Penny Wilkes - The Write Way

Dictionary Play

2012-01-30T06:34:00.000-08:00

‎"Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more effective your writing. We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it." ~ PD James

Inspiration in word exploration begins with the dicionary. Open it at random and write down five words whose meaning is unfamiliar to you.

Write a paragraph using your new words.

Open to another page. Find a word that intrigues you with its rhythm. Begin the first line of a poem.

Play in the dictionary daily to enrich your writing.

Seeking Contentment

2012-01-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

The eternal search for Happiness might disappoint. Often negative situations produce satisfying results depending upon one's attitude and perspective. In the choice to search for Balance rather than Happiness, feelings of contentment enliven the process and result.

Contentment equates to feeling comfortable amidst the seesawing between the fun and frustrations of life. It becomes a way of wisdom to stay satisfied regardless of the situation.

Creative Write: Write about what works for you when faced with choices. Do you require Happiness as a goal? How does writing assist the process?

Revisit. Recycle. Be Amused

2012-01-29T08:22:00.000-08:00

Re-visit three stories or myths. Try re-reading GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS, CINDERELLA, or THE WIZARD OF OZ. Take a look at the Persephone myth, the story of Icarus or Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET.

Read to discover another viewpoint character. What if you told the story from Mama Bear's perspective? A step-sister had a secret desire to become a secret agent. What if Toto ran away and joined the circus?

Do the same creative musing for your chosen stories or myths.

Write a sequel from the different point of view. Add humor to change the mood of the story.

Reading inspires ways to revisit, recycle, and amuse yourself with ideas from literature. During a freewrite, discover inspiration for a story or poem.

Creativity at work

2012-01-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. – Eleanor Roosevelt.

Develop three characters having lunch at a restaurant.

One brings an idea. Another shares an event. A third gossips.

Create a three way conversation. How does the idea person makeprogress?

Who holds court thelongest? Does someone become angryand leave?

Time Travel

2012-01-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

A common theme in science fiction, time travel has been explored in wide-ranging works of fiction from H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine to Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife. Scientists at Cornell University invented a time cloak. They hid an event for 40 trillionths of a second and tinkered with the speed of light. Many feel time travell's call.

Do you feel a fascination for time travel? If you returned to a time in history, where would you go? If you could observe a past event, in the moment, which one would you view?

Choose a specific time and place in history and invent a character who observes it with today's knowledge. Does the character want to change anything or could he or she adapt to crossing the country in a covered wagon and meeting the challenges of nature? What would happen by adding today's conveniences?

Have fun writing about time travel.
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A Happening Place

2012-01-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

The Pantai Inn attracts a variety of residents. Each one arrives to go into hiding, assume a new identity, or change his or her life in some intriguing way. The full staff protects individuals from something or creates possibiiities for the future.

Whatever they need - if they can pay - the clients arrive for consultations. If they cannot pay by cash or credit card, other means are available by individual treaty.

What would you request at the Pantai Inn? Or, create a persona who would pay a visit to this happening place.

Smell the Flowers

2012-01-25T08:16:00.000-08:00

Stand close to a variety of flowers. Discover the arrangement of petals, scent and color. Note outlines inside that create faces or other images. Shape words to give your reader a picture of what you observe with all the senses.

Take two steps backward. Observe again and travel where the details take you. Squint and notice from a side angle. Focus attention to frame flowers with branches or leaves. Notice insects and their activities.

Finally, observe the flowers and how they fit into the landcape as a whole. What else exists in the background? Add sounds.

Do a freewrite and add emotions. Let connections come to mind as you observe. Lead into subjects and details from other aspects of life.

Combine the imagery with thoughts to connect to an event in your life.

The Reverence Potential

2012-01-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

"Wherever people try to act together, they hedge themselves around with some form of ceremony or good manners, and the observance of this can be an act of reverence. Reverence lies behind civility and all of the graces that make life in society bearable and pleasant." - Paul Woodruff

Create a personal essay around the word, "reverence." Do not use the word in your writing. Write about what you feel, think and reflect about its meaning and necessity in our society.

Use a unifying metaphor or tell a fable that reveals the essence of reverence. Create a ritual or ceremony that enhances the virtues of reverence.

Keep in mind a sense of Awe. Begin by considering something greater that yourself. You might begin your thinking and feeling by examining the virtues of respect, humility and charity revealed in concrete terms.

Where does reverence extend beyond spiritual associations?

Show an aspect of respect in a conversation between two individuals with disparate views.

What do humility and charity sound like?

How does one show the power of graciousness?

Does our culture often celebrate irreverence?

Push your writing to revive an ideal of reverence.

Beyond Familiarity

2012-01-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

Think about someone you have known a long time. Select your spouse, a friend, co-worker, parent, or a child. Take time to delve into your familiarity with this person.

Write everything you perceive and believe.

Examine characteristics of the individual's personality: what he or she wears, says, loves, enjoys eating, doing and playing. Mine the details and add sensory aspects.

Step back from your familiarity. Discover this person with innocent eyes to gain a fresh perspective. Forget biases and relationship issues. Write as if you were seeing them for the first in all the details.

Does a poem, essay or story evolve from this new view? You might also have a Birthday gift to present.

Detours

2012-01-23T07:16:00.000-08:00

Deal only with the moment and not the possible consequences of your action. - Mother Teresa

How many times have you focused so much on the end result of writing that you missed the opportunities and idea shifts? You straight-lined it and rushed to the finish. Speed didn't show the results expected did it?

In the initial stages of creativity, the writing process has no destination. It is right here, right now, one word after another. Speed and time do not matter. The focus moves beyond the obsession of getting something out that's perfect.

Writing should not become a struggle. If it is you miss the moments in movement.

Don't fight barriers. Get past any barrier. Jump over or push it away. Feel the victory of words that slide from fingers across the keyboard or when a pen flows on paper.

Let process and goal stay fluid. You need to know what to accomplish and then you need to get rid of expectations. Get out of the way of writing, take a detour, turn a different corner and play!

Creative Write: Focus on a writing project that stumps you. Let detours assist your process. Move in directions beyond the barriers.

Word Flexing

2012-01-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

Words have the power to assume many roles. Different meanings of one word enrich the text and enhance the reader's experience. Flexing your word power adds spice to writing practice.

Take a look at meanings for:

set
take
light
go

Use each in a sentence or two and include all combinations.

Here's a start: After you play the last set of tennis, set the table before at the time set following sunset. Why settle for less?

Add words to the list and use your imagination. Flex those words.

Struggle

2012-01-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

A man is pursued by a tiger and crawls into a tree at the edge of an abyss. Two mice, one black and one white gnaw at the roots of the tree. At the bottom of the abyss sits a dragon with parted jaws.

The man looks above and sees honey trickling down the tree, and he begins to lick it and forget his perilous situation. But the mice gnaw through the tree and the man falls. The tiger seizes him and hurls him over to the dragon.

Joy Williams feels writers need to capture and describe those terrifyng small mice. She sees the mice as time, shifting, transforming time which alters everything we love.

I suggest writing about the honey.

Creative Write: Struggle defines a story. It speaks to the human resolve to triumph despite the obstacles, whether physical or psychological. Struggle suggests an effort to endure adversity, to push one's goals forward, and ways to confront counterforces.

Struggle also implies a sustained effort to overcome opposition. A struggle too easily resolved will disappoint readers. To sustain a struggle, conflict must appear formidable and overwhelming at first.

The more arduous the struggle, the sweeter the reward.

Outline a story idea in terms of a struggle for a significant reward. Use animal characters at first and then turn them into people. Notice how the change in name affects the attributes of the characters.

Don't forget to include the honey!

Food Memories

2012-01-20T07:39:00.000-08:00

Does a particular food recall memories? Where were you the first time you had a pizza, Chinese take out, or sushi?

Think about your ancestors. How did someone discover the edible parts of an artichoke? Who decided to peel a banana, crack a walnut, or cut into a melon? Imagine the surprises discovering taste and texture.

Do you remember a romantic encounter and a meal?

What associations come to mind when you think about cotton candy, mushrooms, omelets, chocolate, or blueberry pie?

Write about different foods you like and dislike.

Write your food in details. See where the writing takes you.

Living in Exile

2012-01-19T12:04:00.000-08:00

"I am in exile. Like everybody else, I live in a world that is given to me - I am thankful for it. "

- Paul Goodman

Language reveals who we are. We do not think we're different until someone makes our difference known to us.

How have individuals mislabeled you? Make a list of words that you do not feel "at home with."

Think about how you use words to take charge of your life.

Creative Writes:

L. How do we remain "ourselves" once we're defined as "other"?
2. Recall a moment of difference when you felt like "other" and write about it.
3. Write about the kind of exile you feel.
4. Consider the way you are "at home" or not at home in words

Try a Haibun

2012-01-18T18:46:00.000-08:00

Japanese poet Basho popularized the haibun formin the seventeenth century.

The haibun presents a scene or moment caught inprose. A haiku follows as a climaxor epiphany.

A defining moment occurs between the prose andthe haiku. The connection between the two offers aspringboard to a variety of thoughts and unexpected meanings. One does not define or explain the other but both add to the whole experience.

Choose an emotional moment or a naturescene. It could also be anexchange with another person. Write 20 to 118 words in the prose segment.

Make every word expressive. Include nouns ofdescription, active verbs, sensory imagery and rhythm.

Add a haiku. First line of five syllables, follow with seven syllables then end with five syllables.

Or, alternate between prose paragraphs and haikus.You can create a single haiku sandwiched between two paragraphs of prosepoetry, or continue the process as long as you like.  

Around theneighborhood, the breeze brings scents of morning: muffins, bacon andcoffee. Sparrows awaken in songand share sound waves with mockingbirds. Dew drips from morning glories and daisies that shine in the sun. Theocean lazes and folds in egg white that scramble to shore. Pelicans, cormorantsand seagulls begin their day of flying and feeding. Around each corner a day breaks fresh with discovery.

Childrenchalk sidewalk

Red, yellowcombine with blue

Give sunshineto passersby

Into the Silence

2012-01-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

How does one write about silence? What occurs in the spaces between words?

Make discoveries into collections and clashes of sounds. Start with the beginning and the ends of sounds. Give shape to rhythm.

Become intent on listening for distant barking, hammering, the sound of breathing, and all steady sound.

Pause to listen. Then write about the lack of sound.

Embark of a journey moving from the silence and back again.

What if . . .

2012-01-17T06:35:00.000-08:00

What if

gravity took the day off
why turned to now
never felt amused
annoyed by forever
until everyone laughed
as some hovered
others slide away
frosted with day light

if you search for answers
in the holes of donuts
anything and everything
will change
- Penny Wilkes

Take time today to write - "what ifs." Just let them flow across the page until you feel an ending. Then begin again.

