“Write from your heart. You’ll hear that a lot, but what it means is to write from what moves you, what frightens you, what makes you deeply sad, what makes you ecstatic. Remember to write from that place where the real you exists.” John Kelly, Writer Magazine, July 2015 Photo by Jeff Cullen. Click here to see Jeff’s portfolio on fotolia.
Category: Just Write
Have you been wanting to write?
Have you been wanting to write? Perhaps this is the summer for your writing. How about this. . . let’s all (me, too) take the month of July to write 15-20 minutes a day. If you have more time, write longer. But let’s commit to a minimum of 15-20 minutes every day. What to write about? Whatever is on your mind. Need some ideas . . . some prompts to get started? Click on Prompts . . . Choose a prompt. Set your timer and Just Write! Ready? Set? Let’s go. Photo by Kent Sorensen
Just Write Magic Carpet Ride
For inspiration to Just Write: Click on a topic below and you will arrive at a (hopefully) inspirational post. Just like being on a magic carpet ride! The following are from the 2013 Just Write Posts Gorgeous Writing by Melanie Thorne Fabulous Character Sketch, Elizabeth Berg Natalie Goldberg talks about writing practice Twelve Steps to Successful Writing by Marlene Cullen Amy Zhang and Your Scraps of Writing How to get in the mood to write by Marlene Cullen Don’t think. Don’t Plan. Just Write. Marlene Cullen Natalie Goldberg’s Six Rules of Writing Get Started. How to use prompts. Marlene Cullen Pass On The Dream And Tell Its Truth – Natalie Goldberg Elizabeth Berg demystifies how to describe characters Debbie Macomber had so many rejections . . . Writing about place, August Kleinzahler Three top Pointers About Writing Personal Essay by Kelly Caldwell One way to learn how to write, get…
Every day I fail.
“I’m a novelist. Every day I fail. My drafts — when I complete them, which is not often —are inevitably shadows of what I had hoped they would be.” — Anthony Doerr Sound familiar? Writers often experience failure. . . whether it’s receiving rejection notices or failing to complete writing projects. But . . . to not try, really, is to fail. So, if you have unfinished short stories, plays, poems, manuscripts. . . dig them out, blow off the dust and see if you can get back into this project. If not. . . move on to a new piece of writing. Anthony Doerr was awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. And yet, he has doubts about his writing, just like the rest of us. “I can’t ever fully execute the glorious and inarticulable dreams in my head. Even on my best days, I just manage to cobble…
What is a freewrite and what is a writing prompt?
So. . . what is all this talk about freewrites and writing prompts? What does it all mean? A freewrite is a style of writing that is . . . well. . . freeing. The writer hears or reads a word, or a phrase, and just starts writing. Often a timer is set, so there is the “under the gun” feel of a deadline, a limited time to write. Click here for more information about freewrites. I post writing prompts writing prompts, on The Write Spot Blog. Sometimes the 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 type of writing is an opportunity to explore and perhaps come…
Le rire mécanique
If you want to write comedies, or include humor in your writing, you might want to know about “Le rire mécanique.” The phrase translates as “mechanical laughter.” I first came across this phrase in the June 2015 issue of The Writer magazine, in an article by Alicia Anistead. Anistead wrote about the French philosopher Henri Bergson and his theory that “whenever real life is suddenly interrupted by a mechanistic imposition, like the banana peel, it is disruptive and triggers laughter.” Bergson called this “le rire mécanique.” Bergson developed a theory of how laughter is provoked and described the process of laughter (in particular portrayals by comics and clowns) as “the caricature of the mechanism nature of humans (habits, automatic acts, etc.).” Wikipedia Anistead ends her article with a quote by Harvard professor Bob Scanlan, “It [le rire mécanique] pounces on you and catches you unexpectedly. That’s why the pratfall is…
An editor can offer a valuable worthwhile assessment . . .
An editor can offer a valuable worthwhile assessment of writing that can help move the manuscript closer towards publication. — Brian A. Klems, Writers Digest Magazine, October 2012 Note from Marlene: Editors are totally valuable and necessary to fact-check, spot-check, double-check and make you, the writer, look good. What does an editor do? Click here to check out the series of April 2015 blog posts by editors on The Write Spot Blog. So . . . Just Write! Give those editors something to think about! Then work with an editor to whip your manuscript into shape. Doesn’t this kitchen whip look like a magic wand? With the help of an editor to shape your writing. . . it just might feel like a magic wand was waved!
You are the person you are intended to be . . .
“Do not obsess about flaws and shortcomings. You are the person you are intended to be . . . You were put here for a reason. No one else has your unique talents. No one else sees the world through your eyes and experiences. Be yourself and share with others. No one can tell your story but you.” B. Lynn Goodwin, “Celebrate Your Uniqueness.” Originally posted in Inspire Me Today, January 2, 2014 Note from Marlene: Do not obsess about whether or not you are a writer. If you have something you want to write about . . . simply pull out a chair, sit down and . . . Just write! Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com, which is currently holding its 10th Flash Prose Contest (deadline 4/21/15). She’s the author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers, and a YA called Talent,…
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.
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…