What I know . . . Write whatever comes up for you. Photo by Jane Person
Tag: The Write Spot
The only sin writers can commit is . . .
“The only sin writers can commit is not to write.” — Eleanor Hyde, originally in the August 1976 issue of the Writer Magazine, reprinted in the August 2014 issue. Note from Marlene: So, you are itching to write and need a jumpstart? Go to the prompts page of this blog for ideas. Click here for more prompts and read what others have written. Scroll down and click on a plaque.
We all have an intuitive sense. . .
I think we all have an intuitive sense, but we get side-tracked by what others think or we get distracted by all the “noise” both inside our heads and outside. It’s hard to get quiet and listen to what we think. But when we do, we experience the joy of discovering what’s going on for ourselves. A passage in Reading Water, Lessons From The River, by Rebecca Lawton, describes a situation when Becca was a white water rafting guide and had one person, a friend, in her raft. They capsized, lost the boat and nearly drowned. Becca managed to save the life of her friend. After it was all over, Becca asked her friend: “Do you regret running it?” Becca’s friend answered, “It might have been the right choice for you,” she said, “But from now on, I’m making my own decisions.” Here’s an idea for getting in touch with…
Aprons . . . Prompt #88
My grandmother put her apron on every morning right after she put on her house dress. She wore an apron every day, even to parties. She made all her clothes, including her aprons. She always chose a small flower design and used colorful seam binding for trim around the edges. I also wear aprons, but only when cooking and eating. . . saves many an outfit from food stains. Today’s prompt is: Aprons Thank you, Kathy Myers, for the inspiration to hang my aprons in the kitchen. Thank you, Pam Swanson, for emailing so many years ago, “The History of Aprons.” THE HISTORY OF APRONS The principal use of Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath. Because she only had a few dresses, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing…
It doesn’t matter whether the story is set in the present day, 100 years ago hence, or . . .
“It doesn’t matter whether the story is set in the present day, 100 years ago hence, or in a place that has never and could never exist outside the pages of a book: The writer’s job is to present an utterly convincing and wholly seamless world,” Simon Morden, author of fantasy novel Arcanum. — The Writer Magazine, July 2014 Photo by Jim C. March
Three-part prompt . . . Prompt #87
Today’s prompt is three parts. Take about 20 minutes, or as much time as you need, for each section. Part One: Write a list of events from this past month: What aggravated you? What frustrated you? What made you laugh or cry? What made you lose your temper? What was the worst thing that happened? The best? The most disturbing or weird? Part Two: Choose one thing from your list and write about it. Write whatever comes to mind. Write what you would really like to say to the other people involved. Take your time with this. Write until you have no more to say on the subject. Write what happened from your point of view. Part Three: Only do this after you have done Part Two — If another person was involved, step into his or her shoes. Write what happened from the other person’s point of view. …
What should you throw away but just can’t? Prompt #86
Write about something you should throw away but just can’t.
Guest Blogger Marjorie Richardson corrals the chatter and invites creativity.
Guest Blogger Marjorie Richardson writes about waking our consciousness through gentle yoga. Want to calm your nerves, quiet your mind, decrease anxiety and heighten immunity? How about having more comfort and ease in your body? Developing a feeling of fluidity in your body? Accessing your creativity? All these things can and do take place through slow and gentle movement accompanied by focused rhythmic breathing. Gentle yoga enhances our ability to hear ourselves, to listen to the inner cues we are constantly being given. In deeply concentrated states of mind, restlessness calms down. Synchronizing breath and movement train the mind to sense the subtle layers of well-being below all the surface chatter. Hatha Yoga is a tool discovered thousands of years ago to be used to awaken consciousness and unite with all the levels of our being. When attention is directed inward, your body receives messages that you are safe and…
Your intangible treasure. Prompt #85
What is the one intangible thing you treasure above all else? Intangible, meaning: you can’t touch it, feel it, smell it, hold it, see it . . . it may be a character trait, a personality trait, a quirk. . . a feeling. . . . Prompt: Write about something intangible that you treasure. Photo by Jane Person
The Kathy Myers “Book in a Box” Method (patent pending)
Guest Blogger Kathy Myers writes: Computers are great and all— without them, this blog wouldn’t exist and then what would I do? But when I was younger, my image of a writing life was less technical and more romantic: Jo in Little Women, writing her books in a drafty attic wearing fingerless gloves against the winter chill, or Jane Austen dipping her nib and contemplating her next chapter, while her parents plan a ball where she can meet eligible bachelors. Ah, the good old days. At a Jumpstart Writing Workshop in May, I wrote a fictional scene on the prompt “It happened because . . . ” Marlene Cullen, always benevolent and encouraging to writers said, “That would be a good beginning for a romance novel.” Jumpstart was on hiatus for the month of June, and this coincided with a flirtation I’d been having about trying the fabled “sit-your-ass-in-a-chair-and-write-a–thousand-words-a-day” method…