Spring Cleaning time is here – will you be doing any cleaning? How about cleaning up more than your living space? Relationships? Goals? Write about Spring Cleaning.
Write What Is True
“Don’t write what sounds clever, write what’s true.” —Ethan Canin Excerpted from “Novelist Curtis Sittenfeld Thinks Middle Age is Underrated,” by Lane Florsheim, The Wall Street Journal, March 1-2, 2025 Sittenfeld continued with, “That’s good advice for writing, but it’s also good advice for how to be a person. It can be hard to be sincere, but I think you have a much greater chance of connection with others if you are.” Note From Marlene: You know what I say . . . Just Write! But, what if you can’t remember what’s true? “Write as honestly as you can about whatever it is.” Abigail Thomas “Perhaps” is another blog post that might help when you can’t quite remember exactly what happened. You know what to do . . .Just Write!
Break-up Letter . . . Prompt #828
Writing Prompt: Write a break-up letter to something, or someone who brings tension into your life. Prompt from Rebecca Evans and Gayle Brandeis, Musings & Movement Workshop. Rebecca will be the Writers Forum Presenter on April 15 and April 22. Free on Zoom 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific Topic: Crafting Flash in Creative Nonfiction “Unlock your superpower through conveying deep truths and universal human emotions in just a few short paragraphs.”
Perhaps
Note from Marlene: “Perhaps” is one of my favorite words. It’s an easy method of offering alternative ways of thinking. If you are writing a memoir and aren’t sure of the details, you could write, “Perhaps it happened this way.” If you are conjecturing, “perhaps” is a gentle way of saying, “It could have happened like this.” Here’s what Guest Blogger Lisa Knopp has to say about “Perhapsing.” At some point, writers of creative nonfiction come to a roadblock or dead end in our writing, where we don’t have access to the facts we need to tell our story or to sustain our reflection with depth and fullness. If only it was ethical to just make something up, we might think, or to elaborate a bit on what we know. But of course, then we wouldn’t be writing creative nonfiction. It might appear that our choices in such cases are…
Dancing Through Life
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Dancing Through Life By Diane Dupuis Dancing can transport you as you get lost in the music and lyrics, simply connecting with the beat, and potentially learning how truly magnificent our bodies are. We are all born to dance. Look at children. They dance in their seats long before they can walk. They don’t even need music. Unfortunately, as we grow, we learn to be self-conscious or feel “not good enough.” Many people stop dancing when the joy is gone, and all they feel is pressure. Added to that is the pressure of having the “perfect” form and the “perfect” dancer body. Some dance classes can add the stress of competition or feeling the need to fit in. Many studies have highlighted the amazing health benefits of dancing. Not only is it good for your heart…
Forwards and Backwards . . . Prompt #827
I bet you do this and perhaps don’t know it has an official name, or many names . . . Words that create new words when spelled backward are called: heteropalindromes, semordnilaps, semi-palindromes, half-palindromes, reversgrams, mynoretehs, reversible anagrams, word reversals, or anadromes. The term “semordnilap” is a playful invention. Though the term is relatively modern, the concept has been used for centuries. Lewis Carroll is known for creating “Semordnilap” (the reverse of Palindrome). Examples of semordnilaps are found in the works of James Joyce, particularly “Finnegans Wake” (1939). Joyce was known for his experimental use of language, and “Finnegans Wake” is filled with complex puns, wordplay, and linguistic tricks. Although the book primarily focuses on palindromes and complex word formations, it also features instances where words and phrases take on new meanings when reversed or rearranged. Joyce’s innovative approach to language helped cement semordnilaps as a legitimate and intriguing form…
A Break-up Letter
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. A Break-up Letter By CM Riddle Dear Time, Forget You! I am tired of the way you sneak up on me. Stealing moments and making plans that take forever to prepare, then the event flies by. I long for the days of following the sun and the moon and using its rhythm to play my own tune. You cause great stress upon me, as others in my life have depended on you so much that they expect me to follow you, too. Timecards, appointments, luncheons, and for God’s sake, Christmas! Give me a break, would you please? I mean, the way you slip through my fingers! And as if the ticking tocks you whisper in my ear are not enough, you decided to line my face and give me grey my hair. I need to get down and up…
Past Ten
Kali White VanBaale – Editor-at-Large of Past Ten: Where were you on this day ten years ago? So often we’re told to “be present” and “live in the now,” but in reality we have to look to the past in order to understand and make sense of the present. What I love about Past-Ten is that it embraces this duality—that reflection of one’s past doesn’t have to be an act of regretful self-flagellation, but can instead be an act of self-discovery and hard-earned wisdom others can learn from. Perhaps “living in the now” isn’t a real thing, because now is inextricably tied to was, and both must be lived, and contemplated, simultaneously. Past-Ten aims to explore the beautiful and complex knots of personal histories. Past Ten Guidelines (from their Submissions Page): The Basics: Tell us a story about where you were ten years ago on a specific date. For your…
Contranyms . . . Prompt #826
A contranym is a word with two opposite meanings. Or: Two meanings that contradict one another. Use contranyms in your writing. Bill: payment or an invoice Bolt: leave quickly or fix/immobilize Bound: confined/tied or going Buckle: connect or break or collapse Cleave: cling or split apart Clip: attach or cut off Dust: clean something or dust with powdered sugar Fast: move rapidly or fixed in place Finished: completed or destroyed Hold up: support or impede Left: gone or remaining Original: authentic/traditional or novel never done before Overlook: supervise or failing to oversee Peer: person of nobility or an equal Presently: now or soon Put out: extinguish or generate Sanction: approve or penalize Table: discuss a topic or postpone discussion #justwrite #iamawriter #iamwriting
Palindromes . . . Prompt #825
A palindrome is a word that reads the same backwards as forwards. Use these palindromes in your writing. civic deed deified kayak level madam mom noon peep pop racecar radar refer repaper rotator rotor wow And, thanks to the amazing writers I work with: Taco cat Yreka Bakery #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter