Never had I ever lost myself in a writing prompt, one offered by a literary publication, with a clear deadline.

And then, this week, as a submission date approached, I found myself wondering whether I should dust up what I had drafted, though I knew it wasn’t as good as it possibly could be. 

And yet. 

This story responds very specifically to this particular prompt. 

Would the magazine take a mediocre piece that aligned with their theme? Unlikely. 

Then, would anyone else consider a great piece along a very obvious theme drawn from another magazine’s prompt? 

I had to think that a well crafted piece is better than a slipshod one. 

So the question is, does responding to publications’ themes/prompts paint me into a corner if and when I’m ready to publish — but the deadline has passed? 

Never Have I Ever is a series of posts about things I never ever imagined would happen to me through this writing journey, and yet it’s full of surprises Think of these as lamentations and open questions. .