Remember when . . .
What did you do after school?
Start writing, see where this prompt takes you.
#justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
Author: mcullen
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After school . . . Prompt #644
Photo by madmaven -
EGGS-istentialism
EGGS-istentialism
By Su Shafer
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.
Fragile egg is not so fragile.
Blank slate not so blank.
Like a bud inwardly smiling
About the blossom to come.
Potential quietly waiting,
Imagining possibilities.
A whole universe before creation.
How can it contain so much excitement
And remain so calm
And confident?
It doesn’t fear the breaking
Or the new world waiting
Outside its shell.
Su Shafer is a creative crafter, fabricating bits of writing in poetry and short stories, and generating characters that appear in paintings and sit on various bookshelves and coffee tables.
She lives in a cottage on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, and always has an extra cup of tea ready should a Sasquatch stop by on its the way to Island Lake nearby. Adventure is always afoot in the untamed forests of the Pacific North West!
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Write to exorcize . . .
“Write to exorcize what’s haunting you. Write about whatever it is you can’t get out of your head—a person, a place, a fear, a fictional scene, a memory from your past, a fantasy for your future. Allow yourself to think obsessively and shamelessly about only that one thing for as long as it takes to get it down on paper.” —Puloma Ghosh, on The Isolation Journal, created by Suleika Joauad.
The Isolation Journals is Suleika’s newsletter for “people seeking to transform life’s interruptions into creative grist. Both free and paid subscriptions are available.”
#justwrite #iamawriter #iamwriting
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A Pantoum for Constance Demby
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.
A Pantoum for Constance Demby
By Leigh Anne Caryl
They said she died almost without notice
Thank God her music lingers
Beautiful transcendent videos
Visuals of stained glass gothic cathedrals
Thank God her music lingers
An unapologetic exploration of meditative melodies
Lifting me above the Ethos Grand
Visuals of stained glass gothic cathedrals
An unapologetic exploration of meditative melodies
Beautiful transcendent videos
Visuals of stained glass gothic cathedrals
They said she died almost without notice______________________________________
Tribute to a Marin County Friend I will never forgetLeigh Anne Caryl is a pen name. This is her poetic inner child and muse that has been a lifelong writer and constant internal friend, who feels safe to reveal the emotions, and deepest secrets within her soul.
Her first published poem was in 1989. She was printed nationally by Prentice Hall Press, as the forward to a 21-step book on recovery titled, “Soul Survivors” by J. Patrick Gannon, PhD.
Her audience reaches survivors suffering from trauma and abuse. Leigh Anne writes about what her alter ego cannot. Along the way, she intertwined original healing music, and her lyrical message of hope, with musical friendships of different genres that sparked her ambition and personal growth.
This pantoum is dedicated to the memory of a woman with a special personality, who wasn’t afraid to be a pioneer, a New Age innovator, and a mentor.
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The Disappointed Housewife
Notes from The Disappointed Housewife editor Kevin Brennan:
“The Disappointed Housewife is a literary journal for writers, and readers, who are seeking something different. We like the idiosyncratic, the iconoclastic, the offbeat, the hard-to-categorize. Out of the universe of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, we want to attract work that plays with form and presentation. Work that’s not just outside the box but turns the box inside out.”
Excerpt from Mission Statement
I took a long time debating whether to launch this literary journal. I wondered whether there’s really a need for another online gazette of literature and image, when readers hardly have time to read their friends’ Facebook pages much less an actual book now and then.
But I got to thinking, there are an awful lot of writers out there, looking for places to share their work. And while blogs offer a kind of outlet for works of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, they are generally personal, a lot like online diaries in many ways, and most of all they aren’t curated.
I’ve also found, as a consumer of writing on the web, that I have a hard time finding much of the kind of material I’m really interested in. After a lifetime of reading, I have a taste now for something different. Stories that are made differently, that play with form and presentation.
Publishing, as a business, tends to incentivize writers to produce what they think will sell.
Yet there is a place for “high risk” writing, fresh, creative, experimental, idiosyncratic, idiomatic, iconoclastic writing. Writers should be allowed to have their quirks.
So I decided to forge ahead with this project, to see what comes in over the transom when writers are given the flexibility to “think different,” as Apple used to say.
I’m afraid that many writers will be disappointed that The Disappointed Housewife declines their work. But it will only be because the editors envision another way the piece could be a better fit, a way that better conforms with the journal’s proclivities. It’s not you, it’s us. Don’t be discouraged. We might suggest some possibilities to you, or you can try again with something that you write with us in mind.
Just remember, this is the place to find writing (in all its manifestations) that you can’t find anyplace else.