Airplane Personalities

2012-01-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

All types of individuals sit next to you on the airplane. They provide fodder for fiction. See if any of these appeal to you for story.

Develop a character to interact with one of these individuals. Create narrative and dialogue and see where it takes you. Include humor.

Or, if you have met one of these characters on a plane, write your own story sprinkled with a few embellishments. Show interactions with flight attendants also.

the wriggler
the fearful flyer
the incessant chatterbox
the passenger with luggage to fill two seats
the cigar chomper, "Oh, I'm not smoking it."
the overimbiber

Have fun playing with airplane personalities!

Windows to Story

2012-01-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

Where will these buildings lead your story mind? Notice a variety of windows. Drama or humor stirs and struts behind them. Begin with the open windows and ease into those below.

Who inhabits these places? Create an argument in one window. Find a friendship in another. Open a third window and show what is seen, heard and smelled in the air.

Bring the inhabitants, startled by sirens, into the street.

. . . and then what?

Know Yourself

2012-01-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

Do you know what you are?
You are a manuscript of a divine letter.
You are a mirror reflecting a noble face.
This Universe is not outside of you.
Look inside yourself:
everything that you want,
you are already that. - Rumi

Many traditions describe the spiritual journey as moving toward your true self.

Find a quiet location. Then, read the above poem slowly.

Sit comfortably, clear your mind and focus on your breath. Take in six deep breaths and left out six. Do this four times. Notice if any phrase of the above poem jumps out at you.

Who are you? Discover a metaphor to define you. Write!

The Heart of the Matter

2012-01-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

Louise Bishop's work, WORDS, STONES AND HERBS (2007) focuses on the healing power of literature. She discovered a 15th-century manuscript which provides treatment for everything from a flesh wound to mental ailments. In medieval times, medicine involved the study of language related to the seasons and the power of nature.

A doctor often placed a written charm on a broken leg to speed the recovery process. What we today consider, the placebo effect, became a vital part of medicine back then. Bishop mentions that people would memorize 150 lines of poetry to assist healing.

Years ago I learned from Dr. Norman Cousins that humor heals. A day of silliness, writing and naps gets the job done when the mind and body have challenges.

The Heart of the Matter

Why does the heart always get credit

when pleasure or pain take the breath away?

“We do the work,” say the lungs.

“Breathe. Breathe. We fix it.”

The heart claims it never breaks,

“I don’t even wrinkle.”

Fingers create fists, “We feel, really feel.”

"Well, we run from distress,” the feet say.

Liver and kidneys shout that they

deal with all bodily evils first.

The eyes edge in,

“Tears wash away the chaos.”

“Hey, don’t forget us adenoids and tonsils,

if you still have them."

“Anyone home?" asks the spleen" The appendix

can’t even pronounce vestigial.”

The navel chuckles, “Don’t ask the colon for its opinion.”

The brain has remained complacent

“Have fun without me,” it sings

as it flits out an ear.

- Penny Wilkes

Creative Write: Take a day for self-healing. Write about the human body.

One liners

2012-01-14T10:19:00.000-08:00

What does speed bump?

Play with one lines today. See what unlikely words you can bounce together. Try for an image, metaphor, or an abstract idea connected with a concrete image. Collect them throughout the day and see where they take you.

Here are a few to get you started:

shadow caught in cobwebs

day swallows night

Time talks to a pillow

hope written on clouds

tears growing wings

Time Travel

2012-01-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

Write about your favorite age of life and how you experienced it. Return to it for a day and write a scene in detail.

If you could advance to an age, why would you? Add the benefits and drawbacks of this time travel.

Then, write about an age you do not wish to visit again. Write deeply into the reason why. Then turn it around and relive the experience that troubled you with a positive spin. What worked about that age of your life?

During your writing, notice how your current life's wisdom creeps in and weaves around your narrative.

A Better World Because of . . .

2012-01-13T01:49:00.000-08:00

“Don't spend your precious time asking "Why isn't the world a better place?" It will only be time wasted. The question to ask is "How can I make it better?" To that there is an answer.” - Leo Buscaglia

Write about five ways you can make the world the Best.

Hunting and Gathering

2012-01-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

Leap into a primal mind of awareness and observation of the world around you. Be still, listen, hunt and gather.

Notice. Stories revolve around all of our life's activities.

Hunt for ideas behind doors. What rustles in the bushes?

Clip photographs from magazines to gather items that add texture to your writing.

Sift incidents overheard from friends' talk or in restaurants.

Write fragments of conversations in the aisles of supermarkets.

Eavesdrop for names and nicknames.

Cut out fragments of color, material you happen upon. Add scents and sounds.

Take nature walks and choose rocks in perculiar shapes, twigs, and feathers.

Observe empty spaces and what occurs in the silence.

Discover quotations, good leads to stories and surprise endings.

Watch for everything to enrich your creativity.

Then what? Tape or paste your clues on pages to fit into a loose leaf binder to become your sketchbook.

Divide by sections for ease in filing collections of story sparkers.

As you collect clues, you will begin to notice patterns forming to assist you with ideas for use in plotting, character development, scenery and mood.

Where will you begin today?

Memory Ticklers

2012-01-11T07:17:00.000-08:00

Describe an early experience with as much detail as possible from your child's mind and in reflection as an adult.

