Part Three of a three-part series of writing prompts inspired by Susan Bono’s Jumpstart Writing Workshop. A rewarding aspect of writing is when writers create scenarios that offer illumination for readers . . . that “aha moment.” Inside a Snowflake Tiny snow droplets slide into the snowflake as it falls to the ground. if you listen, really closely, you can hear the sun crunching together. The weather is stormy—a snowstorm with little snowflakes inside the big snowflake. A girl lives in the snowflake, with golden hair in pretty braids with a ribbon on the bottom. At midnight she watches the snow fall outside the snowflake, and the icicles drip. the next day she goes out on the frozen lake and ice skates. Sparks of ice fly up behind her. By Emily Osborn, Grade 3, Poetry In The Schools I love this…
Tri-Quarterly – writing, art and cultural inquiry
TriQuarterly is the literary magazine of Northwestern University. This web journal is edited by graduate students and supervised by faculty. TriQuarterly is “an international journal of writing, art, and cultural inquiry.” From now until May 1, 2016, TQ welcomes submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, short drama, short-short prose pieces, video essays, and hybrid work from established as well as emerging writers. TQ is especially interested in work that embraces the world and continues, however subtly, the ongoing global conversation about culture and society that TriQuarterly pursued from its beginning in 1964. TriQuarterly pays honoraria for creative work and publishes two issues a year. Submission Guidelines.
Narrator is the last to know . . . Prompt #224
This is Part Two of a three-part series of writing prompts inspired by Susan Bono’s Jumpstart Writing Workshop. Part One: Something Missing . . . Prompt #223 Susan talked about creating tension when the reader knows something that the narrator/character doesn’t know. Prompt: Create or recreate a scene where the narrator/character doesn’t know what’s going on.
Story of A Reluctant Memoirist
Guest Blogger Zoe FitzGerald Carter, author of Imperfect Endings: A Daughter’s Story of Love, Loss, and Letting Go (Simon & Schuster), writes about being a reluctant memoirist. I never intended to write a memoir. As a reader, I’ve always preferred fiction to non-fiction and my book, Imperfect Endings, which is about my mother’s decision to end her life after struggling with Parkinson’s for many years, started off as a novel. I wanted to write a fictionalized account of my experience growing up as the youngest of three girls and explore how it felt to have two powerful older sisters fighting over my soul. My idea was to create a crisis in my characters’ lives as adults and then show how the old alliances and animosities from their childhood were re-ignited by this “current” event. At the time, I was struggling to make sense of my mother’s suicide and I thought,…
Something missing . . . Prompt #223
I had the good fortune recently to “sit on the other side of the table.” I attended a Jumpstart Writing Workshop facilitated by Susan Bono. Susan talked about how there is tension between what the reader knows and what the narrator/character doesn’t know. Photo of Susan at Jumpstart Writing Workshop in Copperfield’s Bookstore, downtown Petaluma. Photo by Breana Marie. Susan read Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Something Missing.” I put on my socks, I remember I put on my shoes. I remember I put on my tie That was painted In beautiful purples and blues. I remember I put on my coat, To look perfectly grand at the dance, Yet I feel there is something I may have forgot—- What is it? What is it?. . . Do you know what the narrator forgot? If you don’t know, read the poem again. It rhymes with “dance.” . . . Pants! Susan…
Imperfect Endings by Zoe FitzGerald Carter
Sometimes you read a book and it turns out to be perfect timing. You might not know it when you start the book but then, as you read and your life unfolds, the unexpected becomes a gift. That’s what happened as I read Imperfect Endings by Zoe FitzGerald Carter. In Imperfect Endings, Zoe expertly tells the story about her mother’s decision to end her life and the difficult days that follow. Zoe deftly weaves the end-of-life narration with childhood experiences as she and her two sisters navigate this unexpected turn in their lives. Written with grace and honesty, Zoe captures recognizable emotions about how we get along, or don’t get along with our parents and our siblings. Her eloquent exploration of these primal feelings is like art in its simplicity and transparency. Zoe says to her sister, “I’m totally losing it, Han. I feel like I’m sleepwalking.” “You’re overloaded,” Hannah…
weirderary . . . encourages creativity
weirderary is an online literary magazine dedicated to high quality creative work. “We publish writing, comics, art, and hybrid pieces, favoring fresh and uncommon forms, subjects, and points of view. Over here, “weird” is a compliment, not a pejorative. weirderary comes out three times per year: March, June, and October 17th.” Accepting submissions now and up to March 1, 2016. The genius of weirderary: Jessica Thompson, TJ Murray, and Colleen Kolba. “Send us your weirdest stuff, whether in content or form. We want the unusual. We want to be surprised. We appreciate humor, but that doesn’t only mean light-hearted and goofy. Feel free to go dark. Get serious, just do it in a form or from a perspective we don’t see very often. Cross genre lines and experiment. Send us the work you don’t know how to define.” Submit by email: submit-at-weirderary.com. Put the category and title of what you’re submitting in the…
Happiness Recipe . . . Prompt # 222
What is your recipe for happiness? Oh, I know there is no “Happy Recipe.” But let’s say there is . . . what is the secret ingredient? What makes you, or your fictional character, happy? Interesting article on happiness (if you have vertigo, quickly scroll past the swirly circling thing). I love the quotes from Elvis and Jim Carry. Ted, Moreno’s Happiness and the Hypnosis of the Culture, Part I
What’s so great about being happy?
Today’s Guest Blogger, Ted A. Moreno, writes about how “happiness is our natural state of being.” What’s so great about happiness? Why are most of us always striving for happiness? Why is it so hard? Wikipedia defines happiness as: a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. What I think is interesting is that when we are happy, we don’t notice it as much as when we are unhappy. To me, this suggests that happiness is our natural state of being. We are very aware of when we are experiencing negative or unpleasant emotions or when we are not content. We try to do something about it. We seem to be more motivated to avoid unhappiness than to pursue happiness. I also think that for many, unhappiness can become a habit. What is your habit of being? Bob Dylan…
What I Learned . .. Prompt #221
So many possibilities for this prompt. You can write what you learned, what someone else learned, what your fictional character learned. Just write! Writing Prompt: What I Learned