Non-essentials

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.  The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentails."  Lin Yutang

Take inventory of your life.  Write about what you can eliminate that's non-essential.

Hilarity and Heartbreak

‎"I want that which is hilarious and that which is heartbreaking to occupy the same territory in my writing because I think they very often occupy the same territory in life, much as we try to separate them." ~ Richard Russo

Can hearts really break?  Where do the pieces go?  Do hearts even wrinkle?  

Why don't your toes ache when you suffer emotional pain? 

Add hilarity and mix the two.  Can you approach the territory Russo desires?  

Weeds and Wildflowers

Some people define a green shoot with leaves and a yellow flower as just a weed.

I find it amusing that weeds receive criticism for their strengths.  

They push through cement, slither into cracks, extend their roots into harsh soil.  

One tug cannot dislodge them.  Often movement to do so releases more seeds.  What tenacity!

Weeds bloom where they become deposited by the wind and house finches.

Many of today's cultivated flowers began as weeds with determination.  

Creative Write: 
Develop a metaphor to define your view of perseverance.

Four Needs

"One ought every day at least to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible to speak a few reasonable words."  - Goethe

Write about the four needs you have in your daily life.

Natural Encounters

"Hold out your hands to feel the luxury of the sunbeams."  - Helen Keller

Each day you breathe in and out about five hundred cubic feet of air without even noticing.  Daily the sun rises and sets and weather patterns abound.  Seasons move on and constellations revolve around the sky. Tides ebb and flow.

Nature can entertain, stimulate and enlighten.  The doors and windows of wonder open to you daily.

What will you notice today?

Write about a moment when you had an encounter with nature.

Finding Heroes and Villains to Write About

Recall a hero from childhood.  Why did you want to become like this person?  Choose another hero from early adult years.  Can you discover one now?  Make a list of admirable traits.

Choose a villain from these periods of life.  List undesirable characteristics that you wish to avoid.

Use these attributes or negative traits for inspiration to develop two characters.  Mingle good and bad qualities in each.  Have them seated next to one another on an airplane and create a conflict.

Roller Coasters and Writing

To identify with students' writing fears, I focus on the anxiety I feel when considering a roller coaster ride. I shudder to think about the ups, downs, and sharp corners. How my stomach would lurch from riding in a tin can on wheels. 

Is this how you feel when facing a challenging writing project?

What if you could focus on successful areas of life and transfer those feelings to writing when frustrated?

Try this idea when feeling down about writing.

List five techniques you use to feel confident and successful in aspects of life. What does this state of confidence feel like?  Use all five senses to explore this idea.  

For example, my strengths include:

l. I have positive DNA and believe in taking one more step or writing one more word toward a successful outcome.

2. I’m a creative problem solver. When facing a challenge I ask, “In what ways can I solve this?”  

3. I possess stamina and the ability to play.  With these skills I can outlast almost anything. 

4. Humor vincit omnia (humor conquers all).  I can access my funny bone in times of desperation.

5. Writing assists all my strengths. 

During the years of playing competitive tennis, I always felt I could outlast my opponents. My conditioning and ability to remain confident under pressure helped train my mind to stay in a zone.  I also used this technique in later years when I ran marathons. 

During writing sessions, I never stop when tired of a project. I will write until I do not want to stop. Ending in a flow creates positive conditioning that ensures a return to the blank page. 

    

If you access feelings of success in other aspects of life, it will assist you to face writing challenges. If the confidence level is transferred, you can learn to feel the same thrill when problem solving in writing.

  

How to Apply the Concept of Transference to Your Writing

Choose an area of life that enables you to experience joy and success.  Are you a gourmet cook?  Do you grow orchids?  Do you race in triathlons or run marathons? 

In what ways do these skills enable you to develop confidence in yourself? How do you risk and make mistakes in your area of expertise?  What skills do you use in successful areas of life that will transfer to your writing process?

Do a freewrite and let yourself write whatever comes to mind when answering these questions.  When you’ve completed this writing, go in and make a list of key words that define your abilities to meet challenges in your areas of expertise. 

Take a piece of writing that has caused frustration.  Transfer the skills you wrote about to push this writing into a new direction.

Please let me know if this technique works for you! Try it also in other areas of life. Use your strengths to conquer fear.