Sift through favorite possessions. What stories run through them to you?

How did a certain period of history affect you, friends and family?

Describe your most memorable childhood pet.

Write your relationship with a teacher. Did he or she make a lasting contribution on your life?

Music is a trigger for stories. Did you take music lessons? Describe a humorous incident. List tunes that elicit memories and write about them.

List firsts as fast as you can in a page of writing: childhood trip, date, kiss, circus, dance, bicycle, job, accomplishment.

Describe all of the above from someone else's point of view: parents, siblings, best friend.

Don't forget to include sights, sounds, scents and flavors.

Wanna Being

2012-01-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

"Adults are always asking kids what they want to be when they grow up because they are looking for ideas."
- Paula Poundstone

Recall your first answer to that question. Who asked and where were you?

How did you let yourself dream and plan?

What other choices did you make along the way to where you are today?

Make a list of all the "what I wanna be when I grow up" ideas and ways you experimented and explored.

If you're still discovering yourself and not planning to grow up, write about that also.

Creative Write: Have fun writing about "wanna being" by detailing the choices that led you to today! Where else do you plan to go?

Fun with Anachronism

2012-01-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

"Oh, what I'd give for aMacBook Air."

Caspar Netscher, a painter of the Dutch Masters tradition, created a portrail of someone pensive about writing.

Who is this? What happened just before this pose? What's going on to the left of the painting? Who will read what's written? Where will the fellow go when the writing is finished?

Roll forward to the present time:

Imagine a situation with a laptop in front and a cell phone on the side table. Then - what and why . . .?

Have fun creating and writing with anachronism.

Taking to the Road

2012-01-09T08:18:00.000-08:00

"It's no accident our stories so often turn on hitting the road, riding into the sunset, lighting out for the territories, going to sea, leaving loved ones by sitting off to find a new self, while at the same time shouldering the sadness of never getting back, aging all the while. " from The Nature of Generosity by William Kittridge

Write about your self-reliant individualism in a story or poem about hitting the road. What has called to you? Where have you traveled in mind and time?

Artichoke Hearts

2012-01-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

"You develop a style from writing a lot."

Kurt Vonnegut

The writer's individual style becomes the center of his or her writing. Each person expresses an internal rhythm, a harmony of language , imagery, and perception. Everything layers around this inner heart like artichoke leaves.

Take time today to explore your writing style. Search for your style as you contact your mysteries; what's to laugh about or cry about. Learn the wildness in yourself.

Spend time reading and understanding writers who appeal to your sense of flow. Choose five authors and write out their sentences. Experience the nuances. They will assist you to modify and extend your unique writing style.

Become free to explore the truth inside. What's your take on life? Peel the layers.

The Fives

2012-01-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

Write responses in fives today and discover how they spark your writing.

l. Five individuals who have made an impact on your life.

2. Five situations that provided a negative influence but pushed you onward inspite of it.

3. Five major thrills.

4. Five accomplishments you did not believe you could do.

5. Five sentences summing up the above.

O P T I M I S M

2012-01-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

If writing days feel like elephants coming at you, hold out those arms and take in the challenges.

O Stay Open to Opportunities in your writing.

P Note the Possibilities that exist around every corner.

T Take breaks to let your mind discover connections.

I Investigate with sights, sounds, scents and tastes.

M Keep the Momentum going. One word, then another. Bounce those words.

I Imagination works wonders. Play with ideas.

S Silliness stimulates the brain. Giggle as you write.

M Call your Muse. Give him or her a name and write a conversation.

Create your own suggestions for each letter. Optimism !

Create a story

2012-01-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

Use the painting above to stimulate story ideas.

Begin with a mood: Develop joy, frustration, intrigue or humor.

Set the stage: What has happened? What is about to happen? What results?

Notice details in the environment to include: What does the color red mean. Name the birds and their situation. What are the three men about to discover?

What happens at the end of the street?

What is going on behind the third window in the second story? What does the person with the glasses say to intimidate the fellow across the table?

Why and where are the couple on the scooter going?

Add sounds, scents and tastes.

Energize your writing with questions: "what if" "and then what."

Natural Encounters

2012-01-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

"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?

Recall a moment you had an "encounter" with nature.

Oyster Stew

2012-01-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

"All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster's autobiography." ~Federico Fellini

Write about the ways you overcome obstacles.

Show how you crash through adversity. Reveal how you craft life's gritty circumstances into pearls.

Create your own oyster metaphor.

Six Words

2011-12-29T14:24:00.000-08:00

Respond to each question in six words. Go for nouns and verbs. If you must use an adjective, make it startle the noun.

Where do you discover amazement in life?

How does a scent remind you of an emotion?

Where does a taste take you back in time?

Describe a favorite song.

What makes you laugh?

Show a color's effect.

Write six sound words like kableem or skeech.

Creative Write:

After you create your six word responses, mix them up. Notice where they might re-arrange themselves in a poem.

Let them lead you with nuances and fun.

Finding out why

2011-12-29T07:58:00.000-08:00

"The two most important days of your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why." -Mark Twain

Do a freewrite today about your first memory of life. Discover additional details as you write.

How are you doing in the "finding out why" area?

Write about the thrill of life!

New Year's Writing Focus

2011-12-28T01:34:00.000-08:00

Have you started thinking about your 2012 Writing Resolutions? Consider a writing focus instead.

