Do Dreams Come True? Prompt #394

  • Do Dreams Come True? Prompt #394

    Do dreams come true? I think they can. I’ve had a dream since 2005, an item I can now cross off my bucket list: Produce a series of books to inspire writing.

    The recently published, The Write Spot: Reflections is the third book in The Write Spot Series.

    Today’s Prompt:

    Write your bucket list . . . things you want to do. Your dream wish list. Take a few minutes for this.

    Next: Choose an item from this list and write as if it were five years from now and you have completed your dream. A sort of cheerleading note to yourself.

    Go on . . . Dare to dream!

    For more inspirational writing on this topic:

    Prompt #212: What is on your bucket list?

    Prompt #216: Portals, Dreams and Promises

    The Write Spot: Reflections is available for $12 at Amazon, Copperfield’s Petaluma, and JavAmore Café .

     

    Marlene C

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  • About Anthologies

    What do you think when you hear a book is an anthology?

    Some people may be delighted with thoughts of reading from a variety of authors. Others may groan, remembering antiquated stories in outdated books.

    Me? I’m excited to produce anthologies so that a diverse group of writers can be introduced into the writing scene.

    My third anthology, The Write Spot: Reflections was recently published with the help of two authors who didn’t even know they were cheering me on.

    Eleanor Henderson and Anna Solomon, co-editors of Labor Day: True Birth Stories by Today’s Best Women Writers, wrote an article, “Labor of Love,” printed in Poets & Writers magazine, May June 2014.

    “Labor of Love” was my steadfast companion on my journey from “What am I doing?” and “Will this work?” to the completion of three anthologies.

    Excerpt from “Labor of Love”

    “We’ve always loved anthologies. As new writers, we buried ourselves in them, finding stories, poems, and essays that shaped and inspired our own work. Now we return to them when we need a good laugh, or comfort — when we need the sort of perspective that only multiple voices can provide. The best anthologies are like the best mix tapes: individual pieces playing with and against one another, resulting in an eclectic, vibrant chorus.”

    Beautiful, gorgeous writing by Eleanor and Anna.

    “Labor of Love” describes their journey from conception of their idea for an anthology to the birth of their successful book.

    “When we checked in with our agents, they were tepid about the idea.”

    Eleanor and Anna persisted. They had faith in their project, gathered birth stories, found a publishing house and their book was published.

    Their final words, and these are the words that kept me going when I had doubts about producing anthologies:

    “Don’t lose faith. So the word anthology might turn some people off at first. But if you develop a unique idea and stay true to your vision, eventually it will pull readers in.”

    One of the challenges for The Write Spot series of books was what title to use. I wanted a title that indicated these are books to inspire writing and also books that are entertaining. With the third book, I simply shortened the title.

    The Write Spot anthologies are available for $12 at Amazon.

    The Write Spot to Jumpstart Your Writing: Discoveries

    The Write Spot to Jumpstart Your Writing: Connections

    The Write Spot: Reflections

    Marlene C

  • Autumnal glow . . . Prompt #393

    Finish the sentence and keep writing:

    The autumnal glow, chilly afternoons, and crisp nights . . .

    Marlene C

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  • Ignite Your Creativity

    Today’s post is inspired by Creativity Coach Suzanne Murray.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Photo by John Pierce.

    Suzanne writes:

    CREATIVITY COMES FROM BEYOND THE MIND

    All the things that truly matter – beauty, love , creativity, joy, inner peace – arise from beyond the mind. – Eckhart Tolle

    Once years ago when someone asked me what we did in my writing workshop I laughingly responded, “I’ll teach you to lose your mind.” I was delighted when they signed up on the spot. One of the reasons most people don’t think they are creative is that the mind doesn’t understand how creativity works.

    I remember early in my writing life when one of my personal essays won a significant award, including a grant to support my work, I went into a bit of a panic because I wasn’t completely sure how I had written the piece. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it again and they would find out I was a fraud.

    As I continued to write I realized that I had actually been practicing the craft of writing for years by showing up to write at least a page of some kind every day, reading the kind of writing I am drawn to write, playing with revision and evolving my own voice and style all from the place of the intuitive mind. I had a sense of how a piece wanted to come together and just keep playing with the weaving of words.

    I eventually understood that this was how the creative process worked. If I kept showing up the inspiration would continue to meet me and I would have a sense of what to do with it. I also learned that not everything I started wanted to be finished. Sometimes it was part of the learning process that took me to the next step or the next level.

    With more than twenty years experience of teaching the writing process and working as a creativity coach, I’ve seen the importance of actually giving people the experience of being creative. Helping them move beyond the mind so that they learn to let go and allow their hearts and the fires of imagination take them into the creative flow. That’s where the joy is, which provides the motivation to keep going. We discover that the act of being creative is its own reward.

    Suzanne Murray is a writing coach, creativity coach, and EFT worker.

    EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)

    I’ve been working with EFT in new ways that allow us to laser in on the issue and shift it at the core. It can help expand your life on every level, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We often make significant shifts in a single session. Sessions are available by phone and Skype.

    CREATIVITY COACHING

    Creativity is a process that can be learned. Do you want to experience the pleasure and joy that comes from adding satisfaction and meaning and a sense of well being to your life through creative expression? I will offer practical, emotional and soulful strategies to help you fully uncover your creative gifts and support yourself in expressing them.

