“Live in the present, since you cannot change the past or control the future.” — B. Lynn Goodwin Marlene’s Musings: Good advice for anyone, especially writers. Just do your best to be the most authentic writer you can be. Your truth and your genuineness will come out in your writing. Your poignancy, your humor, your unique “you-ness” will bring a freshness and honesty to your writing. Be your best self . . . who else can you be? Except from “Celebrate Your Uniqueness,” by B. Lynn Goodwin B. Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com, which is currently holding its 10th Flash Prose Contest. She’s the author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers, and a YA called Talent, which Eternal Press will be publishing this year. Her short pieces have been published in local and regional publications. Lynn will be on a panel of…
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.
Open your heart and turn on creativity.
Learn the craft of knowing how to open your heart and to turn on your creativity. There’s a light inside of you. — Judith Jamison Marlene’s Musings: Once you open your heart to your creativity, you can explore many options for expressing your creativity: Painting, sculpture, song-writing, fabric art, stenciling, sketching and more and, of course, my favorite: Freewrites. What are freewrites? Time spent freely writing whatever your heart desires and whatever your creativity suggests to you. Just write! Let your light shine. Share your work, share your passion. Post your writing here, on The Write Spot Blog. Click here for writing prompts and more writing prompts here.
WriterAdvice seeks flash fiction, memoir and creative non-fiction
WriterAdvice seeks flash fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction, 750 words or less. “Enlighten, dazzle, and delight us.” Finalists receive responses from all judges. DEADLINE: April 21, 2015 PRIZES: First Place earns $200; Second Place earns $100; Third Place earns $50; Honorable Mentions will also be published. FOR BEST RESULTS: Include your name, contact information, and title in the cover letter, but only include your title in the submission so it remains anonymous. Indicate if the submission is fiction, non-fiction or memoir in the cover letter. Double-space your submission, 14-point font that is easy to read. Times New Roman, Cambria, and Ariel all spring to mind. Submissions are read as blind submissions so put both your name and your title in your cover letter but leave them off your manuscript. SUBMISSIONS: All entries should be submitted through Submittable. Click here for the Submission Details. You may enter UP TO THREE stories,…
Our imaginary selves. Prompt #151
Excerpt from Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach, April 3: What are you going to be when you grow up? Today, let’s think about paths not yet taken—the paths of our secret imaginary selves. Each of us leads many lives vicariously and often simultaneously. By acknowledging our secret lives and tapping into the wisdom of our imaginary alter egos, we can glean tips to help us develop our own personal sense of style. If you had ten other lives to lead, what would you be doing? You might want to be a radio disc jockey, a mountain climber, a Broadway lyricist, a filmmaker, a romance novelist, a brain surgeon, a syndicated newspaper columnist, a psychic, a horticulturist, a holistic veterinarian, or a potter. . . Now write down your secret selves. How do they live? How do they dress? What can you do to bring some of the magic of…
Before you publish, take one more vital step: Invite a very important person to the party.
Guest Blogger Linda Jay writes about copyediting. In 2012, Joel Friedlander asked Linda Jay to offer readers of his popular blog, The Book Designer, advice at that time, on “one of the most important decisions a self-publisher makes: hiring a copyeditor.” Here’s her reply, still pertinent today: Agreed. You’ve spent months (or possibly years) writing the manuscript that will one day be your book. You’ve distilled all those handwritten notes from pages or scraps of paper, those often-incoherent e-mails to yourself, and those ideas racing around in your brain, and typed every one of them into the computer, in some loosely organized format that vaguely resembles a book. Then one day… hooray… it occurs to you that… you’re done! Now you can’t wait to get your little gem “OUT THERE” for all the world to marvel at. You are indeed a writer (which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny)! Oh,…
This time next year . . . Prompt #150
Today’s prompt: This time next year . . . Write whatever comes up for you. No thinking. No analyzing. Just write!
Your Story Is Buried Treasure.
“Writing is therapeutic. It saves lives. Your truths are eager to come out. Let them spill onto the page, and see what doors writing opens for you. Your story is buried treasure. One of the simplest, most private places to write is in a journal. It allows you to vent, delve into issues, and untangle messes. It lets you analyze or celebrate. It allows you to finish a thought without interruption. The journal validates your right to be who you are.” — B. Lynn Goodwin, “Celebrate Your Uniqueness” in Inspire Me Today. B. Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, which is currently holding its 10th Flash Prose Contest. She’s the author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers, and a YA called Talent, which Eternal Press will be publishing this year. Her short pieces have been published in local and regional publications. Lynn will be…
Write authentically about difficult subjects
I recently read an outstanding novel, Splinters of Light, by Rachael Herron, “a poignant and beautiful novel about love, loss, and the unbreakable bonds of family—particularly those between mothers, daughters, and sisters.” — Amazon In this full-of-heart novel, the mother has early onset Alzheimer’s disease. I wondered how Rachael could write so authentically and intimately about something she didn’t have personal experience with. This is the gift of a writer who knows how to research and turn that information into a compelling story. I asked her how she wrote so authentically about early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (EOAD). Her answer: “I love immersing myself in the worlds I write about, but I’ll admit this was a hard one. Because there’s no cure for early-onset Alzheimer’s, there are really no happy endings. So I had to read about and research families that were breaking apart, but still focus on the happy parts of…
Two-Minute Memoir, Psychology Today
Two-Minute Memoir focuses specifically on a personal story of growth. Typically told in first person, the selected essays should have a beginning, middle and end. Like most good essays, selected essays feature important internal change or revelation. As mentioned in the March/April 2015 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine: “Write something unusual.” Not the usual: mental illness, grief, divorce, falling in love, etc . . . unless there is something “distinctive or unusual about the story to make it work.” How to submit: Past your 1,500 word essay (or fewer words) in an email to: jennifer.blyer -at- psychologytoday.com Include a brief introduction and a one-sentence summary.
Last . . . Prompt #149
Sometimes writing prompts are fun and playful. Sometimes they inspire memoir type writing. Other times they work well for fiction writing. Mostly the prompts are what you make of them . . . you can go light and stay on the surface, skating on the edge, or you can go deep. This quick type of writing is an opportunity to explore and perhaps come up with ideas for writing, or . . .for solutions to situations . . . or, for personal growth and transformation. Shed your ideas about what perfect writing means. Give yourself permission to be open to whatever comes up. Writing isn’t always about talent, it’s about practice and going into another dimension. Rather than write for an audience, write from an instinctual level. Creative writing is an act of discovery. Immerse yourself in writing. Let go of your worries and write. Write to…