All Night, Complexion, and Records

Readers Write is a feature in The Sun where readers share their personal writing on a given topic—a unique fixture of the magazine since the section’s inception in 1978. Send us your true story on an upcoming topic, and if we publish it you’ll receive a complimentary one-year subscription.

Not sure what to write? See below for some prompts to spark an idea. Writing style isn’t as important as thoughtfulness and sincerity, and topics are intentionally broad to give room for expression and interpretation.

All Night: Entries due November 1, 2024
There are times staying up all night is an adventure: sleepovers; endless coffees with friends at the 24-hour diner; awaiting the sunrise with a lover. And then there are times you’d give anything to get some sleep: battling insomnia; pulling an all-nighter before an exam; waking up every hour to soothe a crying baby. Do you work the night shift? Find you’re most creative in the wee hours? Have any strange nocturnal habits? Don’t sleep on it: the deadline for sending us your true stories is November 1.

Complexion: Entries due December 1, 2024
A barrage of pimples when you were younger. A steadily increasing number of freckles as you age. A whole lot of melanin, or maybe not much at all. Are you someone who can never find the right shade in the makeup aisle? Does the “flesh” crayon really miss the mark? Take a long look in the mirror, then send us your true story about “Complexion” by December 1.

Records: Entries due January 1, 2025
The album that’s gotten you through every breakup. The fastest hundred-meter dash your school has ever seen. The genealogical research that uncovered your family’s past. The conviction signed by a judge. The marriage certificate that affirmed a relationship, or the divorce papers that ended it. There are all kinds of records. Send us your true story of the one you can’t forget by January 1.