Join us at The HerStories Project for a brand new writing community for midlife women. Featuring writing prompts, workshops, courses, accountability partners, weekly Zoom meetings and check ins, this is the group to help you develop and stick with a meaningful writing practice in the company of other midlife women. For all writing levels and genres! Learn more here.

Introducing Midstory Magazine, a HerStories publication on Substack. 

Read our latest essays here.

From the editors of the HerStories Project

We believe the messy middle of life should not be lonely.

At Midstory, we feature weekly personal essays and columns from midlife women about relationships at this stage of life.

Midstory Magazine is an intimate space for readers and writers at midlife to come together and feel less alone.

There are two formal dictionary definitions for “Midstory,” both of which we love. The first definition is “the middle part of a story, neither the beginning nor the end.” That’s where Stephanie and Jessica are; we’re in the midstory of our lives, and all the hundreds of women we’ve worked with and published over the years are there too. We’re not at the start of our journeys, but neither are we at the ends. (The second definition is “the layer of vegetation in a forest that consists of those trees whose height is in between the heights of the smallest and tallest trees.” We do like this one too. At midlife, we’re surrounded by older and bigger trees and younger and smaller trees.”)

What we have realized is that right now—at midlife—this is what women want to talk about. This is what matters the most: relationships, grief, loss, friendships, coupling and uncoupling. And not only do we want to talk (and write!) about it, we want to skip the platitudes, advice, how-to’s, and inspirational ideas. We prefer the raw, gritty details, the honesty, even when it’s painful and there are no answers or quick fixes. Because we know that midlife women are not alone in our desire to share our truths and our stories about what love, loss, and friendship look like at this stage of our lives. 

We are excited to share the latest incarnation of this mission: The Midstory Magazine on Substack. (If you don’t know what Substack is or you’re intimidated by the platform, don’t worry. We know it’s yet another new-ish thing, but reach out to us if you want more personal help for how to get around. Substack is a friendly place.)

Here we will feature personal essays from midlife women about their own relationships and losses—love, divorce, friendship, grief—without the advice, helpful takeaways, or sugarcoating. No silver linings and happy endings required (although they are welcome!). 

In addition to sharing weekly personal essays in Midstory Magazine, our Substack will feature weekly conversation threads, unsent “letters,” interviews with midlife women, and bonuses for paid subscribers. Right now already up there are a few of our favorite personal essays from our previous anthologies, as well as a few writer workshops and interviews.

Learn more about co-founders Stephanie and Jessica: 

Who are we?

Jessica Smock and Stephanie Sprenger are the co-founders and co-editors of the HerStories Project, a publishing and writing community for midlife women.

We met online as “blogging friends” and then founded the HerStories Project in 2013. During the next ten years, we’ve published five essay collections, led dozens of writing groups, and have taught writing to hundreds of female writers over the past several years. It’s been our joy to work with midlife writers just like you. Our lives of juggling family, caregiving, and jobs and writing are much like yours. We know what it’s like, as midlife women, to want to carve out space in our lives for just ourselves.

Learn more about our books.