Timothy Pychyl, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Canada, describes resolutions as an effort to reinvent oneself. People make resolutions as a way of motivating themselves, he says. Pychyl argues that people aren't ready to change their habits, particularly bad habits, and that accounts for the high failure rate of resolutions. Another reason for the high failure rate involves unrealistic goals and expectations.

When you make positive affirmations about yourself that you don't really believe, the positive affirmations not only don't work, they can damage your self-esteem.

The other aspect of failed resolutions lies in the cause and effect relationship. You may think that if you have a writing plan this year your entire life will change. When it doesn't, you may get discouraged and then revert to former behaviors.

Take a look at realistic ways to focus and begin your 2012 writing year.

Don't wait till New Year's Eve to make writing resolutions. Make it a year long process. Plan every day to focus on an aspect of writing.

Set realistic, specific goals. You will write a set number of pages each day, each week or by a set date.

Take small steps. Many people quit writing because their goal requires too big a step all at once.

Create a support system. Have a writing accountability buddy you have to report to.

Celebrate your success between goals. If you write today; you're a writer today. Applaud yourself!

Be mindful. Stay physically, emotionally and mentally aware of your inner state as you write moment by moment, rather than living in the past or future.

Don't take yourself so seriously. Have fun and laugh when you feel cranky and don't want to write. Write about cranky. Write even more.

A Seedy Story

2011-12-27T12:10:00.000-08:00

Two seeds settled side by side in the spring earth. The first seed shouted, "I want to grow and send my roots deep into the soil. Then I'll push my sprouts through the earth above so I can feel the sun on my face and dew on my petals." She grew.

The second seed whined, "I m afraid. If I send my roots in to the dark ground I don't know what I'l find. If I push my delicate sprouts upward, I may damage them in the hard soil. I'll wait till it's safe." She waited.

A hen wandered in, scratched around for food, found the waiting seed and ate it.

Moral. Don't get gobbled up this week. Take chances to grow and shine in the light. Avoid procrastination.

Forget New Year's resolutions. Do it NOW. Amaze yourself with your writing today and every day.

Conviction in C's

2011-12-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

In the week before New Year's Day, work on your writing plans for 2012. Include convictions to go with your writing. Bring in your attitudes, skills and approaches for writing results.

Play with the notion of going through the alphabet and writing five ideas for each letter in relation to your writing goals.

Here are five C's:

Make a Commitment to a writing mission for 2012 that matters. Go for a quantum leap to develop your talents to the fullest.

Challenge yourself to become the best. Learn ways to access your hidden reserves.

Bring Caring in. Allow yourself to bring in feelings, emotion and passion in your writing.

Let your Creativity unfold bit by bit. Use all the senses.

Realize the Courage to know that at times moving toward higher levels of writing performance will be met by set-backs, obstacles and problems to solve. Address the problems as part of the game plan.

Now, start with the A's to Z's.

A Do Day!

2011-12-25T11:12:00.001-08:00

We drive down the street and negative signage accosts us at every turn. STOP. Do Not Enter. Wrong Way. Stay back. Danger. Do not feed the birds. Do not. Do not. It's all about NO instead of DO.

Rewrite all the signs you pass on the street. Turn Stop into Go for it. Encourage motorists to DO positive actions.

Hurrah for YES! Just do it!

Reword the negativity and make it a DO day! What would this Night Heron have to say?

Trolling for Truth

2011-12-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

"A writer's knowledge of himself, realistic and unromantic, is like a store of energy on which he must draw for a lifetime."

- Graham Greene

What are central questions to living as a human doing?

Consider:

Lovers' misunderstandings

Quarrels between friends

Family feuds

Self-sabotage

Tests of courage

Defeat and redemption

Pleasures expressed and thwarted

What material of your life has baffled you? What experiences won't digest and go away? What treasured moments do you value? What do you know about yourself in a way that is realistic and unromantic? Test them for meaning.

Creative Write: Write about turns in life's road: u-turns, left turns, right turns, changing vehicles.

Imagine driving a different vehicle and an alternate way to go.

Timeout for FUN

2011-12-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

Don't let the chaos of the Holiday season cause distress and down time in your writing journey. Incorporate surprise, laughter, and delight into your next two days of writing and see what it does for your attitude toward life.

Take time off from your usual worrying or trying so hard to please everyone else. Make a list of the five biggest worries on the left side of a sheet of paper. Opposite each worry write why they would

never-in-this-world happen. You'll discover you worry using creative improbabilities not creative reality.

Write a Dear Child of Me letter. What would you like to do that's really fun, daring or outright wild? As you write, try to remember your fearless self.

Take a timeout and write yourself into Fun.

You to You

2011-12-21T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's a mad rush this Holiday season. Take a breath and focus on YOU.

Consider how you treat yourself. When you become one hundred percent responsible and care for yourself, you will have the ability to become one hundred percent responsible in celebration of another person.

A relationship between two individuals who are each one hundred percent responsible for their lives provides true reciprocity. Anything else engages entanglement.

Celebrate and Love yourself. Invite yourself to tea. Enjoy your own company. Expore your heart. Cuddle yourself. Be grateful for all your accomplishments. Don't judge yourself for one day. Sing outside the shower.

Creative Write: Explore how your mind moves in writing. Notice what you feel. How does writing change your mood? Write about altering one habit that gets in the way of the loving you.

two days

2011-12-21T13:05:00.001-08:00

"The two most important days of your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why." -Mark Twain

Do a freewrite today about your first memory of life. Discover additional details as you write.