Make yourself Uncomfortable

Begin - I feel the most uncomfortable to write about . . .

Delve deep into the woods where the dark and foreboding clutch at your nerves.  Write through the tigers of terror.  Hack past weeds of self-imposed barriers.

Create a metaphor for launching into your personal terrain of terrible.

Write without having to get anything right.

Share the experience, if not the sentences, of your conquest.

Heteronyms, Homonyms, Homophones

Play with three types of words.


Heteronyms: words with the same spelling but different pronunciations or meanings.

Bow/bow  invalid/invalid  read/read

Homonyms: words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning.

pine/pine  cloud/cloud  move/move  light/light  wind/wind

Homophones: words that sound alike with different meanings.

great/grate  aunt/ant  peak/peek  bored/board


How many ways you can use a word of choice?

light:  source of radiation,  aspect,  not heavy, flame

I wear a light shirt and wander in the morning light by the light of summer. By the candlelight where a moth lights upon a table, I see things in a new light.

Creative Write:  Play with these:

pine: tree, loneliness and yearning

cloud: weather, hide, threaten

move:  stir emotions, cause to change, cause to take action. formal request, move residence

wind:  moving air, breath, cause to be out of breath, tighten

Antidotes to Despair

"The artist's job is not to succumb to despair, but to find an antidote to the emptiness of existence," says the Gertrude Stein character in Woody Allen's film, Midnight in Paris.

A master of optimism denies the emptiness of existence.  One can create cures for the collective malaise that haunts our society.  Take up the noble task and write yourself into a time of inspiration and animation.

Write three solutions for a nagging issue that troubles our society.  Send a letter to the Editor.

The Balcony Scene

Balcony scenes appear in E.M Forster's "Room with a View" and Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."   Emma Orczy's "The Scarlet Pimpernel" features a dramatic balcony view.  Remember the line, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair" from the story of Rapunzel by the Brother's Grimm?  


What ideas does the balcony scene pictured above inspire?


What happens on this balcony or behind the window?  Who climbs up or who climbs down the tree?


What do your characters overhear or view from this balcony to stimulate story conflict?  Create turmoil to view on the street or in the distance.


Write a balcony scene.

Character Couture

Observe people and what they wear.  Ask questions of colors, textures, materials, and styles.  What do clothing items conceal or leave for the imagination?  Do some people design their clothes around them like body art?

Can you read a person by his or her adornment?  How do individuals wear their dreams?  Do multi-colors and patterns resist or attract attention?

Does a moustache and beard provide protection?  What's life like in shorts?  How are life stories revealed in tattoos?

Creative Write:  Reveal character couture for him and her.  Have them interact by clothing selections and the bounce of comments. Develop the details down to jewelry choices and show conflict to tell the story of each.

Have a Ducky Day!

How many ways can you expand an animal word?

duck  - Something you do with your head. A fun time.

bear  -  Can you bear it, get bare or bear down?

bull   -  Get into a bull market or bull session.

horse -  Horse around and have some fun.


Select a few animals and use their characteristics to define your meaning.

Could you seagull into your sandwich?  Do you hummingbird through tasks?

Why turtle today?  Just worm your way.  Get out and play.

Will you canary a poem or song?

Writing about Relationships

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” - Leo Buscaglia

Close relationships require attention and fine tuning.  We establish routine car maintenance but often forget about an individual's needs. A focus on ways to spruce up communication techniques with a loved one becomes a necessity to keep it running.

What five comments do you believe assist in relationship development and enrichment?

Here's a start:

Say Thank You for the small things.

Say I'm sorry at the point of concern. Don't pout or delay.  Sorry is a calming word.

Ask -  How may I help you?

Smile and comment, "You're looking great today."

Say,  I love you.  Say it often with a smile.

In relationship disagreements, compromise never works. One person has to give in.  Consider collaborative thinking where a new solution gives possibilities for each person's view.  Think about dividing an orange.  One person wants orange juice; the other wants to make an orange cake.  Split in half, the orange only goes half way for each.  If the orange peel is used for the cake, the pulp and juice can become a drink.  Push for creative notions when negotiating.

Write about what five key phrases for relationship success.  Create a dialogue between two individuals who need to collaborate.