Character Sketch . . . Prompt #626

  • Character Sketch . . . Prompt #626

    Finish sentences as your fictional character would.

    OR: Write your responses, as author/writer.

    My full name is (include maiden name and middle name):

    I live at or near . . .

    I live with . . .

    I usually wear . . .

    I want . . .

    I hope . . .

    People would be surprised to know that I . . .

    I am happiest when . . .

    I daydream about . . .

    If I had my way . . .

    I don’t understand . . .

    I get angry when . . .

    People wouldn’t like it if they knew . . .

    I never told anyone that I . . .

    If I were in charge . . .

    My hobbies are . . .

    My favorite breakfast . . .

    My pet peeves . . .

    My favorite drink . . .

    My favorite place to hang out . . .

    I don’t like it when . . .

    My best friend . . .

    I like to . . .

    Marlene C

  • Winter Solstice 2021

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Winter Solstice 2021

    By M.A. Dooley

    This blessed day when the light returns,

    I stand on the mountain of my home 

    Grounded at 7:59 AM and look up. 

    The round moon wanes floating over 

    Saucer clouds docked in the west. 

    A soft haze hangs between me and my Shire,

    Layered hillocks of veiled emerald, 

    Taste wet and lush as if the drought is over. 

    The sun rises behind a filter of grey

    Cotton balls connected at fluffy centers like 

    Fat caterpillars in the sky. 

    When the time rings for a celestial split, 

    A tear in the cotton,

    A thin sliver of blue blinks open 

    And the sun sears my eyes 

    Carving the womb of awakening.

    I am the field of green softened by one ray,

    I am the strong back of the moon, 

    Light as the wind that whips my tassels

    Reverent as a child witnessing a miracle

    I welcome life and light this Solstice sunrise.

    M.A. Dooley is an architect and writer from the Santa Cruz Mountains, Sonoma County, and the Sierra Nevadas. Dooley has been published in “The Write Spot: Musings and Ravings in a Pandemic Year” and in “Poems of a Modern Day Architect,” Archhive Books, 2020.

    #amwriting #justwrite #poetry #iamawriter

    Marlene C

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  • Message in a bottle . . . Prompt #623

    Writing Prompt:

    Walking along the beach, a bottle washes ashore, right at your feet. It has note inside. What does it say? Who is it from?

    Or:

    You decide to write a message in a bottle. What do you write? What do you do with the bottle? Who do you hope finds it?

    #amwriting #creativewriting #just write #imawriter

    Marlene C

  • Complimented Complement

    By Kathleen Haynie

    Yes, it drives me nuts. They take an English word that has some nuanced meaning for them personally, and they use it to name some untouchable gadget they have invented. And then someone else makes the gadget anew and puts a new name on it. Then it becomes daily language usage.

    She was complaining that her boyfriend didn’t understand her feelings.

    “He doesn’t have enough bandwidth, I guess.”

    That word no longer belongs in Techieville.

    Complement with an “e” gets merged into compliment with an “I” because spell check doesn’t check it. Someone must think highly of me because I am always getting complimentary “one-month free” offers.

    My e-mail gadget is called a program, a file, or a client. My clients usually pay me for my services, but this one does a service for me for free!

    I went to copy some text on my computer to a CD disk. The boxes say rip, export, import, burn, copy. Which is which? Is it a webpage, a site, a platform, or what? 

    And how do I populate a digital screen? If I click “OK,” will it apply it?

    I put my computer desk in my new large bedroom. I had never slept with my laptop before, and did not know that computers, like spiders, are nocturnal creatures. In the middle of the nights, Microsoft updates my windows.

    I hate cleaning my windows. The updates update my task bar so the start icon won’t open and the sound icon doesn’t adjust the sound.

    The techie help support on the phone tells me to fix the problem by first opening the start icon.

    “Oh, that’s right. You can’t do that.”

    Help!

    Kathleen Haynie. This City Girl turned into a Sonoma County Horse Girl, and then retired from decades as a professional in health care. She is now acting out a latent inclination for the dramatic arts as a drama student and cast member of Off the Page Readers Theater. Surprisingly, the journey continues into the newly found delight discovered in written expression. Kathleen felt honored to have her work, What They Did to Alice, performed at the 6th Street Playhouse 2020 Women’s Festival. She has decided that dark chocolate is perfect with a full-bodied red wine.

    Marlene C

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  • Ideas . . . Prompt #556

    Write about an idea you have. Something you have thought about doing.

    You can also write from your fictional character’s point of view.

    Perhaps something on your wish list. A dream.

    I want to . . .

    ~ write about . . .

    ~ create an art project about . . .

    ~ a gardening project . . .

    ~ something that will help me . . .

    ~ help my community . . .

    ~ help the world . . .

    ~ this is what I want to accomplish . . .

    ~ my dream is . . .

