The Write Spot Blog – Page 10

Random Things About Yourself Prompt #325

Today’s writing prompt is in two parts.

Part 1: Write 25 random things about yourself.

Write whatever comes up for you. Some things from my list:

I like to be organized.

I come from poor, but not poverty.

I like sharp colorful pencils.

I love the smell of cucumber/melon hand soap.

My first job besides babysitting and house cleaning was at Playland-At-The-Beach, in the accounting department.

You get the idea. . .

Write whatever pops into your head. When you have a list of 25 things, scroll down for Part 2.

Part 2: Pick one thing from the list and expand upon it.

Thank you, Adair Lara, for the inspiration for this writing prompt.

~Marlene

Marlene C

August 9, 2017

Prompts

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If you could change . . . Prompt #323

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

Marlene C

May 5, 2017

Prompts

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A little known fact. Prompt #322

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

Marlene C

May 4, 2017

Prompts

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Something lost or stolen. . . Prompt #321

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

Marlene C

May 3, 2017

Prompts

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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

Marlene C

May 1, 2017

Just Write

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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

Marlene C

April 26, 2017

Prompts

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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.”

The missing piece. . . Prompt #318

Write about . . .

The missing piece.

Marlene C

April 19, 2017

Prompts

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Success in writing means . . .

If you have attended a Jumpstart Writing Workshop, you may have heard me say, “There are two kinds of writing I like. One is when the writing speaks to universal truths—something we can all relate to. The other is when the writing speaks to me personally.”

This excerpt from “The Review Rat Race,” a “5-Minute Memoir” by Barbara Solomon Josselsohn expands upon that thought.

“To me, success meant having readers who felt that my novel articulated something important, something they had felt deeply inside but had never been able to express or fully understand before my book came along.” —Barbara Solomon Josselsohn *

That often happens in Jumpstart . . . the writing touches us deeply as the writer articulates in ways that we hadn’t been able to express or understand prior to hearing their freewrite.

* Excerpt from January 2017 issue of Writer’s Digest Magazine.

Marlene C

April 18, 2017

Quotes

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