The Writers Spot
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The Spot for Writers. Follow along at https://thewritersspot.substack.com/
Learning more about the words and terms associated with this holiday can teach us more about Jewish history and culture as well as how the Jewish experience fits into the larger context of the world.
Word to the Wise: Hanukkah Words
Hanukkah-related word origins
thewritersspot.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Learning more about the words and terms associated with this holiday can teach us more about Jewish history and culture as well as how the Jewish experience fits into the larger context of the world.
With 2025 also marking 35 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), now more than ever it is important to reflect on where the journey for disability rights has come from and how to tackle ongoing issues.
A Readers' Guide to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Books to promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities
thewritersspot.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:21 PM
With 2025 also marking 35 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), now more than ever it is important to reflect on where the journey for disability rights has come from and how to tackle ongoing issues.
From Wonderland to the Shire, Hogwarts to Westeros, fantasy can offer both an image of an idealized reality and uncomfortable comparisons to our own time and place.
Getting into Genre: Fantasy
From witches and wizards to dwarves and elves to fairies and mythical beasts, fantasy literature has long been a feature of human storytelling.
thewritersspot.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:19 PM
From Wonderland to the Shire, Hogwarts to Westeros, fantasy can offer both an image of an idealized reality and uncomfortable comparisons to our own time and place.
Here are 20 works of non-fiction, memoirs, works of fiction, and other works that help put World AIDS Day in context. #WOrldAIDSDay
Reading Recs: World AIDS Day
Reading recommendations for World AIDS Day
thewritersspot.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Here are 20 works of non-fiction, memoirs, works of fiction, and other works that help put World AIDS Day in context. #WOrldAIDSDay
Colonial literature in America has a much broader scope that perhaps taught in the average elementary school history text.
American Literary Periods: Colonial Period
Because of how English-focused much of American history is, it can be easy to assume that America’s colonial English literary traditions started when a lot of American history texts do: with the pilgr...
thewritersspot.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Colonial literature in America has a much broader scope that perhaps taught in the average elementary school history text.
Serving as a moral compass and having the ability to oversee intense physical training despite their age, these characters serve as the guiding force during the early part of a hero’s career.
Exploring Archetypes: The Mentor/Sage
From Merlin to Gandalf to Yoda to Mr.
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Serving as a moral compass and having the ability to oversee intense physical training despite their age, these characters serve as the guiding force during the early part of a hero’s career.
Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey and concept of the monomyth has become an important plot framework for everyone from George Lucas to Bob Dylan to Stanley Kubrick to Arthur C. Clarke.
A Guide to Plot Structures: Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey
Since the dawn of time, mankind has told stories of heroes and villains both for entertainment and to define the ideals of society.
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey and concept of the monomyth has become an important plot framework for everyone from George Lucas to Bob Dylan to Stanley Kubrick to Arthur C. Clarke.
Voltaire challenged ideas about religion, freedom of speech, literature, philosophy, mathematics, and science in ways that still reverberate today.
All About Authors: Voltaire
Considered one of the most pre-eminent writers, philosophers, and historical figures in French culture, Voltaire produced works in almost every literary form available and would go on to influence the...
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Voltaire challenged ideas about religion, freedom of speech, literature, philosophy, mathematics, and science in ways that still reverberate today.
Education and awareness are vital in combating harmful stereotypes, better understanding the viewpoints of others, learning the realities that trans people face, and working toward collective equality and justice. #TransDayofRemembrance
Reading Recs: Transgender Day of Remembrance
A reading list to commemorate Transgender Awareness Week and the Transgender Day of Remembrance
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Education and awareness are vital in combating harmful stereotypes, better understanding the viewpoints of others, learning the realities that trans people face, and working toward collective equality and justice. #TransDayofRemembrance
Native American cultures have diverse and unique ways of preserving culture, traditions, history, and works of literature. These poets each bring their own experience to a larger narrative. #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
20 Native Poets to Read this November
Celebrate Native American Heritage Month by exploring the work of Native poets.
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Native American cultures have diverse and unique ways of preserving culture, traditions, history, and works of literature. These poets each bring their own experience to a larger narrative. #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
There are plenty of theories about what makes a plot work and how a plot is formed. From Aristotle to modern TV writers, these structures can help build your unique story.
A Guide to Plot Structures: An Introduction
If you are building a structure, you need a foundation - and maybe a steel frame depending on its height.
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:18 PM
There are plenty of theories about what makes a plot work and how a plot is formed. From Aristotle to modern TV writers, these structures can help build your unique story.
From the windswept landscapes that inspired poets to the country walks where famous writers worked out their plot holes to massive cross-country hikes that have inspired dozens of memoirs and then copycat hikers, here are 20 literary hikes to explore.
