A word that contains a synonym:
masculine = male
honorable = noble
blossom = bloom
action = act
balderash = blah
damsel = dame
dazzle = daze
addlepated = addled
aggravated = grated
breathe = be
cartoon = art
chocolate = cocoa
falsified = lied
Writing Prompt: Use kangaroo words in your writing.
Find other kangaroo words.
Inspired from San Diego Writers, Inc Facebook post
Just Write!
In “Giving Up The Ghost” by Samantha Rose, Sam explores the possibility of having a relationship with someone after they die.
Writing Prompt:
If you have lost a loved one, in what ways have you continued the relationship?
Or
Write about someone who has passed as if you were introducing them.
For example, “This is my grandmother, she sews all her clothes and makes noodles from scratch.”
Bring this person to life as if they were in the room, or right around the corner.
Recall a time in your young life when you went beyond your neighborhood.
Perhaps you had the experience of being somewhere out of your comfort zone.
How old were you?
Did a grownup or older child stay with you?
Or, were you left alone?
Look around.
Describe this place.
Did it feel friendly?
Scary?
Were there a lot of people there?
What did you do?
What emotions roll over you as you remember?
What energy did you pick up at the time?
What is that energy like now?
Does that energy still have a hold on you?
#justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
Prompt One
Make a list of five physical / tangible things you want to own or have.
In your wildest dreams, what are five material things you want?
Prompt Two
Make a brief list of five changes you would like to make.
Could be emotional, health, financial, or personal.
Be specific. For example:
Emotional: Change attitude or feelings that don’t serve you. Is there something you are having a hard time letting go? List that, or those, if there are more than one.
Rather than good health: Lose weight, change eating habits, drink more water, etc.
Rather than exercise: Be specific about types of movement, etc.
Rather than the broad category of “financial,” consider: Freedom from present money worries, wanting future financial security, etc.
In your wildest dreams, what are five personal things you want?
Prompt Three
From Facebook post by Interesting World, April 24, 2025:
Sometimes, the real reason for something isn’t the first one . . . it’s the fifth.
Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyota, had a habit.
Whenever something didn’t make sense, he’d pull out a simple tool — not from a toolbox, but from his mind:
The “5 Whys” rule.
It’s exactly what it sounds like. You ask “Why?” — not once, but five times.
Note from Marlene: A fur coat is somewhat of a silly example, but you will get the idea.
Sakichi Toyoda:
Let’s say you want a fur coat.
Ask yourself:
• Why do I want a fur coat?
Because I want to impress people.
• Why do I want to impress people?
Because I want attention.
• Why do I want attention?
Because I feel insecure.
• Why do I feel insecure?
Because I feel stuck — like I’m not growing.
• Why am I not growing?
Because I’m doing something I don’t love.
And suddenly, the coat has nothing to do with warmth or style. It’s about purpose. About identity.
And that fifth “why”? That’s the one that tells the truth.
That’s where you are hiding. And sometimes, that’s where healing begins.
Sakichi Toyoda gave the world more than just cars.
He gave us a method to peel away the layers — until we finally see ourselves clearly.
So next time you’re unsure — don’t just stop at the surface.
Ask why. Then ask again.
Until you reach the real answer.
Write about a favorite area:
in your home
in your workplace
in your town
Or your favorite place on earth.
What did you do in your twenties that you can’t, or won’t, do now?
What can you do now that you couldn’t do in your twenties?
Quick pacing hooks readers, deepens the drama, creates and increases tension.
How to pick up the pace:
1. Start story in the middle of the dramatic action, not before the drama commences.
2. Keep description brief. This doesn’t mean using no description, but choose one or two telling, brief details.
3. Combine scenes. If one scene deepens character by showing a couple at dinner and a few scenes later they have a fight, let them have the fight at dinner.
4. Rely on dialogue. A lot of the story can be carried by spoken conversation. Readers seldom skip dialogue.
5. Keep backstory to a minimum. The more we learn about characters through what they do now, in story time, the less you’ll need flashbacks, memories and exposition about their histories. All of these slow the pace.
6. Squeeze out every unnecessary word. This is the best way of all to increase pace. There are times you want a longer version for atmosphere, but be choosy. Wordiness kills pace and bores readers.
Paraphrased from Writer’s Digest magazine, January 2006, “Pick Up the Pace.”
Just Write!
#justwrite #iamawrite #iamwriting
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.
BEE-ING
By Su Shafer
I have become a stone.
A gemstone. Labradorite
Or Moonstone maybe.
No – an Orca Agate
From the Earth, with an affinity with water.
I am a stationary object.
My unruly legs have taught me
The power of stillness,
How motionlessness invites presence
In each moment.
Today I watched a bee visit
All the flowers in my patio planter.
Her tender attention to each one
The pollen pantaloons on her legs
The song of her wings,
Humming as she went from floret to floret
Trailing in the air behind her as she flew off.
Her busy work reminds me
There are no small lives.
I think of her and her sisters
Bustling about in the hive,
Content in their purposefulness.
Unlike my quiet house
There is no stillness in a hive
Even when they pause for a brief repast
Of bee bread and honey.
Su Shafer is a creative crafter, fabricating bits of writing in poetry and short stories, and other bits into characters that appear in paintings or sit on various bookshelves and coffee tables. She lives in a cottage on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, where the tea kettle is always whistling and the biscuits freshly baked. One never knows who might stop by to share a rainy afternoon. And all are welcome!
As a child, what toys or games did you see advertised on TV, or in the Sears Roebuck catalogue, that you wanted and didn’t get?
OR: What toys did you want that your friends had and you didn’t have?
OR: Write about being jealous, or feelings of “have not.”
OR: Yearnings: Then or now.
Frances Lefkowitz wrote a wonderful memoir, “To Have Not.”
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