You are in a bookstore in another city: ~ You see something you can’t live without, but you don’t have enough money to pay for it. What do you do? ~ You see a neighbor, alone, weeping. What do you do? ~ You see an acquaintance shoplift. What do you do? ~ You see two married acquaintances, without their spouses, heads and bodies close together, in a suggestive position. What do you do? ~ You are a young child and smile up at the grown-up whose hand you are holding but you don’t recognize the grown-up. What do you do? Pick one and write for 20 minutes. Note from Marlene: You can tweak prompts however you want. For example, with this prompt, the setting could be a deserted walkway near water, in a park, at a crowded Saturday market. You choose the setting and Just Write! Photo by Sasha Oaks …
Tag: just write
Lower Your Expectations and Just Write
My dear friend, Karen Batchelor, was an inspiring and wonderful writing teacher. She passed away too soon, December 2013. I was looking through material to post here and came across this gem by Karen. I hope you enjoy it and hope it inspires you to Just Write. Lower Your Expectations, by Karen Batchelor When 2012 arrived, I dismissed the thought of making any new year’s resolutions. After all, those aspirations often died just days or hours after their birth. However, on January 1, a tiny little idea began to germinate. A few minutes later when the concept was fully formed, I started in on my new project. My goal: Write a minimum of five minutes a day. I can hear some of you chuckling. What kind of a goal is that? In fact for some time, neither grandiose nor modest intentions have worked. Although I could create a lot of…
Something you are wearing right now. Prompt #94
Write about an article of clothing, shoes, or jewelry. . . something you are wearing right now. Photo by Breana Marie
Unsolicited submissions = fossil fuel for Barrelhouse
“Thanks for thinking of us as a home for your work! Unsolicited submissions are the fossil fuel that keeps the Barrelhouse moped puttering along on the side of the literary highway.” — Barrelhouse BarrelHouse: an independent non-profit literary organization. bridges the gap between serious art and pop culture. a biannual print journal featuring fiction, poetry, interviews, and essays about music, art, and the detritus of popular culture. a web site that regularly posts new short fiction, nonfiction, interviews, and random stuff. produced by writers for readers who are looking for quality writing with an edge and a sense of humor. offers 8-week online workshops where writers get the straight dope on their work. wants to be your weird Internet friend. You can also follow Barrelhouse on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest jibber jabber from Barrelhouse, our contributors, and the indie lit scene. BarrelHouse accepts submissions through a…
“Vulnerability is my strength.” — MK Asante
“I’ve always known that I had a story to tell about my education. I don’t mean school. I mean my coming of age.” — MK Asante, filmmaker, professor, hip-hop artist, essayist and memoirist. The Writer magazine, July 2014 “I didn’t have the courage to do it [write] until more recently. I was ashamed of some of the things I wrote about in the book. I didn’t want to deal with those things. As I had more distance, reflection and time, I realized that vulnerability is my strength, and everything I’ve been through is not something to be ashamed of.” How about you? Are you ready to write your story? You can jumpstart your writing with prompts posted on The Write Spot Blog.
How’s the weather? Prompt #93
“How’s the weather?” It’s a question often asked. And sometimes we really want to know the answer. Right now, Summer 2014, Northern California where I live, is experiencing a drought. Lawns are brown, cars are covered with layers of dust and dirt, flowers and plants are drooping. But I’m not complaining. We have plenty of water to drink and the public pool is a great place to cool off. How’s the weather? We want to know! Photo by Breana Marie
Books on writing
There are more how-to-write books than we have time to read. IF we tried, we would spend all our time reading about writing and not writing. But there are a few especially good how-to write books. Here are some of my favorites. What are your favorite writing books? Dorothea Brande was an early proponent of freewriting. In her book Becoming a Writer (1934), she advises writers to sit and write for 30 minutes every morning, as fast as they can. Peter Elbow advanced freewriting in his books Writing with Power and Writing Without Teachers (1975), and freewriting has been popularized by Julia Cameron through her books The Artist’s Way and The Right to Write. A few more writing books: Aronie, Nancy Slonim – Writing From the Heart Baldwin, Christina – Storycatcher Barrington, Judith – Writing the Memoir, From Truth to Art Baty, Chris – No Plot? No Problem! Bennet, Hal…
Jiffy Pop! . . . Prompt #92
Today’s prompt. . . look at the photo and write whatever comes up for you. Jiffy Pop!
Writing and editing is like sculpting a garden
I love to work in the garden, pulling weeds, and occasionally being creative with new plantings. I love tugging at weeds and hearing the slrrp as they surrender their grip and let go. Writing is a lot like weeding . . . letting go and enjoying the moment. Not always worrying about the end product; just enjoying the moment of complete surrender. Later, after the writing seedlings have sprouted, it’s time for editing, which is a lot like pruning. When I’m pruning a fruit tree or a rose bush, I make a few snips, stand back to see how it looks and how it’s shaping up. It’s the same with editing. . . . make a few changes, then re-read. Keep what’s good and continue pruning until the piece has shaped to satisfaction.
Yard sale, garage sale, tag sale . . . Prompt #91
Yard sale, garage sale, tag sale. . . whatever you call ’em, what do you think about ’em? Or . . . write about an unusual find at a yard sale, garage sale, tag sale . . . whatever you call ’em.