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Did you set any writing goals this year? Are you woefully behind? This month, our own Fiction Reader Eleanor Ball has got tips for a mid-year writing reset — if the goals you set months ago aren’t working for you anymore, change them! Plus, we’re sending off two longtime Okay Donkey readers, recapping our August in poetry and flash, and shouting out what our past contributors and staff have been up to.

Enjoy the newsletter, and we’ll see you in October!

🫏 OKD Updates

Two of our longtime fiction readers, Emily Spangenberg and Addison Hoggard, recently stepped down from their positions. Thanks for everything you’ve done for Okay Donkey!

🌟 Tips for a Mid-Year Writing Reset

by Eleanor Ball, OKD Fiction Reader

It happens to all of us. At the beginning of the year, we tore open a fresh planner, selected our favorite pen, and carefully wrote down all of the writing goals we wanted to accomplish this year. At the time, they felt like stretch goals that would be achievable with a bit of elbow grease. But now it’s September, and we haven’t opened Word in months. 

I’ve definitely experienced this in 2025. Earlier this year, I was so busy finishing graduate school and searching for a job that writing had to take a back seat. But now that I’ve settled into my new position, I’ve slowly built creativity back into my daily routine.

Here are three tricks I’ve used to get back into a sustainable writing routine this fall: 

Don’t be afraid to change your goals. In eight months, so much in our careers, health, and family lives can shift. Our creative energies can change course. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the goals you declared at the beginning of the year if they’re not working anymore — the goals are there to serve YOU, not the other way around! You can also try out goals that aren’t based on a specific output but still encourage you to engage with your creativity, like reading a craft book, attending local writing events, or experimenting with new poetic forms.

All writing is writing. This may sound obvious, but as a writer who publishes (or tries to publish) much of my work, I sometimes forget the importance of writing that will never see an audience. For example, sitting in the park and jotting down everything I notice is a great use of my writing time. Even if those words never make it into a published piece, I’m practicing essential skills in description and observation. No-stakes warm-ups and free-writes are great tools for getting back in the habit of putting pen to paper.

Finally, don’t stress! Make a list of everything creativity-related you’ve tried, progressed, or finished this year, no matter how small it may seem, and take a moment to be proud of yourself. If “all you did” was draft a few poems, attend a craft talk, or revise a chapter of your novel, you’re still further along in your writing journey than you were this January. All creative thinking is something to celebrate, no matter the time of year.

📚 August at OKD

• “feelings come & go but teeth are forever,” poetry by Kristin Lueke

• “The Passing of a Little More Than a Year,” flash fiction by Lydia Kim

• “Blue Persons,” poetry by Emily Wittenhagen

• “98.,” flash fiction by Jordyn Damato

• “Vanishing Twin,” poetry by Jessica Ballen

🔎 Check Us Out

We love when past contributors keep us updated on their lives! If your work has ever appeared in OKD, reach out and tell us about your new book, project, album, etc. We’ll give you a shoutout on our socials and here in the newsletter.

• Ewen Glass has a microchap out now called Anatomy of an Axe. (OKD: “Litter,“ June 2024)

• Leslie Pietrzyk has had two pieces published in August: “That Earliest Memory: 1972” in Ghost Parachute and “Lucky Enough” in Pithead Chapel. (OKD: “Rules for New Girls,“ April 2025)

• OKD Fiction Editor Steve Chang launched Lit Match Collective, a writing community for accountability, motivation, and coaching.

• OKD Fiction Reader Rina Palumbo has been published three times recently: “Vestal” (Marrow), “The Failed Historian” (SPANK the CARP), and “Whiskey Mash” (Centaur).

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