The Write Spot Blog is all about writing: Writing Prompts to inspire you; Just Write tidbits to motivate you; Quotes to let you know others are in the same boat as you; Places to Submit to get your work out there; Book Reviews to share authors’ work; Guest Posts for all kinds of writing-related things. Today’s Guest Blog Post by Suzanne Murray talks about increasing your creativity by relaxing. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But what about cortisol, adrenaline, and epigenetics? Factor those in, and it becomes apparent that relaxation isn’t as easy as drifting in a hammock. Fortunately, Suzanne Murray offers strategies to help us learn to relax. HOW CREATIVITY CAN HELP US RELAX We all know that relaxation makes us and our bodies feel good whereas stress causes us to tense up and feel less that optimum. New scientific research shows just how important relaxing our bodies and minds is….
Tag: writing freely
The bigger the issue, the smaller you write.
“The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying on the road. You pick the smallest manageable part of the big thing, and you work off the resonance.” —Richard Price
The thing that bugged me . . . Prompt #315
Today’s Prompt: The thing that bugged me. Set your timer for 15 minutes. Write whatever comes up for you. Just write!
Why should you use strong verbs?
Action words “A French research team found that action words (kicked, stomped, raced) fire up the motor cortex, which governs how the body moves. Even more specific, describing body parts, such as an arm or a leg, activates the part of the brain that controls arm and leg movement. Using evocative language also wakes up a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which activates long-term memories and plays a significant role in how a reader’s mind turns language into a meaningful experience.” Writer’s Digest, Sept. 2016 And that’s why it’s important to use strong verbs. Make a list of strong verbs and action words. Keep your list handy. Use it like a thesaurus when you are stumbling for that strong verb that’s on the tip of your tongue, within your grasp, but not quite accessible. Or, use a thesaurus. To learn more about using strong words to convey emotion, action and…
Practical jokes . . . Prompt #314
Write about a practical joke you pulled off, or a practical joke that was played on you. “A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion or discomfort.” Wikipedia
It was fun . . . Prompt #313
Today’s writing prompt: It was fun, until it wasn’t.
Use emotions in your writing.
“Readers covet an emotional experience above all else. When you write scenes, use all the methods you can to help your readers feel the emotions you want them to have—sadness, anger, confusion, mistrust, love, lust, envy, greed and so on. If you want readers to hate your character, show him being despicable to someone who doesn’t deserve his wrath or to someone he supposedly loves. The more you draw readers in to the emotional experience, the more they will engage, and the more likely they’ll want to read your next book.” Excerpted from the September 2016 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine There are over 300 prompts on The Write Spot Blog. Choose one and practice incorporating emotions in your writing. For example: Physical gestures can reveal emotions . . . Prompt # 211 Just write!
What is it you really want? Prompt #312
What is it that you really want? Write whatever comes up for you. Could be serious, playful, wishful, fun. Just write!
House Image… Prompt #311
Think of a house or an apartment you lived in – either where you grew up or one that comes to you most strongly: a place that seems most pertinent or the place you want to discover more about. Use a pen or pencil and draw a blueprint of the house or apartment. Sketch the floor plan, include doors (front, back, side), stairs, and each room within the house. Let your hand and mind be the guides. Don’t worry about getting it exactly correct. Use color to explore When you feel done with the blueprint, use color to explore the house/apartment and your feelings. Color the rooms, or outline the rooms, using the actual or basic color of the walls, the rugs and furniture. When you feel done with coloring, write whatever comes up. Examples The house was yellow I hated that color. It made me think of . ….
Figuring out the important thing
“Writing essays is like therapy because you’re figuring out: What was the important thing in that incident? ” — Etgar Keret Keret, an “acclaimed Israeli writer . . . known for his unique and distinctive writing style” began writing essays after the birth of his son. “. . . because I’m sensitive about family issues. . . It never stops me from writing it, but it might stop me from publishing it.” He wrote personal essays to “have a literary tombstone” for his father. He is able to create work that is “moving and deeply affecting in only a few pages.” Excerpted from the February 2017 issue of The Writer magazine. Your turn: No pressure to write the next great American novel, just write what you know, what you experience. Write about your trip to the grocery store where you observed an act of kindness or had a weird encounter….