Writer-ish by accessing the master pinned post, START HERE, recommended for new subscribers.
If you’re new to my Live Writing Sessions, start here to download the TOC template and learn how the sessions work. The 10-minute live sessions are free for everyone. Click on the date to add it to your calendar:
Aug 7, 2026 (Fri) at 12:00 pm PT
Aug 17, 2026 (Mon) at 4:00 pm PT
If you’re new to my 3 Things: Short Prose Talks with beloved short prose authors, start here to see who’s coming. Each guest shares a selection of their work, a writing prompt, and a writing tip. The Lives are free for everyone—the replay and conversation packet are for paid subscribers.
August 5, 2026 (Wednesday) at 12:00 pm PT: Dinty W Moore on short prose, writing what you want to know, and championing the short form. Paid subscribers can watch the replay now and grab Dinty’s craft packet.
August 14, 2026 (Friday) at 1:00 - 4:00 pm PT
This is a dedicated time of 3 hours for you on Zoom to deepen with micro while getting some writing done in community. Drop in/out as needed. You must be a paid subscriber at time of registration and by the event.
This month, the first hour will be spent on live edits of micro prose from our community and/or a craft talk. I’ll be going through our backlog of submitted pieces, but if there’s time I’ll invite someone to share a piece in the moment (all pieces must be 300 words or less). The last two hours will be spent in a quiet co-writing session. It’s amazing how much work we get done together!
To register and attend this event, upgrade your membership:
If you’re new to my writing workshops on and off Substack, start here to see what’s included with your subscription.
September 19, 2026 (Sat) at 2:00 - 6:00 pm PT
For early bird pricing, use code FFFS21 until 8/31/26. Register here.In this hands-on generative workshop, we'll use short writing prompts, examples from our own work, and small-group conversations to explore how animals become part of our lives and our stories. Whether the creatures in your life are beloved companions, passing visitors, or wild encounters, you'll leave with several new pieces of writing and fresh ways of thinking about the pets that call us their own.
An add-on for notes from me and Abby is also available. Learn more here.
Drafts, Deals & Detours is where I share what’s happening in my writing life—the decisions, doubts, and direction changes—while it’s still unfolding. Debriefs happen once a month on Substack Live, where I talk about a real decision or situation currently unfolding in my writing or publishing life, followed by Q&A. Debriefs+ are with other authors and industry experts.
August 12, 2026 (Debrief+)— You May Not Want to Hear This About Getting an Agent with Mark Gottlieb, literary agent
Hope, hype, and hard truthsAugust 26, 2026 — Keep Your Day Job
Why keeping a full- or part-time job may be the best thing for your writing career
Each month, I’ll be featuring 1 short prose piece from our Substack community. If you have some micro you’d like to share, here are some options:
Subscriber Spotlight is a monthly-ish section in my Micro Monday newsletter where I feature a writer from our community, their micro prose piece, author bio, and link to their Substack along with one tip you’d like to share about writing and/or creativity. Go here to submit.
Share Your Published Work! Post links to any of your published micro prose (on Substack or elsewhere) and we’ll share them with the Writer-ish community in 2026 through Notes, comments in other posts, and so on.
My own Irish forefather was a newspaperman, owned a nightclub, ran for mayor, and smuggled rum in a speedboat during Prohibition. He smoked, drank, ate nothing but red meat, and died of a heart attack in 1938.
His one son, my father, was a teenager when my grandfather died. I never learned more than the barest details about my grandfather from my father, despite my persistent questions. Other relatives tell me that the relationship had been strained.
My father was a skinny, asthmatic, and eager-to-please little boy, not the tough guy his father had wanted. My dad lost his mother at age three, and later developed a severe stuttering problem, perhaps as a result of his father’s disapproval. My father’s adult vocabulary was outstanding, due to his need for alternate words when faltering over hard consonants like B or D.
The stuttering grew worse over the years, with one exception: after downing a few whiskeys, my father could sing like an angel. His Irish tenor became legend in local taverns, and by the time I entered the scene my father was spending every evening visiting the bars. Most nights he would stumble back drunk around midnight; some nights he was so drunk he would stumble through a neighbor’s back door, thinking he was home.
As a boy, I coped with the family’s embarrassment by staying glued to the television shows like Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver were my favorites. I desperately wanted someone like Hugh Beaumont to be my father, or maybe Robert Young.
Hugh Brannum, though, would have been my first choice. Brannum played Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo, and I remember him as being kind, funny, and extremely reliable.
283 words. From “Son of Mr. Green Jeans: An Essay on Fatherhood, Alphabetically Arranged.” Originally published in Issue 63 of Crazyhorse in 2003, and then reprinted in Harper’s Magazine in January 2004. Shared with permission from the author.
Dinty W. Moore is author of the memoirs Between Panic & Desire and To Hell With It, and the writing guides Crafting the Personal Essay and The Mindful Writer, among numerous other books. He’s founding editor of Brevity, the journal of flash nonfiction, and has taught nonfiction writing for more than 30 years. Join us live for our 3 Things conversation this week, free for all subscribers.
Thanks for reading Writer-ish! This post is public so feel free to share it. Micro prose is always more fun with a friend.
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