How are you doing in the "finding out why" area?

Write about the thrill of life!

A Gift of the Present Moment

2011-12-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

Do you spend a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror? In anticipation of the new year, promise yourself to use your time in present moments of movement.

Enjoy the present as a gift and keep your eyes ready for amazement. Let your ears take in all life's music.
Taste the breeze as it arrives. Notice the flavors of color. Breathe in the scents of magic around you.

Then write your present chapter!

Habit Tracking

2011-12-19T13:58:00.000-08:00

Individuals and their traits travel through us. From Childhood onward, many of our behaviors become composites of watching and emulating others. Preferences may arise from both positive and negative experiences that build character and personality.

During the day keep track of behaviors you attribute to influence from family members or friends. Who taught you to roll socks into a ball or fold them over together to place in the sock drawer? Did someone suggest you try catsup or vinegar on French fries? Did a sibling throw the baseball and football with you and show you form? Did you ever skip a stone on a lake? Who taught you to tie shoelaces and how do you? Who dared you to become courageous?

Does science appeal after watching the celery experiment revealing capillary action with blue ink that traveled up into the leaves? Do you like jelly with scrambled eggs because your father ate it? Does mac and cheese not fit into the favorite foods category because you had to eat it when recovering from an illness? Who read your first book to you or revealed the alphabet? Do you count on your fingers?

Notice how you respond during the day. Do you hear yourself say something a friend always repeated? Do your slang words retreat many decades and you still say, "Cool" or "right on"?

Creative write: After you complete your day's habit tracking, write about your impressions.

Seeking Simplicity

2011-12-18T15:02:00.000-08:00

A woman who called herself Peace Pilgrim began a walk across America in the 1950s. She had reduced her possessions to what she believed necessary and essential. Her clothes and a few items in her pockets served her. Living at the need rather than want level made her feel liberated and empowered. She said, "a persistent simplification will create an inner and outer well-being that places harmony in one's life."

Seek simplicity for yourself by writing responses and see where they take you:

How might you return to simplicity? In what ways will it assist with contentment?

On what scale do you rank possessions and endless striving? How necessary are these aspects of your life?

Does technology add to or reduce complexity in your life?

What would you do to reduce daily clutter in physical items and mental issues?

Describe emotional crutches that provide illlusions of security?

Which rituals do you use to start the day?

In what ways do you silence sensory overload daily?

During the hectic Holiday season, if you take time to write about seeking simplicity, does an improvement plan appear?

The Shape of Personal Narrative

2011-12-17T12:30:00.000-08:00

"We must create and find our own stories, our own myths with symbols that will bind us to the world as we see it today." - Terry Tempest Williams

A personal narrative includes a desire, struggle and realization. More than an accounting of events, it includes emotional, moral and psychological tones which give meaning to the events.

Story shape:

You have a desire that starts the story.

You struggle to gain it through an action or actions.

You feel challenges past interrelated events that you made happen or happened to you.

Because of what happened, you became a different person. You realized something as a result of the struggle. You may see things differently with resulting wisdom. Or, you do not gain insight.

Change from an event is a moral change. You had a realization or a series of realizations and a shift in values or perception. Possibly you learned nothing from the life lesson and continue to make similar choices that end in negative results.

Creative write: Tell your story by describing a desire and challenges to reach a result.

Symbols

2011-12-17T09:06:00.000-08:00

A symbol stands for something else. It takes the place of myriad descriptive words as a shortcut to meaning. Symbolism carries the theme and significance of a piece of writing

A symbol:

l. Creates an image that stands for a moment in the story (blinking light or ringing bell).

2. Fits into the action and story's movement.

3. Implies rather than intrudes upon the story.

4. Creates mood. A raging storm implies violence. A wolf howling in the wilderness suggests loneliness or foreshadows and intensifies danger.

5. Can be used to resolve the story. Through the symbol the main character achieves new insight which changes attitude and brings a decision.

When writing, employ symbols early as part of the background. In some stories the symbol parallels the story action. What happens to the symbols happens to the character (plane crashes, character crashes).

A man retreats to the lake to contemplate his life after a divorce and alienation from his children. During the afternoon he watches a sailboat struggle against a rising storm. It mirrors his own struggle. The story could take several turns.

He could get caught up with the boat's struggle, race out to save the crew and avoid his own problems. The boat could be battered and sink but the man could see he can call upon his strength of will to fight for his joy in life. In either case the man's conflict is made dramatic by the boat's struggle.

Creative Write: Develop a story around the symbolism you notice in the photograph.

Poetry Play

2011-12-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

Come up with a word for each letter that follows. Write as fast as you can. Write downward from the letter or slant your words.

T W I N K L E

A L C H E M Y

S E A G L A S S

E M B R Y O

See if ideas for a poem appear.

Epistolary Style

2011-12-14T21:11:00.000-08:00

The epistolary story consists of letters written from one character to another or moves between characters. The convention of the story may also include that of a monologue spoken aloud by one character to another.

The variations include the narrator speaking in intimate confessional to a friend or lover. Or, he may present his case to a jury or a mob. The narrator could pour out his heart in a love letter that he knows
(and we know) he will never send.

This style is the opposite of what's employed in a story told to the reader. The listener as well as the teller becomes involved in the action. Readers become eavesdroppers with all the ambiguous intimacy that position entails.

