Life Without Children - February Writing Prompt
Are you single and childless or childfree? Or do you have previous experience with this?
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Valentine’s Day can be complex.
You may love it, and if so, I’m happy for you. Personally, I think it’s an icky, exploitative, capitalist BS kinda day. No prescribed bunch of flowers, dinner date or other romantic gesture on a day we are instructed to be romantic will ever make me feel loved.
And anyway, for me, romance isn’t restricted to lovers. I am romantic in my friendships. By this, I mean I do little things to show I care. To show I listen. To show I appreciate and love the other person.
What is with society’s obsession with coupled people?
Before we move on to our prompt, I want to give a big shout-out to Arpinder, who has set up an Instagram profile dedicated to “…making a noise for the childless & childfree.”
Recently, she put out a post talking about the lack of visibility of childfree and childless in the South Asian community and outlined her mission to shine more light on the experiences of not having children in this community.
Check out her Instagram and show her some love. She may well be just the medicine you are seeking.
Life Without Children writing prompt for February
Last month’s writing prompt was all about the media and positive representation of the childless and childfree.
As always, you are welcome to continue writing to our previous writing prompts and submit your stories to us at Life Without Children. Or you may even prefer to use our prompts for your private journaling.
Some of our followers even dedicate a journal to our monthly prompts and follow along each month to help draw out their inner feelings and get to know themselves better.
Now, onto our monthly prompt.
You know something I’ve noticed? There’s a peculiar assumption that people who are single don’t want to be. But the truth is, many people are single by choice.
And yes, of course, some people are single, not by choice.
It’s so very similar to our position on kids, isn’t it? For some of us, not having kids is a choice, and for some, it isn’t a choice.
There’s an overlap.
I may be married now, but I was that person who was perpetually single. I was left out of social gatherings, as I didn’t fit the aesthetic. Other people obsessed over my love life. And I always swore that if I ever entered a relationship, I would be a vocal ally to my single friends and certainly not vanish from their lives.
So here I am.
Just as our reproduction status does not dictate our worth, nor is it dictated by our relationship status. But try telling this patriarchal world that, right?
For anyone needing to feel seen and valued and that you are a whole being exactly as you are, look no further than the work of Bella DePaulo, who is a social scientist and author of the book Single at Heart.
February Writing Prompt: How does being single overlap with not having children?
I want to hear your stories about how being single and without children impacts you and how you move in the world. Maybe it is a source of sadness or maybe it’s become your superpower.
And even if you are in a relationship now, maybe you have a story to share of your experiences when you were single.
This prompt has been scheduled for a while to tie in with Valentine’s Day, but I feel last week’s story titled If You Start Talking About Motherhood I’ll Be Sneaking Out the Side Door by Y.L. Wolfe sums up the complexity of being single and without kids, perfectly.
You don’t ask about the unmarried, childless friend’s life because at best, it’s irrelevant, and at worst, it just reminds everyone that her life is a failure (according to social norms, that is).
So take a moment to pause and reflect to get the creative juices flowing, then turn your thoughts into words and let them flow.
Tips for writing to our prompts
I always say this, but it’s the most important aspect of writing with us at Life Without Children — make us feel something.
We all know that a powerful story is a human story. So, sprinkle your writing with real experience and emotion. Make us laugh and cry. Show us the absurdity of what you’ve had to deal with. Give us raw, unfiltered vulnerability.
Don’t forget to ensure your piece fits our submission guidelines.
Please read through our published stories to see what sort of thing we publish.
Use “writing prompts” and “life without children” as two of your topic tags.
Find out how to become a writer with Life Without Children here.
If you don’t use Medium and want to start, this document will be your friend.
Reflections from January at Life Without Children
For writers on Medium, it’s been a challenging month. If you know, you know. But that has not hindered the quality of stories submitted to us.
Without further ado, here are this month's four editor’s picks.
Seeking role models that we can relate to is so very important. Colleen Addison covers this beautifully.
I Want a Different Type of Childless Role Model
Age-appropriate conversations with children about having children are a sure way to help them learn about choice and that there are no guarantees. Charlie Brown shares how she handles this sensitive topic with her curious young niece.
What Happens When Your 7-Year-Old Niece Asks Why You Never Had a Baby (When You Can’t Have One)
Confusing the desire for fatherhood with the desire for how we are perceived is potentially more common than we realise. Joe Guay - Dispatches From the Guay Life! took my breath away with his honesty and humour.
I Wanted to Be a Cool Young Dad - Not Do the Actual Parenting
Oh, the power of social media. Sometimes it can make us feel isolated, but then there are times when it can bring us comfort and community. Alice Cutler writes with poignant heartbreak about the healing power of Instagram following the loss of her daughter Evelyn through her termination for medical reasons (TFMR).
As a Childless Women, I Found Unexpected Solace in Instagram
And as a little bonus, because I just love this piece (it’s always hard to select just four), I want to give a shout-out to Nadia for hitting the nail on the head with how she would be depicted in a Hollywood movie.
If I Was in a Hollywood Movie, I’d Be Dead
What will February bring?
What have you got on in February?
I’m hosting a session all about how to use Medium over at FLOW, an online networking space for non-parents.
It’s on 25th February and is open to everyone. For non-members there will be a small cost of £12.50. The cost is reduced to £5 if you sign-up to the FLOW newsletter, upon signing up you will receive a voucher, which is redeemable against this session.
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