Literary Locations: Literary Hikes
Literary treks for National Take A Hike Day
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:08 PM
From the windswept landscapes that inspired poets to the country walks where famous writers worked out their plot holes to massive cross-country hikes that have inspired dozens of memoirs and then copycat hikers, here are 20 literary hikes to explore.
From traditional native storytellers to modern sci-fi writers, Seattle’s literary history and destinations are as varied and diverse as the city itself.
Literary Locations: Literary Seattle
Situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, Seattle was officially founded on Nov.
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:24 PM
From traditional native storytellers to modern sci-fi writers, Seattle’s literary history and destinations are as varied and diverse as the city itself.
Amid the development of new cultural, historical, postcolonial, ethnic and cultural studies, see how Native American voices were being uplifted and re-evaluated.
A Guide to the Native American Renaissance
In the wake of ongoing civil rights movements and changing cultures, the 1960s and 1970s provided a time in both academia and publishing where more attention was being given to minority voices and con...
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Amid the development of new cultural, historical, postcolonial, ethnic and cultural studies, see how Native American voices were being uplifted and re-evaluated.
These 20 books showcase how native voices have both always been present and how they have changed and adapted to meet the times in which they lived #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
20 Books By Early Native American Writers
Much of the literary history of America’s first peoples revolves around oral storytelling, legends, pictographs and petroglyphs, as well as unique methods of preserving events and histories like wampu...
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:17 PM
These 20 books showcase how native voices have both always been present and how they have changed and adapted to meet the times in which they lived #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
Before Europeans, there were literally hundreds of different native groups with their own cultures, languages, and stories.
American Literary Periods: Pre-Columbian
Just like American history didn’t begin in 1776, American literature didn’t begin with the first colonists who landed on the shore from Europe.
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Before Europeans, there were literally hundreds of different native groups with their own cultures, languages, and stories.
See the meanings and origins behind the names of these sweet treats.
Word to the Wise: Candy Words
Words for National Candy Day
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM
See the meanings and origins behind the names of these sweet treats.
November is #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth. Check out these reads from native authors.....
Reading Recs: Native American Heritage Month
Books by Native American authors and Bonus Reading Recs
thewritersspot.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:43 PM
November is #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth. Check out these reads from native authors.....
See some of the real-life inspirations behind some of the most frightening haunted houses in literature.
Literary Locations: Literary Haunted Houses
Home is a place of safety and refuge, which might be the reason why stories of haunted houses have long captured the human imagination.
thewritersspot.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:26 PM
See some of the real-life inspirations behind some of the most frightening haunted houses in literature.
The deaths of some of these authors were instantly mysterious while others were clouded in mystery years later when new information - or at least conspiracy theories - began to shed some doubt on the official case.
10 Authors Who Died Mysteriously
Strange disappearances, murder plots, staged suicides and, and government-sponsored assassinations.
thewritersspot.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:09 PM
The deaths of some of these authors were instantly mysterious while others were clouded in mystery years later when new information - or at least conspiracy theories - began to shed some doubt on the official case.
The history of America, immigration, and politics are deeply intertwined and explored in these 20 books below.
Reading Recs: Immigration Reads
20 Books for National Immigration Day
thewritersspot.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The history of America, immigration, and politics are deeply intertwined and explored in these 20 books below.
While it has roots in ancient stories, fairy and folk tales, as well as regional superstitions, the horror genre might be one of the few out there that was created and perfected by those in the English speaking and writing world.
Getting into Genre: Horror
These are the spine-tingling, blood-curling, sleep-with-the-lights on tales that have been both frightening and entertaining readers for generations.
thewritersspot.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:33 PM
While it has roots in ancient stories, fairy and folk tales, as well as regional superstitions, the horror genre might be one of the few out there that was created and perfected by those in the English speaking and writing world.
Get a taste of these food memoirs for #NationalFoodDay
Reading Recs: Food Memoirs
Reading recommendations for National Food Day
thewritersspot.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Get a taste of these food memoirs for #NationalFoodDay
A founder of the English Romantic movement and a member of the influential group known as the Lake poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the most famous writers of the late 1700s and early 1800s.
All About Authors: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
A founder of the English Romantic movement and a member of the influential group known as the Lake poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the most famous writers of the late 1700s and early 1800s.
thewritersspot.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:22 PM
A founder of the English Romantic movement and a member of the influential group known as the Lake poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the most famous writers of the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Learn ways to celebrate the #NationalDayonWriting #WhyIWrite
20 Ways to Celebrate the National Day on Writing
From emails to grocery lists to text messages to poems and stories, writing is both an essential skill for everyday life and a way to self-express.
thewritersspot.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Learn ways to celebrate the #NationalDayonWriting #WhyIWrite