Guest Blogger Grant Faulkner: Since it’s National Novel Writing Month, I wanted to share my thoughts on the creative process that is at its core: writing with abandon. This is a reprint of an essay that originally appeared in Poets & Writers. A few years ago I grappled with a simple question I had never before bothered to ask myself: Did I decide on my writing process, or did it decide on me? Despite an adult lifetime of reading innumerable author interviews, biographies of artists, and essays on creativity, I realized I’d basically approached writing the same way for years. And I didn’t remember ever consciously choosing my process, let alone experimenting with it in any meaningful way. My approach formed itself around what I’ll call “ponderous preciousness.” I’d conceive of an idea for a story and then burrow into it deliberately. I’d write methodically, ploddingly, letting thoughts percolate, then marinate—refining…
Tag: Writing freely. Just write. Writing Prompts. The Write Spot Blog.
What makes you anxious? . . . Prompt #763
What makes you anxious? What do you want to do about that? What can you do about that? #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
Enduring Awe
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Enduring Awe By Karen FitzGerald What brings me joy? Riding my bike brings me joy. The wind in my face on a warm day, sailing through traffic jams piled up at those long, stop lighted intersections like Farmer’s Lane and Highway 12. I love it. I always feel child-like when I’m riding my bike. Recently, I’ve taken to singing while I cruise. Not too loud, but loud enough to feel the vibration of my voice ripple through my body, from throat to sternum to stomach and right on down my legs to my ankles as I pump my way up the Chanate hill. I especially love going off trail. That is, I am not a mountain biker. Oh no. Too hard on the back. In fact, any more I’m thinking mountain biking people are not fundamentally joyful people….
Creativity Is A Practice
Suzanne Murray writes about the rewards of engaging our creativity. There is a growing awareness that creativity is a capacity that everyone has, though they may not understand what is involved in accessing it. One of the main things that gets in the way of people embracing their creative gifts is a belief that creativity should be easy; that it should just flow out. They think they should be good at it immediately. If they are not and it’s not easy, there is a tendency to think there is something wrong with them and it’s never going to work. Yet creativity in whatever form you choose to pursue is a complex process that actually asks a lot of us. This is why is feels so good to engage since it helps us discover that we are capable of more than we thought possible, including working from expanded abilities. It is…
Favorite thing to do . . . Prompt #760
Write about your favorite thing to do . . . now . . . or in the past. #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
Halloween Special
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Halloween Special By Graham Chalk I am posting this for the edification and diversion of fellow travelers. I wish for no observations regarding my syntax or your tin tacks. I do not wish to hear about your grammar or my grandpa. I thank you. Halloween Special I have not written this story down before, although I have told it before. Told it as if I were at confession and the listener was a priest. But there will, I believe, be no absolution. How much of this story is true? I will let the reader decide. Schools are scary places. And when they are empty? Then they are very scary places indeed. Full of dead echoes. Generations of ghostly, silent feet disturbing the sleeping dust of generations My very first ever job was working as a lab…
Changing Seasons
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Changing Seasons By Julie Sherman My garden is feeing anxious. The hydrangeas are protesting with powdery mildew on her large leaves. The yellow stargazers are shrinking back into themselves refusing to open. The last of the white roses are reluctantly peeling back one petal at a time, objecting to the assault of cold temperatures after having owned a sunny resort for the past 4 months. The plumbago has given up altogether, and the sweet peas are trying their best to climb the trellis. The last few pink ballerinas are hanging precariously to their brittle fuchsia branches before folding in their tutus, turning brown, and falling to the ground. Only the chrysanthemums are welcoming the morning chill and pale gray skies. The veteran plants know what’s coming and are bracing themselves, feeling tough enough to survive. They…
Seasonal Considerations in 14 Stanzas
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Seasonal Considerations in 14 Stanzas By Christine Renaudin Yesterday’s rain was announced,yet came as a surprise,we’ve grown so used to dreading drought and fire. Yesterday’s rain was a giftearly for the wet season,tardy for the thirsty and parched. Yesterday’s rain relieved anxieties, expectations, released myriads of winged insects dancing in today’s afternoon sunlight. Some are termites, I think, roused by the premature sprinkle.They flutter aimlessly as if lost in the midst of dream.In two hours, I hear, their wings will fall and drop them home to thrive or die. Yesterday’s rain took us insidetrading shade for shelterto share a Sunday lunch with friends. Today the sun glistens over puddles,the air feels clean, cobwebs glitter,alive with earthy fragrances. Breath deepens, heart quickens,there is a bounce in the season: I want to catch its tune. Soon the grass…
Favorite Job . . . Prompt #759
Write about your favorite job. #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
Why do you keep it? . . . Prompt #758
Write about something you own that you really don’t like. Why do you keep it? #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter