“Life Span: Impressions of a Lifetime Spent Crossing and Recrossing the Golden Gate Bridge” reviewed by Marlene Cullen. “Life Span” by Molly Giles chronicles numerous trips across Golden Gate Bridge from her earliest memory (1945) to 2023. I’m thinking of the quote “Something happened to someone. So what?” While crossing and re-crossing the span, “Life Span” readers are treated to gorgeous writing, and perhaps inspiration to write their stories. “Life Span” opens with, “If I start to behave like a normal three-year-old girl, my father will let me sit in the front seat of the moving van with him. But I have to crawl out from under the kitchen table, wash my hands and face, and stop snarling. He did not come back from The War to be attacked by a wild tiger.” I like this little girl and I want to know more. In the last chapter, Molly travels…
Author: mcullen
Marlene Cullen is enthusiastic about encouraging people to write, even those who think they can’t write. Her series of books, The Write Spot anthologies, features writing that entertains as well as inspires writing. Every story, vignette, and poem in The Write Spot books include writing prompts motivating readers to become writers.
Marlene hosts The Write Spot Blog, a treasure chest of inspirational gems for writers.
Fulfilling her passion for writing and sharing with others, Marlene has created unique writing environments such as Jumpstart Writing Workshops, where participants often experience transformational changes. Her workshops provide essential elements for successful writing.
Marlene is the founder of Writers Forum of Petaluma, a monthly literary event featuring presenters talking about the craft and business of writing.
Marlene's awarding winning short stories and essays have been published in literary journals, anthologies, and newspapers, including Tiny Lights, Building Bridges, More Bridges, Redwood Writers anthologies, and The Write Spot anthologies.
She is a member of the California Writer's Club.
Nathan Bransford asks . . .
Nathan Bransford recently posted the question, “Has your ambition changed in the past few years?” on his Blog. Hmmm . . . My answer: My goal, since 2003, has been to encourage writers, especially people who want to write but think they can’t. The older I get, the more I am inspired to keep doing what I’ve been doing: Posting inspiration to Just Write! And so, here we are, on The Write Spot Blog asking: Has your ambition changed in the past few years? You can click on Nathan’s Blog post and comment there. Or: Since I no longer have a comments section on my blog (because I couldn’t keep up with deleting spammers), you can answer the question on Marlene Cullen’s Write Spot Facebook Page. Just Write! #justwrite #iamawriteer #iamwriting
We Don’t Talk About That . . . Prompt #806
Armando Garcia-Dávila’s Youtube Talk inspired this prompt: We don’t talk about that . . . Just Write! #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
Armando Garcia-Dávila: Writing With Prisoners
Something new on The Write Spot Blog: A video! Some of us hold our cards close to our chest, reluctant to reveal anything personal. Not Garcia-Dávila. In this video, Armando opens his heart to tell us about his experience with prisoners. “I present my experiences volunteering at San Quentin State Penitentiary in Marin County, California. I interacted with inmates over three-day retreats. An unexpected takeaway; there are many decent people, some admirable, that are serving sentences from two years to life. I had an interaction with one particular inmate that was life changing for both of us.” —Armando Garcia-Dávila The video is about 50 minutes long. Scroll down for link to video. Armando opens with a poem “Keeping Quiet,” by Pablo Neruda. Suzanne Murray wrote about “Finding Magic in the Mundane,” referencing Neruda. “I have many favorite poets but, the Nobel prize winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda tops the list in…
Surrender for Inspiration
Note from Marlene:Grant Faulkner’s musings on his Substack page are golden comfort to a writer’s soul, offering unique perspectives that inspire writing. For example, his essay on “Surrender as Action Verb.” “When we surrender ourselves to our art, we allow ourselves to soften. Surrender invites us to give ourselves up to something larger, to meld with wonder and awe. Surrender creates intimacy and expansiveness at the same time. It sparks curiosity, exploration. It’s the equivalent of going to sleep: by sinking into an unconscious state, we allow dreams to fill us. We give up trying to change and control things. The rigidities of expectations, desires, and aspirations melt away. Think what would change if you allowed yourself to surrender in a conversation. What if you committed to listening, to let another’s words and spirit rise up and take you instead of focusing on your point of view, your needs. What…
Birds & Blooms Wants Your Stories
Birds & Blooms is a bimonthly magazine focused on the beauty in your backyard. “Our magazine coves a wide range of topics such as attracting hummingbirds, building birdhouses, gardening for butterflies, growing veggies, plus a lot more.” Submission Guidelines Good Luck!
Memory is a river, not a block of cement
“Alternate versions of past events are common, because it is human nature, especially where childhood memories are concerned, to move ourselves—over time—to the center of a story. We are hardwired to see the world through our own points of view, and increasingly so with the passage of time. Memory is a river, not a block of cement.” — “But My Sister Remembers It Differently: On Working with Contested Memories,” by Dinty Moore, Aug. 15, 2024 Brevity Blog.
I Don’t Know . . .
Note from Marlene: I am very excited to share Jennifer’s post with you. Since my passion is how to write about difficult subjects without adding trauma, I am especially grateful to Jennifer for addressing this topic. Jennifer’s eloquent writing on what she doesn’t know about her father is outstanding and an example of how you can write about “what you don’t know.” Guest Blogger Jennifer Leigh Selig: When I lead memoir writing retreats, I like to kickstart the mornings with writing prompts. One of the tricks of my trade is a manilla envelope stuffed with images I’ve printed out of vintage and iconic toys and games from across the decades. It’s a ritual I cherish—spreading these images out on the long conference room tables, imagining my students’ delight as they light upon a special toy or game that brings back fond memories, and then watching them begin to furiously write….
What is creative intuition?
KimBoo York has this to say about intuition: “It is your brain connecting dots so quickly that you are not aware of the connections until you look backward to figure out why you know what you know, or did what you did.” — “The Secret Sauce for Writers: Intuition,” by KimBoo York on Jane Friedman’s September 4, 2024 Blog More Write Spot Blog posts on intuition: Trust your intuition for creative writing Bella Mahaya Carter writes about courage, love, and intuition Intuition . . . Prompt #741 Just Write!
Get a chance . . . Prompt #805
What would you like to do when you get a chance? What will it take to get that chance? Should you leave it up to chance? Or, can you make it happen? Imagine. For a moment. That thing happened. How would you feel? What is the first step you can take to make it happen? What would you need to change to make “it” happen? If you can’t actually make it happen, can you write about it? Can you write around it, over it, under it, through it? Just write! And maybe it will manifest. Whatever “it” is. Prompt inspired by a line in Writing Your Parents’ Stories.