Do you think emails and Facebook posts can be considered as “writing?” I do! You are writing and communicating. Have fun with your writing . . . wherever that takes you. Your writing is your personal, and sometimes public, journey. Wherever your writing lands . . . Just write!
Category: Just Write
Writing can offer solace and salvation.
From the October 2014 issue of Writer Magazine, “Writers on Writing,” Roxane Gay: “Writing, at its best and truest, can offer solace and salvation for both readers and writers.” Marlene’s Musings: Sometimes we want to read something good, just like we want comfort food. We need you, Writers, to do your best to create those words that soothe and settle us. Use the prompts sprinkled throughout The Write Spot Blog and Just Write!
Writing is vital . . .
Kevin Larimer, editor of Poets & Writers magazine, in the Sept.-Oct issue: “Writing is vital; it’s important to more people than you can imagine.” Just write!
The most important tool . . . to help me make the big choices in life — Steve Jobs
The subject of death may be uncomfortable or difficult for some. And yet, we are all going to die . . . some time. . . somehow. Here’s a quote from Steve Jobs. “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” — Steve Jobs Note from Marlene: Writing. . . letting others read your writing . . . can make you feel vulnerable, afraid and weak…
Editing is writing, too.
Editing is writing, too. Do you resist editing your writing? Does the idea of polishing your writing make you feel uncomfortable? I hear ya! Do you resist sharing your writing with others? Does putting your writing “out there” feel like you’re sending your precious child into the (cold, cruel) world? Yep, I hear that, too. I used to be very nervous about showing my writing to others. And I still am a bit nervous sometimes. But then I joined writing groups here and there and I began to share my writing. When my writing was published — it happened sort of by accident — I didn’t seek to be published. A friend encouraged me (thank you, Pat Tyler) and . . . now I’ve been published in 6 anthologies. And I have to tell ya . . . it’s fun. Here are my thoughts about the writing process of going…
Warm-ups
You have ideas what to write about. But how do you get started? Do you sit at your computer, fingers poised above the keyboard . . . ready. . . but your mind swirls, goes blank. . . at a loss how to get started. How about starting your writing time like many famous author do? With warm-ups, using writing prompts. There are many blogs and websites with ideas for writing. One of them is my interactive blog, The Write Spot Blog. You can post your writing (~600 words) and receive comments on your writing. You can also use prompts posted on my Facebook Writing Page and writing prompts on my website. http://www.thewritespot.us/writingprompt.html The joy of writing freely . . . that’s what these prompts are about. How do you start your writing time? What are your rituals? Your writing habits? Or, do you Just Write?
Fake it until you make it.
I facilitate Jumpstart writing workshops in Petaluma, California and here, online, with you. People new to writing have a hard time saying “I’m a writer.” So did I, until my writing teacher, Pat Schneider, made me say it out loud. And now I’m encouraging you to say it out loud. Come on. I’ll say it, too. I am a writer. Again, louder. I AM A WRITER. There now. . . and if you weren’t able to say it louder, fake it until you make it. No need to fake your writing. . . Just fake having confidence in your writing. And now . . . select a prompt and Just Write!
Why do you write?
“Life often has a way of making people feel small and unimportant. But if you find a way to express yourself through writing, to put your ideas and stories on paper, you’ll feel more consequential. No one should pass through time without writing their thoughts and experiences down for others to learn from. Even if only one person, a family member, reads something you wrote long after you’re gone, you live on. So writing gives you power. Writing gives you immortality.” — Antwone Fisher, Screenwriter and author Note from Marlene: I write to get out of my head and onto paper. Writing, with a pen or pencil, is an extension of my arm. When I picture my arm, it’s elongated by the pen, which in my mind, is always there. Computer typing — same thing — the keyboard is an extension of me. Writing is as natural and as much…
Lower Your Expectations and Just Write
My dear friend, Karen Batchelor, was an inspiring and wonderful writing teacher. She passed away too soon, December 2013. I was looking through material to post here and came across this gem by Karen. I hope you enjoy it and hope it inspires you to Just Write. Lower Your Expectations, by Karen Batchelor When 2012 arrived, I dismissed the thought of making any new year’s resolutions. After all, those aspirations often died just days or hours after their birth. However, on January 1, a tiny little idea began to germinate. A few minutes later when the concept was fully formed, I started in on my new project. My goal: Write a minimum of five minutes a day. I can hear some of you chuckling. What kind of a goal is that? In fact for some time, neither grandiose nor modest intentions have worked. Although I could create a lot of…
Books on writing
There are more how-to-write books than we have time to read. IF we tried, we would spend all our time reading about writing and not writing. But there are a few especially good how-to write books. Here are some of my favorites. What are your favorite writing books? Dorothea Brande was an early proponent of freewriting. In her book Becoming a Writer (1934), she advises writers to sit and write for 30 minutes every morning, as fast as they can. Peter Elbow advanced freewriting in his books Writing with Power and Writing Without Teachers (1975), and freewriting has been popularized by Julia Cameron through her books The Artist’s Way and The Right to Write. A few more writing books: Aronie, Nancy Slonim – Writing From the Heart Baldwin, Christina – Storycatcher Barrington, Judith – Writing the Memoir, From Truth to Art Baty, Chris – No Plot? No Problem! Bennet, Hal…