    Marlene C

  • The oldest item you own. Prompt #544

    Write about the oldest thing you own.

    Marlene C

  • Help Your Creativity Blossom

    Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray shares why freewrites inspire writing:
    I have taught the creative writing process for more than twenty years, working in part with a technique known as “freewriting” where I encourage participants to “just let it rip”. We don’t worry about punctuation, spelling, grammar or whether it is good. We suspend the censor and let our first thoughts spill out onto the page. People new to the class are always nervous about this kind of letting go. Since I write and share my own raw writing with the group, I was rather nervous when I first started teaching the classes but found that by maintaining a safe and sacred atmosphere of unconditional acceptance for whatever wanted to come forth it really calmed the fear for everyone.

    We learn quite early to fear making mistakes. We all have a well-developed censor that confines us within the limiting parameters of being socially acceptable. Neuroscientists have identified a part of the brain, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) that is closely associated with impulse control. It keeps us from embarrassing ourselves or saying the wrong thing to our boss or spouse.

    Young children create so naturally because their censors don’t yet exist. The DLPFC is the last part of the brain to fully develop. Around 4th grade it engages and children lose interest in making art in the classroom. If we are worried about making a mistake, saying the wrong thing or doing something poorly we often end up doing nothing at all. The censor has us holding back our latent talent.

    In a study by a neuroscientist looking at brain activity in jazz musicians engaged in improvisation, research subjects showed increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with self-expression, while at the same time the DLPFC or censor appeared to deactivate. At this point there is a surge of raw material coming forth but rather than being random or chaotic it is organized or structured by the rules of the form. In the case of jazz musicians, they naturally improvised in the right key and tempo.

    I have noticed this tendency in my freewriting workshops. Students bypass the censor yet they also naturally wrote in the form that seemed to most call or appeal to them. Individuals drawn to poetry and who read a lot of poetry had the raw writing take on a poetic quality.

    The same was true with fiction, memoir or non-fiction. It’s why I always tell people that reading the kind of writing you want to do is one of the best things you can do to improve your work because when you let go and let the creativity flow, your brain then has a sense of how to organize it. When we let go, we have access to the vast storehouse of the unconscious mind.

    I really encourage creative play and practice, free from the expectation that we have to produce something, as a way to opening up to our creative gifts and talents. Learning to let go and create an atmosphere of inner permission, acceptance and allowance can really help us more fully express ourselves creatively.

    Now in the time to really let our creativity fly in our own live and the world.

    Wishing you all well. Sending you all lots of love and inspiration,
    Suzanne

    Suzanne Murray is a gifted creativity and writing coach, soul-based life coach, writer, poet, EFT practitioner and intuitive healer committed to empowering others to find the freedom to ignite their creative fire, unleash their imagination and engage their creative expression in every area of their lives.
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    Do you want to experience the pleasure and joy that comes from adding satisfaction and meaning and a sense of well being to your life through creative expression. I will offer practical, emotional and soulful strategies to help you fully uncover your creative gifts and support yourself in expressing them. I will provide encouragement and support in understanding of the creative process and its stages and exercises for accessing the wisdom of your imagination. I’ll help you set realistic goals and support you in achieving them. We will work with tools for coaching yourself through the issues that get in the way of your creativity including career concerns, blocks, limiting beliefs, relationship issues and the existential and spiritual questions that can arise from wanting and needing to create. 

    THE HEART OF WRITING COACHING
    Do you want to ignite your creativity and show up to your writing on a regular basis or go deeper into the process and craft? I  offer online coaching to support you and coach you through any resistance or problems along the way. I can send you daily lessons and assignments that cover important aspects of the writing process and information on craft. I hold the space of unconditional acceptance and support to nurturing your unique voice  and work on the stories that are really important to you.  

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    For more detailed information on all my offerings check web site at  https://www.creativitygoeswild.com  or call Suzanne Murray at  707.360.7776  or email  creativitygoeswild@gmail.com . Also check out my Blog at  https://www.creativitygoeswild.com/blog-1/  for ideas on writing, creativity and life coaching.  Follow me on Twitter at @wildcreativity where I tweet inspirational quotes for creativity and life.

    Marlene C

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  • Windows. Prompt #535

    Writing prompt: Windows.

    Or, more specifically: Peeking into windows.

    Imagine it’s Halloween Eve. Or Christmas Eve. Or New Year’s Eve.

    You are walking and see lights in windows.

    Peek into a window. What do you see? 

    Marlene C

  • Number Please. Prompt #534

    Do you remember the phone number you grew up with?

    Write about a memorable conversation on that phone or a memorable conversation in the kitchen or living room or bedroom of your childhood home.

    Marlene C

  • Last time . . . Prompt #523

    Today’s Writing Prompt:

    The last time . . .

    Or:

    This is the last time . . .

    Marlene C