Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. In Praise of Christmas Tree Farms By Sus Pareto Yesterday I drove to Larsen’s Christmas Tree Farm, about two miles from my house. It was a balmy fall afternoon, and the road to the farm was lined with poplars and willows dappled in gold. Up ahead, I saw the red and green sign pointing to a narrow driveway which led to a dell where a yellow clapboard house and outbuildings gathered. Just a normal, traditional Petaluma farm — except when Christmas tree season opens. Like an explosion, the quiet dell surrounded by acres of orderly pine trees becomes a bustling hub of people and cars. As if by magic, gossiping groups of pre-cut trees have popped up while a tree-bagging station, ticketing station, and cookies-and-hot chocolate stand wait nearby. The barn has become a Christmas…
Tag: Writing freely. Just write. Writing Prompts. The Write Spot Blog.
Who Influenced You . . . Prompt #694
If you could thank someone (living or dead) for their influence on your life, who would you thank? Many people would think of a family member. How about this: Write a thank you note to someone (living or dead), excluding family, for their influence on your life. Just Write!
Letter Delivered Years Later. . . Prompt #693
“It is a relatively little-known fact that over the course of a single year, about twenty million letters are delivered to the dead.”— “The Girl With No Shadow” by Joanne Harris Prompt: Write about a letter delivered 25 years after it was written. Or 33 years after it was sent. Or 18 years. You can write from the point of view of the recipient, the sender, or both. Or write about the unintended recipient . . . the person who now lives at the address the letter was sent to. Does the letter reveal disturbing or euphoric news? Just Write!
View from a window . . . Prompt #691
Write about a view from a window. Perhaps the view from your kitchen window. Or your living room window. Or the view from a public place. Just Write!
Have fun with clichés . . . Prompt #690
Let’s play with clichés. It goes like this: I’ll write some clichés with missing words. You get to fill in the missing words. It’s sort of like Mad Libs. For example: More than one way to skin a cat becomes: More than one way to [verb] a [noun]. Ready? There are no wrong answers! It’s [verb ending in “ing”] [noun] and [noun] You can’t [verb] a [noun] by its [noun] The [noun] [verb] always [adjective or noun] on the other [noun] [Verb] your [noun] right It’s an uphill [noun] [Verb] between the [plural noun] A [noun] is only as [verb] as its weakest [noun] A [noun] and his [noun] are soon [verb, past tense] A [noun] of a different [noun] A [noun] of a [number] [verb] begins with the first [verb] Whatever responses you came up are fine. Can you use any of your re-imagined cliches in your writing? Clichés…
The Stories We Tell
“Jo [Gaines] shares how the process of writing her new book led her to see more clearly the fullness of her story: Every piece, worthy. Every chapter, a bridge. Every moment that shaped her, brought to the surface.” Winter 2022, Magnolia magazine “I ended up discovering a lot in my story: clarity, healing, deeper truths I didn’t know I could get to. But mostly, these pages brought me back to myself, back to those tender little moments I thought I’d lost. In writing down my story, I had the chance to relive some of the very best chapters of my life.” —Joanna Gaines, Winter 2022 issue of Magnolia magazine. Your turn: Books like Joanna’s as well as The Write Spot books might help you write your stories, and like Jo, you might find clarity and healing, remembering what you have forgotten. “The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story…
50-Word Stories
“A 50-word story is a piece of fiction written in exactly 50 words. That doesn’t mean ‘roughly’ 50 words; it doesn’t mean ‘as close to 50 words as possible’; it doesn’t mean 50 words or fewer. It means exactly 50 words. As with any other form of fiction, a 50-word story should have a beginning and an end, a plot and character development (even if they are only implied), and a theme, meaning, or purpose of some sort. Many 50-word stories are built around twists or climactic moments. 50WS posts two reader-submitted stories every weekday. To submit your stories for possible publication, see the Submissions page.”
Print Dreams
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Print Dreams By DSBriggs Back in the day when I was a teen, I wanted to be a writer. I picked out my pen name, Kelly Brione. I began to dress as a writer. My image, based on a Stanford University guide, was to dress in black tights, a gray skirt, and a pink fluffy sweater over a black leotard. I had plans to write the Great American Novel, even though I did not have a clue how to do that. I talked enough about being a writer that my Dad purchased a Smith-Corona portable typewriter for me. It had Elite type rather than the larger Pica type. Elite was the size of type that newspapers used for writing news stories in columns. I dreamed about being a columnist like Herb Caen or Erma Bombeck. One thing…
Connecting The Dots . . . Prompt #689
In works of fiction, we think of “characters.” When writing memoir, we think “real people.” Let’s experiment with writing about real people as if they were characters in fiction. Think of someone you know that you would like to spend some time writing about. You can also do this for your fiction characters, if you are working on a fiction project. Make a three-column list. Column 1 What I know Column 2 How I know it Column 3 How to show it Column 1 Write one or two-word descriptions about someone. Column 2 How you know these characteristics. For example, if the person is described as cheap, you might write, “contributes only $20, no matter his actual share, at a group dinner.” Column 3 Jot down short notes on how you might show these characteristics In the case of the cheap friend, “brings his teabag to use at restaurants.” Connecting…
Invention . . . Prompt #688
Write about an invention that fascinates you. #justwrite #amwriting #iamawriter