Welcome.

The 18 Somethings Project is a writing adventure to unleash your creativity.

Generate new work. Get creative support. Make inspired progress.

Creativity thrives within a container, especially a flexible one. For 18 days, you’ll write 10 minutes per day on a prompt (we’ll use imagery, sound, text) you’ll receive each morning. In the email, you’ll also find thought-provoking writing advice, reflections, inspiration, books to read, and more. 

We write for 18 days in a row, 10 minutes per day, because it is an accessible amount of time. In 10 minutes a day, over the course of months or years, a person can accomplish a lot. 10 minutes a day can help overcome resistance and (re)build a writing muscle. 

Caroline and Janet started The 18 Somethings Project in June 2013, in honor of our Gemini birthdays. Since then, we’ve coordinated a half-dozen editions with 500+ participants around the world.

To be first in the know to hear about our next edition, please sign up for our (very occasional!) Tiny Letter email list.

In April 2020, we ran the “Shelter In Place Edition,” with 300+ people writing together. Along with the prompts, we sent daily letters, reflecting on the moment and guiding people along the journey of (re)dedicating themselves to their creative practices. We heard incredible stories of dads writing their teenage sons, participants finishing or starting novels, and new projects sprouting. In March 2021, we ran the “Renew 2021 Edition,” for 168 participants. After each edition, we donate a portion of our proceeds to various causes: the Farmworker’s COVID Relief Fund in 2020 and NDN Collective in 2021.

You do not have to already be or call yourself a writer to participate in this (though writers are definitely welcome)! We’ve seen people use the space to explore their creative process, make huge progress on novels and memoirs, start a new essay or series of poems, or find the time to journal consistently. The experience is what you make of it. Our goal is to provide encouragement, structure, and support for you to be writing consistently.  Stay tuned for our next edition by signing up for our mailing list here.

We send communications via TinyLetter which sometimes go into spam / updates folders. To reach us directly, email 18somethings [at] gmail.com

“I started my first original novel as part of an 18 Somethings edition, typing my responses to the prompts while camping on the edge of the crater of Crater Lake. The novel, which became Crater Lake Caravan, touches on many of the themes the project brought out for me. I’ve had the pleasure of making friends and helping others make friends through 18 Somethings. Writing is such a solitary, lonely pursuit most of the time, so projects like this was build intentional and thoughtful communities are vital to all of our spiritual health.”

—Jessica Dickinson Goodman