The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Tag: writing freely

  • Your first experience with death.  Prompt #324

    Write about your first experience with death.

    Or write about a death that transformed you.

    Or a death you might never get over.

     

    Grief by Gwen Flowers

    I had my own notion of grief

    I thought it was a sad time

    That followed the death of someone you love.

    And you had to push through it

    To get to the other side.

    But I’m learning there is no other side.

    There is no pushing through.

    But rather,

    There is absorption.

    Adjustment. Acceptance.

    And grief is not something that you complete.

    But rather you endure.

    Grief is not a task to finish,

    And move on,

    But an element of yourself —

    An alteration of your being.

    A new way of seeing.

    A new definition of self.

    ###

    There have been many deaths this July 2017. This poem came across my Facebook feed on the day of my dear friend’s memorial service. It’s given me some things to think about. Maybe it will cause you to pause and ponder, too.

    ~Marlene

  • If you could change . . . Prompt #323

    If you could change some things in your history, what would you change?

  • A little known fact. Prompt #322

    Write about something most people don’t know about you.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Something lost or stolen. . . Prompt #321

    Write about something that was lost or stolen from you or your fictional character.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Make Sense of Your World Through Writing

    “Portable Corona number 3. That’s my analyst.” — Ernest Hemingway

    Heal Through Writing

    “Several incidents contributed to social psychologist James W. Pennebaker’s interest in ‘healing writing.’ But when his parents’ visit during college launched a bout of the asthma he thought he’d left behind in the dry Texas of his childhood, he realize climate wasn’t to blame; his emotions were. Once he recognized the connection, the asthma attacks stopped.” —“Writing to heal,” by Gail Radley, May 2017 The Writer magazine.

    Pennebaker has conducted multiple studies indicating that writing can lead to healing.

    Dr. Edward J. Murray investigated healing through writing and concluded “’It seems that putting our thoughts and feelings into language helps confront them, organize them, and wrest the meaning from them. . .” —Gail Ridley, May 2017 The Writer magazine.

    Perhaps we can make sense of our world by using freewrites as a vehicle.

    Note: If you are experience troubling thoughts that are disabling or disturbing, please seek professional help.

    Posts on The Write Spot Blog about healing through writing

    How To Write Without Adding Trauma    

    Does Your Heart Hurt? Prompt #269   

    Things Falling Apart is a Kind of Testing  

  • Who will you interview? . . . Prompt #320

    Today’s writing prompt

    Interview yourself or your fictional character, by answering these questions:

    How did you get started in your line of work?

    How did you become interested in your hobby?

    What did you desire at age 12?

    What did you desire at age 18?

    What did you desire at age 25?

    What did you desire at age 26 or older?

    What do you desire now?

    More ideas on Interviewing Character . . . Prompt #6

  • Mini memoirs unfold naturally

    Remember the joke: “How do you eat an elephant?”

    “One bite at a time.”

    Same with writing memoir . . . one incident at a time.

    “Whether your life story has an over-arching motif or you plan to cobble together a montage of more diverse meditations, the project can seem less overwhelming if you approach it as a series of mini memoirs—two-to three-page essays . . . pivotal points. . . in the broader portrait of your life.” Richard Campbell, January 2017 Writers Digest

    “The beauty in approaching your life story in terms of mini memoirs is that when it comes to themes, you don’t have to pick just one. Write scenes or vignettes on each theme that speaks to you.

    You may find that mini memoirs unfold more naturally than the more unwieldy, longer story you have to tell—and that they build momentum strong enough to carry you through the manuscript.”

    More on How To Write Memoir:

    How To Write A Memoir – Part One

    How To Write A Memoir – Part Two

    However you decide to write . . . Just Write!

  • Smaller stories within larger stories – set the scene. Prompt #319

    Whether you are writing memoir or fiction, it’s all composed of people and things that happened. It’s smaller stories within larger stories.

    Today’s prompt is in two parts.

    Part 1:

    Make a list of people and factors that shaped you, during your childhood, teen years, young adult years. What has happened in your life that makes you who you are? We’ll be using these lists later.

    During your childhood/early years:

    Who helped shaped you? Who was influential in your life?  Who was important in your young life?    Family, family friends, teachers, your friends.

    Where did you grow up?

    Did you walk to/from school?

    What did you do after school?

    Who was home when you got there?

    What were weekends like?  Be brief. You can expand later.

    Anything else you want to add – important people and events in your childhood.

    During your teen years.

    Who was important during your teen years?  Family, family friends, teachers, your friends.

    Where did you live?

    Did you walk to/from school?

    What did you do after school?

    Who was home when you got there?

    What were weekends like?  Be brief. You can expand later.

    Anything else you want to add – important people and events during your teen years.

    During your young adult years:

    Who was important in your life during your young adult years?

    Where did you live?

    Did you work, go to school, volunteer?

    Did you have hobbies?

    What did you do for entertainment?

    Anything else you want to add – important people and events in your young adult life.

    Part 2: Write.

    Choose something from one of your lists and expand upon it. Write as much as you have to say about it. Use sensory detail:  What you saw, heard, felt, tasted, smelled. Write with vivid details so this scene can be seen.

    Note: You can expand these lists and use them any time to inspire your writing.

  • The missing piece. . . Prompt #318

       Write about . . .

                       The missing piece.

     

     

  • What comforts me . . . Prompt #317

     Today’s writing prompt:

     

    What Comforts Me.