With email, Twitter and blogs so popular these days, not many individuals exchange letters of length and substance. Many novels have used the epistolary form. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner reveals the benefits.

Creative write:

Write a sketch based on the epistolary form. Choose either monologue or a series of letters between friends.

Choose one or create your own.

l. The narrator is concerned about the choice he made to sell property that had been in the family for years.

2. Develop four letters among friends attempting to settle an argument. First letter details the problem. The second responds to it. The third attempts reconciliation. The last letter puts it to rest or leaves it unresolved.

Just Three Things

2011-12-13T20:37:00.001-08:00

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” - Lao Tzu

Take a look at your current lifestyle.

How do you define simplicity in your life?
When do you discover and reveal patience each day?
Focus on your compassion and when you initially understood its concept.

Write beyond these abstract ideas with descriptions of how you achieved each of these treasures. Have you taught them to others? If you're still pursuing one or all, write about that journey also.

Write Past Stress to a Sense of Place

2011-12-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

“A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.” ~ Joan Didion

Ponder your sense of place. Where do you feel the most content? Write about the colors, shapes, sounds, and scents of your favorite place.

Why does it surround you with pleasure? How did you discover it and what experiences happen there?

During the Holidays, tension increases. After you have described your place of comfort, return there often in writing to reduce stress.

Creative Write: Write a story or poem embellished with fantasy characters who inhabit this environment.

From the Shadows

2011-12-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

Follow light and dark today in your writing. Notice what occurs in the shadows. Observe the shapes and ridges that bounce in the light. Discover possibilities for story in the textures revealed.

What will you encounter in the spaces between illusion and appearances?

Play in the shadows and bring them to light.

To be a Star

2011-12-10T11:21:00.001-08:00

What would you write today about Stardom? What does it take for your star to shine? If you chose another metaphor to describe your brilliance and self-illumination, what would it be?

Write your shine today!

Learning is not a Spectator Sport

2011-12-09T12:31:00.001-08:00

Review your life in ten year increments. What and how have you learned during each decade?

Start with your tenth birthday. What did it feel like turning double digits? Do you recall a specific incident that stood out for you? Write about it.

Continue on with ages 10-20. What challenges and conquests occurred for you? What concerned you? What did you cheer for?

In the years 20-30. What misfortunes. misunderstandingss and mishaps do you recall that turned into enlightenments?

Keep progressing onward through the decades in a freewrite! You'll realize that Learn is an active verb!

Take the Leap

2011-12-09T12:12:00.001-08:00

DON'T be afraid to take a BIG step. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.~ David Lloyd George

What leap might you take with your writing today?

Do you have a piece of writing to send out
for publication?

Why procrastinate? Take the chance.

Polish that essay, story or poem. Read it out loud to make certain every word has its place.

Choose several publications and start the submission process. If it returns, send it to the next one on the list. Persistence will gain you writing credits.

GO for it today. Jump to the other side and publish your work.

Become a Thrillionaire

2011-12-08T20:05:00.001-08:00

It's the Holiday season. Everyone has a gift to give. What are your talents to share with others?

Former Wellesley College President, Diana Chapman Walsh, described what "thrillionaires" do when she handed out the UN Declaration of Human Rights to each graduating senior from the class of 2000:

“With rights come responsibilities to preserve the institutions of freedom; with privileges come duties to others less fortunate than you; with wisdom comes an obligation to use your knowledge in the cause of justice; with power comes the opportunity to remove that which subverts love.”

You become a thrillionaire if you can recall a time when you experienced a real thrill when you gave something away: money, time, kind words, or ideas. You create feelings of a thrillionaire if you light up when you think about giving.

Write for the thrillionaire in YOU. Share your thrillionaire story with us.

Hummingbird Moments

2011-12-08T07:46:00.001-08:00

Legends say hummingbirds float free of time. They carry our hopes for love, joy, and celebration.

Our eyes open to the wonders of the world as we watch their displays of whir in wings.

Choose hummingbird moments for today's writing. Aspire to hover and savor each moment as it passes.

Celebrate the day's flickers of magic.

Write the moments in movement. Create a hummingbird story or poem.

Life's a Box of Crayons

2011-12-07T08:56:00.001-08:00

Life's a box of crayons. Most people exist in the 8-color boxes: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, pink, purple, turquoise.

Choose the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. Then you'll have vibrant colors such as periwinkle at your disposal.

Life presents so many colors of possibilities and of feelings.

Color yourself magenta, aubergine, sunburst and color outside the lines.

How might you adapt colors to your writing day? Go way beyond the 8-color box.

Questioning the Times

2011-12-05T15:29:00.001-08:00

There are seven billion people on the planet. Everyone tries to figure out how to live, love, eat, survive and co-exist with one another. We live in a great "something." Struggles for that something give meaning to our lives.

How would you write about our current era? Would you call it a re-awakening for change? Have we become more aware of what needs attention: pollution reduction, resource protection, energy efficiency, and self-sufficiency?

Do we live in an age of universal chaos?

Stay upbeat and have creativity match challenges in writing about our era. What inventions or suggestions would you develop to take the negative out of our life process?

Writing Practice

2011-12-05T14:14:00.001-08:00

"We lack nothing. What we seek is exactly where we stand. But knowing this doesn't do anything; it is not a matter of knowing. It has to be realized as the functioning of our lives. And for practice to function, it must first be wholeheartedly engaged. Practice is always with the whole body and mind."--John Daido Loori, from BRINGING THE SACRED TO LIFE

Today, write about where you stand in your writing practice.

