HeyJaredThe Story Temple
You were taught to write for the white gaze. To shrink the story. The Story Temple exists to undo that. A spiritual writing sanctuary for Black writers.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 9
- Latest publication
- Sep 22, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 3, 2026
Latest issues
Get the writer ready too (opens the original)
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Last year I became a Novel November ambassador at the very last minute, like a few days before the thing started.I said yes cuz I was already writing about writing, and I liked the idea of being useful to people trying something that can be exhilarating and completely overwhelming at the same time. I put up a piece on October 27 announcing it and said what I’ve been saying ever since: fast drafting is an energetic challenge.Then November started and I got to watch what that means up close.We ta
You’re doing Mars work on a Monday (opens the original)
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A note before we start. The series I told you about is coming, just not this week. The first essay is written but it ain’t ready. I don’t hand you work I don’t stand all the way behind. So here’s what I have instead, and it’s something you can use today.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kArf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F90731bc4-6824-407e-9f40-9b73d98ca855_4
Where the writing goes when you’re tired (opens the original)
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I’m tired. My body keeps its own calendar and it’s about to make its monthly announcement. Add to that the energy from the Lion’s Gate portal (which is still open til tomorrow) and the eclipse energy… it’s a lot. I’ve been moving slow for days.When I sat down to write about tomorrow’s eclipse, everything came out dramatic. Big claims with an entire agenda attached to it. So I threw it out, cuz I suspect a few of you are running on the same nonexistent fumes I’m on. Goddess Caffeina has been like
The screenplay that wasn’t filmed (opens the original)
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Alice Walker wrote a screenplay for The Color Purple that was never filmed.Steven Spielberg hired Menno Meyjes, a Dutch screenwriter, who turned in a first draft in three weeks and five more over the months that followed. His name is on the film. Walker’s credit reads based on the novel by.She was there. On set, adding lines during production, teaching the actors the pacing and rhythm of the Southern Black dialect she’d grown up speaking. She wanted to make sure that when they opened their mouth
Eighteen signatures (opens the original)
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I had a reason ready.Substack rolled out AI detection on July 21. Within hours I’d written a statement about how I make my work: where the tools sit in it, what they carry and what never leaves my hands. Revised it, annoyed AF the whole time, and put it on the masthead. What I hadn’t done was immediately post about it on Substack where people can answer you.The reason I had ready went like this. Folks don’t think critically. The conversation would turn ugly and it wouldn’t be worth my patience o
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