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Write about getting older.
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Change in Perspective
“Lucky Starr,” an Over the Top Stilt Character from Giddyup Productions
The following is excerpted from “A Collected Perspective” by Joanna Gaines, Fall 2023, Magnolia magazine.
“There have been times when I’ve felt a need to approach some things differently. When life has handed me new challenges to navigate, and my mind’s been a blank.
Maybe you’ve been in a similar place—where the way you’ve always done a thing is no longer working.
So, I tried something new.
I started closing my eyes.
I’m more alive to the present moment, more aware of my blind spots, when I stretch my point of view. It’s like feeling the moment in total harmony, every new vantage point revealing more of the bigger story being told.
Sometimes, it’s as simple as physically shifting my point of view. I’ll take a few steps back. Walk to the other side of the room. Stand instead of sit.
It’s this kind of change in perspective that can lead to deeper understanding. Clarity. Growth.”
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The Pulps
The Pulps (1890s-1950s)
Made from the cheapest paper available, pulp magazines were among the bestselling fiction publications of their day, with the most popular titles selling hundreds of thousands of copies per month at their height. The pulps paid just a penny or so a word, so writers quickly learned that making a living required a nimble imagination and remarkable speed, with some working on several stories simultaneously.
Contemporary fiction writers can learn from pulp magazines the importance of a tight, character-driven narrative; the necessity of imaginative descriptions and how to immediately grab the reader with an action-filled lead.
Jack Byrne, managing editor of the pulp magazine publisher fiction House, wrote in an August 1929 Writer’s Digest article detailing the manuscript needs of Fiction House’s 11 magazines:
“We must have a good, fast opening. Smack us within the first paragraph. Get our interest aroused. Don’t tell us about the general geographic situation or the atmospheric conditions.
Don’t describe the hero’s physique or the kind of pants he wears. Start something!”
Readers can find pulps aplenty on eBay, as well as in anthologies such as The Pulps, edited by Tony Goodstone, and The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps, edited by Otto Penzler.
Excerpted from the May/June 2019 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine, “Back in the Day,” by Don Vaughan.
Just Write!
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Someone who . . . Prompt #719
Write about someone who . . .
You would like to have a meal with.
You want to have a do-over with.
You have a question for.
What is the question and why do you want to know the answer?
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I write to understand . . .
“So, while I still write for understanding, for truth, for clarification, to tell a story, to help people, to help myself and even for fun—I also write for communication, for discussion, for connection.
In a world that can feel fragmented and lonely, I write to bring myself closer to others.” —Diane Forman, “Why I Write,” Brevity’s NonFiction Blog, October 31, 2022
More on “Why Write?”
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Right now . . . Prompt #633
What’s happening for you right now?
Be in the moment.
Write about whatever is on your mind.
Write what your heart wants to say.
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What calls to you? Prompt #582
It feels to me like we’re coming down from a precipice, a surreal 15 months.
As we enter this new phase, what calls to you?
What are you ready to let go of?
How can you release or lighten the load you carry?
Prompt inspired from “Where Do You Hang Your Hammock?” by Bella Mahaya Carter.
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California Winter
California Winter
By Patricia Morris
(with thanks to Ted Kooser)
The wind turns the pages of rain
As drops splatter on the skylights,
beating a rhythm punctuated by
the cracks of unmoored oak limbs
hitting the roof.
The rain chain dances,
brass acorns jingling,
water swooshing through its cups.
The creek rushes over rocks,
gushes into the culvert and out again,
making its overground / underground way to the river.
The thirsty earth soaks it in,
filters it down into empty aquifers.
One chapter ending, another beginning.
Freewrite inspired by the poem, A Rainy Morning, by Ted Kooser
Patricia Morris misses the summer thunderstorms of her rural Midwestern upbringing, but enjoys observing and writing about the California rains from her home in Petaluma.
After careers as diverse as trial lawyer and organization and leadership development consultant and coach, she is exploring life beyond the workaday world.
Every Monday night she writes with friends at Marlene Cullen’s and Susan Bono’s Jumpstart Writing Workshops. Her writing has appeared in Rand McNally’s Vacation America, the Ultimate Road Atlas and The Write Spot: Possibilities edited by Marlene Cullen. Available on Amazon, print $15 and ereader $2.99.
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What are you afraid of? Prompt #553
Peace monument in Walnut Park, Petaluma, California Like many, I am worried about the future of America.
I believe in the power of writing as a path to healing.
If you are feeling overwhelmed and scared, please take a few minutes to write about your feelings.
You can’t change what happened. You can change what you think.
Today’s prompt is a hope and a chance for you to write about your thoughts and your feelings, as a way to start healing.
For more prompts and suggestions for healing through writing, please consider reading the anthology, The Write Spot: Writing as a Path to Healing, available as a paperback and as an ereader through Amazon.
Prompt: What are you afraid of?
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Your message. . . Prompt #481
If you could give the world one message, what would it be?
Inspired from Rachel Macy Stafford’s guest blog post.