Happy Tuesday!
This week in our newsletter, we tried something new—giving you a sneak peek at what’s coming to our Magazine Stand. Hopefully, you enjoyed that first look at the upcoming lit mag issues. If you missed Monday’s newsletter, you can catch up here.
If you love independent bookstores and maps, we are also working behind the scenes on trying to bring an interactive map to life. Baby steps…wobbly and uncertain, but we’re trying.
Speaking of uncertainty, we actually brought you a writing prompt devoted to turning uncertainty in love into certainty with the idea that you know you will fall in love with a certain person in the future.
Inspiration Prompt: A Premonition of Love
We’ve all seen it—books, movies, songs—where love strikes like lightning. Two strangers lock eyes across a crowded room, and just like that, they’re swept into a whirlwind romance. It’s the classic “love at first sight” trope.
But what if we turned that idea on its head?
In Japanese culture, there’s a beautiful phrase: koi no yokan—a premonition of love. It’s not the instant spark of passion, but rather a quiet certainty that love will bloom in time. A subtle knowing. A gentle inevitability.
It’s the moment before the moment.
A glance that lingers.
A silence that feels full.
A feeling that says, “I’ll love you—just not yet.”
Is this love destiny? A soul recognizing its match? Or is it our mind projecting hope onto a stranger, crafting a story before it’s even begun?
You be the judge.
This week’s prompt invites you to explore the concept of koi no yokan in your own creative way. You can:
📝 Write a poem, story, or essay
🎨 Create a piece of visual art or collage
🎭 Capture the feeling of love’s quiet arrival in any medium you choose
Think of something along the lines of e.e. cummings’ “somewhere I have never travelled, gladly beyond” or Julio Cortázar’s “The Night Face Up.” Maybe write a story that ends with the line:
“I knew I’d love them, just not yet.”
Or illustrate the moment before love begins—a gesture, a shared silence, a fleeting glance. What does that premonition feel like visually?
(And yes, if you now have Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” stuck in your head—“I’ve got a premonition, that girl’s gonna make me fall…”—you’re welcome.)
💌 Want more prompts like this?
This one was originally featured in our newsletter—where inspiration meets inbox. Subscribe now to get weekly creative sparks, book reviews, and community highlights delivered straight to you.