    HEART OF WRITING PROCESS COACHING

    Do you want to ignite your creativity and show up to your writing on a regular basis or go deeper into the process and craft? I offer online coaching to support you and coach you through any resistance or problems along the way. I can send you daily lessons and assignments that cover important aspects of the writing process and information on craft. Or if you are working on a project or book we can tailor our work together to really fit your specific needs. I hold the space of unconditional acceptance and support to nurturing your unique voice and work on the stories that are really important to you.

    Marlene C

  • Midsummer’s Day . . . Prompt #392

    It was a sultry midsummer’s day . . .

    You can finish the sentence or use the photo to inspire your writing.

    Write whatever comes up for you.

    Marlene C

  • Prized possession. Prompt #391

    What is your most prized or cherished possession?

    Why?

    Marlene C

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  • Mental Snapshot . . . Prompt #390

    Our minds register events like snapshots, especially stressful or shocking events.

    Our minds take a snapshot as if we need to remember that point in time.

    For example, you probably remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard about John F. Kennedy being shot or September 11th or the October Northern California fires.

    For this prompt, I’d like to make it more personal. Yes, you can write about a global event. Or, you can use this prompt as an opportunity to take a deeper look at something that is personally meaningful to you.

    Something that was a type of surprise or shock so you took a mental snapshot.

    It could be good or surprising news. It could be something that was upsetting or disturbing.

    I invite you to go inward and write about a mental snapshot you carry with you.

    When writing about difficult experiences, take care not to re-traumatize yourself. There are many ideas on how to write about difficult subjects on The Write Spot Blog.
    Type “trauma” in the search box. There are several choices on how to write without adding trauma.

    Marlene C

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  • 45th Parallel is looking for . . .

    45th Parallel is looking for original, previously unpublished fiction, nonfiction, poetry, artwork and comics.
    Currently accepting submissions. Deadline: November 30, 2018. If you miss this deadline, check back for the next submission period.

    Why 45th Parallel?

    The 45th Parallel, the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole, marks the Earth’s in-between space. 45th Parallel, too, indulges in in-betweenness — the convergence of seemingly disparate content, forms, genres, and styles.

    Marlene C

  •  Yo-Yo Ma . . . Prompt #389

    Today’s writing prompt is a poem. You can write on the theme or mood of the poem, a stanza, a line, or a word to inspire your writing. Just Write!

    Yo-Yo Ma by Donna Emerson

    He played twenty years ago at Tanglewood. We sat in the first row,

    still as the moment after rain. Air full of ozone under an enormous

    white tent for his perfect baroque bowing, for his move into the

    music, his calm, restrained stroke.

     

    People stood in the aisles. Yo-Yo’s strong bow arm reached front,

    his body tilted back. His face, shoulders, then body transformed

    into his cello and song.

     

    His excited strumming. Plucking like a mad man. His confident

    leaning, his fond embrace of his old cello. We stopped breathing in

    the piano parts, our breaths pure when they burst out during the

    double fortissimo.

     

    Fully felt notes. Deep bells on tops of quiet mountains. He took us

    with him. Swaying as one. At the break we couldn’t stop

    exclaiming, filled with perfect sounds.

     

    He thanked everyone who played with him. He walked up to them

    during the standing ovation for him and said so.

    Five year later he came to Santa Rosa. He let my son play his

    Montagnana cello. Yo-Yo said he wanted to play bass as a child,

    but his father told him their house was too small.

     

    Listening while the children stroked, he thanked the air.

    He thanked the children, clapped for their trying.

    He thanked our ears and the music showering over them.

    —Previously published in The Place of Our Meeting, Finishing Line Press.

    Marlene C

  • A Letter to My Sister During Drought . . . Prompt #388

    Today’s writing prompt is a poem. You can write on the theme or mood of the poem, a stanza, a line, or a word to inspire your writing. Just Write!

     

    A Letter to My Sister During Drought by Donna Emerson

    In this fourth year of drought,

    California trees begin to fall.

    Orchards of almonds lie

    on their sides near Fresno.

    Rows of apricot trees black, bent.

     

    Remember when we listened

    to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons?

    Only one season here:

    red summer hum. Our cedars

    shrivel. We are ankle-deep

    in flat brown leaves.

     

    Even my wrists are wrinkled.

    I’ve heard about your

    illnesses, which you said

    your guru would protect,

    though he died five years ago.

     

    It’s been fifteen years

    since Dad’s memorial,

    twenty since mother’s, when you

    changed your name,

    wrote your last letter

    “releasing me from your life.”

     

    I know you can’t see the water

    from where you live, but I’d

    settle for a silent sitting together

    on a bench beside our old pond.

    —Previously published in The Place of Our Meeting, Finishing Line Press.

    Donna Emerson

    Living in Petaluma, California with her husband and daughter, Donna recently retired from teaching at Santa Rosa Jr. College and from her clinical social work practice.

    Donna’s recent publications include Calyx, Sanskrit, the Denver Quarterly, The Paterson Literary Review, the New Ohio Review, Weber: the Contemporary West, and the London Magazine.. She has been nominated for a Pushcart, “Best of the Net” and received two Allen Ginsberg awards (2015, 2017).  Her four chapbooks include This Water, 2007, Body Rhymes, 2009, Wild Mercy, 2011, and Following Hay, 2013.

    Her first full-length poetry collection, The Place of Our Meeting was  published in January 2018 by Finishing Line Press. She is currently completing her second full-length book, Beside the Well, to be published by Cherry Grove Collections in December, 2019.

    Marlene C