What, or who, do you miss?
Favorite Things. Prompt #487
Write about your favorite things. Whenever I hear the phrase “favorite things,” I think of the song in “Sound of Music,” . . . “My Favorite Things,” sung by Julie Andrews. Write about some of your favorite things.
On Top Of Your Game
My dear friend, Nancy Julien Kopp blogs at Writer Granny’s World by Nancy Julien Kopp. Last year, Nancy posted: In mid-November, I posted a review of The Write Spot: Possibilities. The anthology consists of stories, essays, and poems by several writers. At the end of each offering is a prompt that might have inspired what they wrote and also a paragraph or two of advice for writers. Ahhh, advice. It can be given, but is it always accepted? Not by a longshot. Sometimes, we read the advice of other writers with a shield in front of us. The attitude can be Go ahead, teach me something I don’t already know. At other times, we’re wide open to any advice given. We want to soak it up like water in a sponge. I’ve been skimming through the book again looking at the advice the writers offered. I consider it a gift to us,…
Want vs Need . . . Prompt #486
Write about wants versus needs. Have you discovered something you thought you needed, but found out it was really a “want?” Are there things you now know you can do without? Write about how your “wants” change in different circumstances.
Gratitude . . . Prompt #485
What are you grateful for?
Lara Zielin: The World Needs Your Stories
Today’s Guest Post spotlight shines on Lara Zielin. When I first read her post (below), my hand went to my chest. I recognized those feelings. I felt those feelings. Last summer I experienced a similar situation that Lara describes. The difference though, is that while giving my presentation, I knew I was “off” and I couldn’t get back “on.” I felt like a runaway train took off with me barely hanging onto the caboose. I so wanted to do a great job. Someone recommended me to this group as a presenter. I wanted to make her proud. At the end, I was afraid I embarrassed her and I certainly embarrassed myself. And when I read what happened to Lara, I took a deep breath. Lara wrote: Several years ago, a colleague and I gave a presentation to the board of a national museum. In the moment, the presentation felt amazing….
What makes you . . . Prompt #484
What makes you lose track of time?
Peace. Prompt #483
What brings you peace? Write about a place, a time, a moment, or a situation where you found peace.
Understanding 4 C’s: Being a Successful Author
Guest Blogger Joan Gelfand writes: I never set out to write a novel. I mean, really? I had cut my literary teeth on Simone de Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf, Willa Cather, Kurt Vonnegut, Gunter Grass and Wallace Stegner. I was satisfied being a poet, known to my local community. Writing a novel seemed terribly pretentious, a misguided idea. No. I did not start out to write a novel. I started out with a story that, after two years, and much encouragement from my writing instructor, grew into three hundred pages. I had written my first novel without planning to do so. It was with that first novel that I began to understand that becoming a successful writer wasn’t just about writing. It was several years after my first attempt to find a publisher for that first novel that I understood the business of writing. I learned that the letter I got…
Kindness. Prompt #482
Write about a kindness someone showed you. Or write about a kind thing you did for someone. Or a kindness you saw.