Today’s writing prompt: It’s a miracle . . . Write whatever comes up. Write whatever pops into your head. Don’t judge. Don’t edit. Don’t be critical. Just write! It’s a miracle . . .
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.
Jeff Goins & His System
Today’s guest blogger, Jeff Goins, shares the system he uses to write books and blog posts. Excerpt from Jeff: Most writers think writing is a one-step process . . . it’s a three-step process: coming up with ideas, turning those ideas into drafts, and then editing those drafts into publishable pieces. The Three-Bucket System . . . how I get my writing done. Bucket #1: Ideas Capture ideas [and keep] in a place where you can return to. Bucket #2: Drafts Pull an idea out from the first bucket and start writing. Save in a draft folder. At any given time, I have a whole bunch of half-finished chapters and blog posts on my computer begging to be edited and completed. The point of this system is to think as little as possible and just do the next thing. Bucket #3: Edits Pull out one of those drafts and edit it. Either schedule it…
Childhood dream. Prompt #467
Write about your childhood dream. Is your childhood dream still calling you?
Anne R. Allen & Indie Publishing
The following is an excerpt from Anne R. Allen’s December 22, 2019 blog post. You, too, can be an indie-author. It helps to be informed with willingness to do the work. From Anne: In a few days we’ll be leaving the twenty-teens to enter the 2020s. We’ll be saying goodbye to a decade of wild upheaval in the publishing industry. It’s been quite a ride. On January 5th, [we hosted] agent Laurie McLean from Fuse Literary Agency, for her annual “Crystal Ball” predictions for publishing in 2020. But today I’m thinking about the decade that’s passing, and how it disrupted and radically changed the way authors approach publication. A lot of us got to behave like teens—experimenting with radical publishing ideas and trying on lots of new writing venues for size. Amazon’s Kindle had the right name. It fired up the writing community in a major way. Self-publishing became a…
Women Food And God
Writers usually are deep thinkers and often write in their heads as they go about their day. I’m always looking for writing prompts to inspire writing. Women Food and God by Geneen Roth is filled with practical tips for life as well as inspiration to get the stuff in your head onto paper, where you can reflect and find answers to difficult life situations. You can use the ideas in this book as writing prompts. Excerpts from Women Food and God and writing prompts: “Stephen Levine, a Buddhist teacher, says that hell is wanting to be somewhere different from where you are. Being in one place and wanting to be somewhere else. Being constantly agitated—another word for nonaccepting—about the inevitable. Being in a relationship with someone and refusing to surrender to the low because you don’t want to give yourself to something you will eventually lose. That’s called living in…
Chicken Soup for the Soul
From the Chicken Soup for the Soul website: We have many Chicken Soup for the Soul books in development and we frequently add new titles. If you have a great story or poem you want to submit but it doesn’t fit with any of the topics listed below, please save it and check back to see if we have added a topic that’s a better match. If you have a story or poem that you think fits two of the topics below, you may submit it to both. Then let them know in the Comments section that you’ve done so. Also, you may submit more than one piece for each book. We are always looking for new talent. So whether you are a regular contributor or new to our family, please share your story or poem with us. If this is your first time, please visit the Story Guidelines page, which…
Who? Where? When? Why? Prompt #466
Who? Where? When? Why? Just write!
Nathan Bransford
Guest Blogger Nathan Bransford reflects about this past decade with the constant of books by his side. The following is excerpted from Nathan’s December 30, 2019 blog post. So much can change over the course of a decade or two. Thank goodness the books we read and write will still be there waiting for us when we need them. When the clock struck midnight to ring in January 1, 2010, I was a literary agent with Curtis Brown Ltd. in San Francisco, I was married, and the ink was barely dry on my first book deal for the Jacob Wonderbar series. Little did I know that within a year and a half all that would change. Amid all this change, amid all of this upheaval and turmoil, there’s only one thing in my life that hasn’t changed. Books. The first time I visualized my current life was during a vacation in 2010…
How did I get here? Prompt #465
Sometimes we drive a familiar route as if in a daze. At some point we become aware that we have been driving unaware and wonder, “How did I get here?” Sometimes we’re at a job, either paid or volunteer, or we’re enmeshed in an activity, either fun or dramatic or both. Perhaps we’ve been consumed with this activity. Maybe we wake up one day and wonder, “How did I get here?” Sometimes we look around and all of a sudden we’re 40, or 50, or 60 years old, or in my case, in my early seventies. Sometimes we wonder, “How did I get here?” Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice is inspired from Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming. This journal helps “to alleviate the pressure of knowing what to write about.” “Writing Becoming led [Michelle] Obama to see the importance of taking time for contemplation. When asked about her…
Reduce stress!
“Journaling is a great tool to reduce stress and get to know yourself better.” — Paul Anderson, December 2019 Costco Connection Picture me (Marlene) jumping up and down with pom-poms. I believe that we can heal through writing and we can definitely open doors to learning about ourselves when we write, journal-style or freewrite style. But sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice features questions and quotes to help write family histories and assists with delving into personal issues. “There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This for me, is how we become.” —Michelle Obama Here are some ideas to help start writing: Get Started – How to Use Writing Prompts Don’t think. Don’t plan. Just write….