Write for The Cure for Sleep…
“Shadrick wrote The Cure for Sleep to chart her reinvention from shy, small-town outsider to someone stamping their presence on artistic and literary life…and she wants to help others follow in her footsteps.” The IPaper
Thank you for joining me here. I’m Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure for Sleep: my story of what it takes (and costs) to wake up and make a more creative life – even as I remained a wife and mother in a small town.
Here’s where you can start to turn your own creative dreams into reality by finding like-minds, discovering life-changing stories, and - importantly - daring to share your own true tales.
Read on to learn more about what’s on offer and how to take part…
“A sublimely written account of refusing to be defined by social constructs and embracing life-enhancing change, The Cure for Sleep is a poignant and inspiring slice of literary memoir.” A Waterstones Non-Fiction Book for 2022
what to expect
The Cure for Sleep on Substack is a three-season archive of writing prompts based on themes from my acclaimed memoir that were sent out as monthly posts between 2021 & 2023. Stories collected in that time were all curated over on thecureforsleep.com - and it’s a wonderful archive to explore if you want to get a sense of the huge range of subjects, styles and voices that have constellated around the prompts.
In 2024 and beyond there will only be very occasional posts from me here (and you can read why in my ‘last post’, A Tender Thing). However, all the prompts from Seasons One to Three remain open for your story submissions. Feel free to contribute your tales without any pressure of deadlines. I give feedback on each piece you submit and my usual response day is now the first Wednesday of each month.
getting started
Use the Your Stories section to begin exploring hundreds of short true soul stories already contributed by writers for our community.
Say hello and find out more about your fellow project members.
If you arrived at this project via a recommendation but don’t know already know my work, find out more about my background and book in the Tanya’s Story section.
You can also find links to my interviews, podcasts, essays and art projects in the Resources section.
how to become a writer for the project
Each prompt in the archive takes a story from the book, inviting you to tell me one in return on that theme from your own life.
To take part, simply use the comments field on the post you’re responding to, sharing a reflection, memory or true tale of up to 300 words.
All themes stay open for your story submissions: this helps the project remain accessible to those with health, caring or other time constraints.
You can write for just one of the themes - or all of them.
IMPORTANT: Please read the contributor guidelines before you submit your first piece to this project. I can only engage with submissions that show an understanding of the criteria for inclusion.
“It’s a special act of generosity when a writer you respect asks for responses to extracts from their work. Fear held me back but then I responded to the piece on regret. No regrets” Tim LeRoy
“When I first saw the word limit, I thought, no, that’s not for me, I cannot do that. Then, I did! I really believe that I have become a more confident and better writer through the word constraints, it really made me think about what could be stripped from the writing.” Sheila Knell
“I’m so glad to have constellated the courage and drafted something that assembles peace” E E Rhodes
“It’s a privilege to be a small part of this reflective conversation and the community it brings into being” Nicola Pitchford
“If you’re writing away by yourself and anxious about showing your work to others, here’s a lovely opportunity to share in a kind, supportive space. Have a look. Take the leap. I’m so glad I did” Sheila de Courcy
