Jump straight to today's prompt here.

What a pleasure it is to be joining you this week for Immersion: Flow program. I’m sp pleased that you are showing up for your own creativity! The Immersion program is all about your own process, your own words, your own time.

At the end of this program, you are going to have words. New words. Words that tell you what it is you need to know, that lead you into the world of your writing. We are going to be working with your own instinct, your own creative subconscious.

Each morning for the next six weeks, you’ll receive a letter in your inbox. There will be some thoughts from me – some exercises, some reflections – and then, at the bottom of the page, you’ll find a writing prompt. You might discover that you prefer to get to the writing prompt first – in which case, scroll down to the prompt and then return to the rest of the day’s instructions after your writing time.

This writing time – showing up and responding instinctively to the daily writing prompt – is the cornerstone of the Immersion program. It’s the habit breaker, the guide to your own voice, and the site of creative calm.

Make a regular time each day, or as regular as you can, to show up for that writing prompt. Allow twenty minutes. Set a timer. Handwrite or use the keyboard (but decide this in advance – don’t use your 20 minutes to waver back and forth on the perfect font!).

Today’s exercise is just this: take ten minutes to think about your creative space. Is it a corner of the dining room table? A particular arm chair? (For quite a few months last winter. I spent the half hour on waking curled up in an armchair with broken springs, waking up my words). If you have a whole desk, or a whole study – brilliant! Get it clear. Make your desk a place of beauty. If you use a library or a café – figure out what you need to have with you to send your creative self a little signal: we are writing now. For me (I love café writing) I know I need noise-cancelling headphones and a silk scarf that I use as a little café lap blanket (because, yes, I was actually born in 1868). These things simply become a signal, so that eventually the response is Pavlovian (you know the story about Pavlov’s dog? You can look it up – but not now! Later!) – blanket comes out, headphones on and my creative self wakes up.

If you write at home, have your space set up: do candles make you feel inspired? Have a candle lit by your desk. Do you need the windows open? A lap blanket? Music? Have it ready, and your headphones on. Whatever signals you need to your creative subconscious (for me it’s headphones, music, a lit candle with a sweet scent). Find some lovely flowers if that’s what works for you. Make a clear surface that you can return to. Choose your writing implement. Gather your tools.

You deserve this. You deserve to have a writing space which is worthy of you.

Now.

Each day before you read the prompt, take a few deep breaths. If you’re working on a novel or a memoir or a particular project, let it bubble to the surface. Read the prompt – some will be the start of a sentence, others an image or a location, an idea to follow. Now read the prompt and grab the tail of the first image that comes to your mind. Sometimes you’ll have the start of a sentence, sometimes just a picture. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation or grammar. Don’t rewrite or edit.

Don’t worry about anything. Just write.

When you find yourself slowing, take a good breath. Let the next image come to you. It may be an extension of the first image, or something new, born out of what you’ve been writing. Whatever image appears, don’t resist. Fall into it and keep writing. Your themes and concerns will emerge in the writing, whether you are conscious of it or not.

Your prompt is below…

Write about getting ready to depart.