Thank you, Guy Biederman, for posting about The Disappointed Housewife on Facebook.
Guy’s “Language of Lies” posted in The Disappointed Housewife.
Meet Guy in [Zoom] person:
May 5 and May 19, 2022: Guy will teach flash fiction writing. Free on Zoom through Recovery Writing of Idaho.
#amwriting #justwrite #iamawriter
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Don’t Tell Anyone . . . Prompt #643
Writing Prompt:
Don’t tell anyone . . .
#justwrite #iamawriter #iamwriting
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Divine Candy
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.
Divine Candy
By Sandra de Helen
On Route 66, Dead Man’s Curve
our house with an outhouse on seven acres
with no running water,
no candy store in sight.
We ate the eggs our chickens lay,
beans, potatoes, and greens
Mom picked in the woods.
No sweets except on holidays.
Grandma baked pies,
Aunt Mame made candy:
Chocolate fudge, peanut butter bars,
and her heavenly divinity.
Billowy clouds of white sugar,
studded with walnuts Mame herself
picked out with her prized nutcracker set.
Black walnuts the family gathered together
to gather from alongside gravel roads
of the nearby countryside.
Once each year every small family
within our larger family
were gifted a decorated box
of Aunt Mame’s treasured sweets.
We rationed them, made them last
by savoring each bite with the mindfulness
we’ve long since forgotten.
Only my sister and I are left to recall
our Aunt Mame and her gifts.
No one thought to ask for her recipe,
and no family member makes divinity.
Sandra de Helen lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. She is author of the Shirley Combs/Dr. Mary Watson mystery series, set in Portland; Till Darkness Comes, a thriller set in Kansas City, Missouri; and four collections of lesbian poetry published by Launch Point Press.
Sandra is a member of the Golden Crown Literary Society, Dramatists Guild, Honor Roll! and International Centre for Women Playwrights.
Follow her on Twitter @dehelen
Follow her on Instagram @dehelen
Check out her Facebook page.
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A Safe Place . . . Prompt #642
Today’s writing prompt starts with a visualization.
Sit back. Relax.
Breathe in deeply.
Release and relax as you breathe out.
Let go.
Let your mind relax. Settle into your chair.
Nothing for you to do right now, except be here.
Nowhere for you to go.
Let your mind drift.
Go back to a time when you were little … 4 or 6 or 7 years old.
A time when the world was fresh to you.
Filled with new sights, adventures and exploring.
A time when there was magic in the air. Full of possibilities.
Take a deep breathe in and settle into your comfortable space.
No worries.
No hurries just now.
This is your time, in your special place.
Imagine or remember what your world was like when you were 4 or 6 or 7 years old.
When everyone was taller than you. Everyone seemed wiser than you.
But you knew some things.
Even at that young age, you had strong feelings about some things.
Perhaps a pet, or a favorite toy, or a special blanket.
You had an attachment to something.
Maybe you were attached to an idea like snowing on Christmas Eve, or the perfect family, or the perfect vacation.
Take a deep breath. Feel your breath go past your lungs, past your chest, into your belly. And release.
When you are ready, write about a safe place … either a real place from your childhood, or an imaginary place.You could also write about an item, a person or an animal that brings you comfort and joy.
Other prompts that work well with this visualization:
The way I found out about . . .
Just Write!
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Jon Batiste, radar, and writing
Jon Batiste “I believe this to my core, there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor,” he began. “The creative arts are subjective and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most. It’s like a song or an album is made and it’s almost like it has a radar to find the person when they need it the most.” — Jon Batiste, during his 2022 Grammy winner for best album acceptance speech
I think writing can be included in the creative arts category.
When we’re lucky, our writing radar picks up news and events when we need them to enhance our writing.
And that includes writing communities like The Write Spot.
Welcome! I’m so glad you are here.
The Write Spot Resources Page:
Writing Blogs and Websites
Places to submit writing
Community groups
Writing magazines
#justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
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Brevity Blog seeks submissions
Brevity Blog is the place to discuss issues related to the writing of creative nonfiction. “Though we don’t shy away from important issues in the writing community, the Brevity blog can also often be colloquial, personal, and at times irreverent or humorous, and our most popular posts tend to be those that are the least academic.”
Appropriate topics for the Blog include the craft of writing nonfiction, issues in editing and publishing, writing conference and creative writing classroom experiences, interviews with writers or editors, prompts, close reading of essays or essayists, or specific issues that challenge us as we attempt to capture true experiences on the page.
Word Count: 500 to1,000 word range (sweet spot is 850).
Brevity Online Journal also welcomes submissions.