In the children’s book Mexicali Soup, a mother tells her big family that she plans to make them their favorite soup—Mexicali soup—that evening for dinner. One by one, her children and her husband come up to her and say, “I love Mexicali soup! But can you make without the onions/potatoes/garlic/etc.?” After each request, the mother agrees to leave out that ingredient, growing increasingly irate. In the end, she serves them hot water.

I seem to have committed the error of Mexicali soup.

In my last newsletter, I wrote about finding a writing challenge that pushes me to write on a project-based timeline. Like creating one collage a day for the #Februllage challenge, I set out to find if there were similar writing challenges that would motivate me to write, finish, and produce consistently and prolifically in a burst of time.

I just had some stipulations. 

Read the rest of this post (and some of my favorite recommendations on books, podcasts, prompts, and more!) on my Substack newsletter: Follow that story.