Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Enduring Awe By Karen FitzGerald What brings me joy? Riding my bike brings me joy. The wind in my face on a warm day, sailing through traffic jams piled up at those long, stop lighted intersections like Farmer’s Lane and Highway 12. I love it. I always feel child-like when I’m riding my bike. Recently, I’ve taken to singing while I cruise. Not too loud, but loud enough to feel the vibration of my voice ripple through my body, from throat to sternum to stomach and right on down my legs to my ankles as I pump my way up the Chanate hill. I especially love going off trail. That is, I am not a mountain biker. Oh no. Too hard on the back. In fact, any more I’m thinking mountain biking people are not fundamentally joyful people….
Creativity Is A Practice
Suzanne Murray writes about the rewards of engaging our creativity. There is a growing awareness that creativity is a capacity that everyone has, though they may not understand what is involved in accessing it. One of the main things that gets in the way of people embracing their creative gifts is a belief that creativity should be easy; that it should just flow out. They think they should be good at it immediately. If they are not and it’s not easy, there is a tendency to think there is something wrong with them and it’s never going to work. Yet creativity in whatever form you choose to pursue is a complex process that actually asks a lot of us. This is why is feels so good to engage since it helps us discover that we are capable of more than we thought possible, including working from expanded abilities. It is…
Listcicles . . . Prompt #762
Thank you, Deb Fenwick, for introducing the word and concept, Listcicles, to me. . Make a list of things that you did for the first time, or the last time you did this thing. Use one of those responses for your freewrite, or write a listcicle. “Listicles (also known as “list posts”) are articles that are written in a list-based format. The most common form of listicle is a short list of 10-20 items that are based on a specific theme. However, modern listicles are often enhanced with additional information around each item to make them more useful.” Wikipedia Make a list and just write! The first time I . . . Or, the last time I . . . Played hopscotch Watched my mother put on make-up Decorated a Christmas tree Stayed up late for New Year’s Eve Cleaned house Babysat Read Wizard of Oz Read Nancy Drew Read “Choose…
Party Like it’s 2044
“Party Like it’s 2044: Finding the Funny in Life and Death” by Joni B. Cole. Reviewed by Tracy Wood Here’s to another great collection from a gifted story teller! Joni Cole’s essays are a cross between David Sedaris and Kelly Corrigan. Whether she’s sharing tales of coffee mishaps on airplanes or weird encounters in public restrooms, Joni captures the humor and humanity in everyday adventures. Joni’s stories offer a break from the daily news headlines that compete for doomiest and gloomiest. Funny but never trite, her deeply personal narratives reveal universal emotions: embarrassment, nostalgia, misunderstanding, and even love of cute animals. Many chapters had me laughing out loud, and they all offered some tidbit worth remembering! I will return to these essays like I would a favorite pair of shoes. Tracy often suggests Joni’s books on writing to her students. Tracy Wood is a former Marine and retired secondary English teacher. She…
Use these words, playful or silly . . . Prompt #761
Sometimes we can be playful or silly with our writing. Sometimes we’re serious with our writing. You decide: Serious, fun, silly. Just Write! Use these words in your freewrite: Corral Cobweb Safari Rainbow Betray Feather Nest Plaid Beloved Kittens
The Sleeping Lady
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. The Sleeping Lady By Tina Deason The earth in its dormancy is like a sleeping lady. Her make-up: the leaves, the flowers, and the vines, are washed away and her naked face is revealed. And like a sleeping woman, one can see the radiance that glows from within. Without the outer adornment, we see that beauty is skin deep. . . the bark on the trees, the moss on the ground, and the rosehips clinging to the bushes. All that was hidden or silently forming is now exposed. We find glory in the structure and smell the scent of Nature’s Night Cream wafting through the air. Without the blanket of sunshine, we realize the bareness of earth’s body, with angles and curves we neglected to see before. Now we reach out to caress them and notice…
Favorite thing to do . . . Prompt #760
Write about your favorite thing to do . . . now . . . or in the past. #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
Halloween Special
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Halloween Special By Graham Chalk I am posting this for the edification and diversion of fellow travelers. I wish for no observations regarding my syntax or your tin tacks. I do not wish to hear about your grammar or my grandpa. I thank you. Halloween Special I have not written this story down before, although I have told it before. Told it as if I were at confession and the listener was a priest. But there will, I believe, be no absolution. How much of this story is true? I will let the reader decide. Schools are scary places. And when they are empty? Then they are very scary places indeed. Full of dead echoes. Generations of ghostly, silent feet disturbing the sleeping dust of generations My very first ever job was working as a lab…
Changing Seasons
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Changing Seasons By Julie Sherman My garden is feeing anxious. The hydrangeas are protesting with powdery mildew on her large leaves. The yellow stargazers are shrinking back into themselves refusing to open. The last of the white roses are reluctantly peeling back one petal at a time, objecting to the assault of cold temperatures after having owned a sunny resort for the past 4 months. The plumbago has given up altogether, and the sweet peas are trying their best to climb the trellis. The last few pink ballerinas are hanging precariously to their brittle fuchsia branches before folding in their tutus, turning brown, and falling to the ground. Only the chrysanthemums are welcoming the morning chill and pale gray skies. The veteran plants know what’s coming and are bracing themselves, feeling tough enough to survive. They…
Seasonal Considerations in 14 Stanzas
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Seasonal Considerations in 14 Stanzas By Christine Renaudin Yesterday’s rain was announced,yet came as a surprise,we’ve grown so used to dreading drought and fire. Yesterday’s rain was a giftearly for the wet season,tardy for the thirsty and parched. Yesterday’s rain relieved anxieties, expectations, released myriads of winged insects dancing in today’s afternoon sunlight. Some are termites, I think, roused by the premature sprinkle.They flutter aimlessly as if lost in the midst of dream.In two hours, I hear, their wings will fall and drop them home to thrive or die. Yesterday’s rain took us insidetrading shade for shelterto share a Sunday lunch with friends. Today the sun glistens over puddles,the air feels clean, cobwebs glitter,alive with earthy fragrances. Breath deepens, heart quickens,there is a bounce in the season: I want to catch its tune. Soon the grass…