How do you engage daily with writing? Have you made your practice consistent day-to-day? Or you write when you "feel" like it? Do you journal or keep a writing log? Do you write regardless of feelings, time or place?

Flow into a freewrite to discover your current habit of writing. Reveal your strengths and what needs enhancement. Then, write five ways you will increase your consistency and develop your writing habit to abundance.

Finishing Touches

2011-12-03T19:28:00.001-08:00

The Beauvais Catherdral in northern France has been called the most daring achievement of Gothic architecture. Started in the year 1225, it still lacks completion. Architectural experts speak of its soaring facades, carved wooden doors, stained glass windows and astronomical clock demonstrating high artistry.

Many also discuss how to solve ongoing difficulties with its construction. They wonder how to move it to completion.

What happy ending would you will like for writing that puzzles you?

Formulate definite plans about an unfinished piece of writing. Add finishing touches on your own personal version of the Beauvais Cathedral. Move your daring achievement in writing to completion.

Heartful Points

2011-12-03T09:21:00.001-08:00

"The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.”
~ Maya Angelou

What will you write today that amazes and amuses? Consider a positive impact for your words that will arouse the mind of the reader.

Where to begin? Start with three gratitudes, add a contentment, sprinkle in a few ha ha ha amusements and you're on the way. Make heartful points.

Write so the words race to the heart and circulate from there.

Discovering a Taboo Truth

2011-12-02T08:30:00.001-08:00

"Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what do not want to know," wrote Eric Hoffer.

Use this as a consideration for writing today.

Figure out what you would rather not know, feel afraid to know, or might even be allergic to knowing. Create dialogue between two characters. Begin in a coffee shop with one character attempting to uncover a taboo truth.

Reveal all in dialogue.

Turn Triumphant

2011-12-01T08:36:00.001-08:00

If you travel 300 million years back in time, you feel frightened by dragaonflies as big as eagles and cockroaches the size of dogs.

Similarly, if you managed to locate a time machine and returned to another phase of your life you'd come across events that once upset and might have derailed you way back when.

Revisit one or two of those events in today's freewrite. Dig in and discover how with your confidence and courage of today you might approach them differently. Turn what once undermined you into today's triumph.

Start in the Middle

2011-11-30T09:05:00.001-08:00

Rainer Maria Rilke said, "It is a tremendous act of violence to begin anything. I am not able to begin. I simply skip what should be the beginning."

Take several pieces of your own or others' writing and begin them in the middle. Jumble the story or poem this way to make a breakthrough. See where that takes you.

What did you discover?

Funambulist

2011-11-29T17:40:00.001-08:00

Become a funambulist - acrobat or tight rope walker

In addition to rope dancing, funambulist also refers to a person with mental agility and skill - a writer. As writers, we struggle from concept to expression along lines that quiver with illusion and reality.

Begin rope dancing with a thought, add a feeling, and a difficult aspect of life. See where agility and skill move you. Don't forget to add illusions and humor along with the reality.

Truth in Writing

2011-11-28T16:59:00.001-08:00

Auguste Rodin said of the first time he saw clay, "I felt I was going up to heaven . . . I understood everything at once . . . I was in thrall." When he talked about his work, he described his deepest aspiration as revealing "the hidden meaning of all things." He saw art as "one of the paths to a deep knowledge of reality" and sought to bring his sculptures to life, to reveal "expressive truth." In how he described his purpose he saw the question: Where is the truth in the "matter"? - Laura Carroll, Your Life Quest

Write about your search for truth in writing. Explore a freewrite to discover "thrall." Uncover a hidden meaning today and write on!

What's Left Out

2011-11-28T08:57:00.001-08:00

Experiment with substracting elements from a descriptive passage. Select paragraphs from your favorite writer or a piece of your own writing.

Describe a garden without the use of color. Reveal music without sound, a meal without taste, a sunset without sight.

Write or re-write a passage to leave something out. Rewrite it again eliminating another element. Notice where these ideas take you.

Write About Your Guest House

2011-11-27T08:24:00.001-08:00

Guest House

- Rumi

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

Rumi makes points about life's randomness and how to deal with it.

Everyone lives in a house with four rooms physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Acceptance, gratitude, and laughter help us achieve balance when challenges arise in our rooms.

Creative Write: Write about your unexpected visitors and how they expanded your knowledge of yourself. Use dialogue and humor to delve into these concerns.

Unfurl Experience

2011-11-26T08:01:00.001-08:00

The best way to write about an experience involves paying attention to the body and using physical detail. Rather than tell the reader about love or anguish, show it in body language. Avoid abstract words and reveal emotions in sensory details. Rather than report the feeling, enact it.

Avoid your reader's comment, “Oh, this poet feels strongly about this.” Toss your reader into the full impact of the feeling. Let readers experience all the related sensations themselves.

Unfurl the story, layer by layer.

Creative Write: Go for a visceral impact in writing a poem about frustration or joy. What does it sound, smell, look and even taste like? Grab your reader's attention and write a wild ride.

Chasing Contentment

2011-11-25T08:23:00.001-08:00

“The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.”

- Henry Ward Beecher

Write about contentment that extends beyond a feeling of happiness. What makes you feel Alive?

Develop a list of "common" things you enjoy. Include five or ten.

What does the sun feel like after a steady rain? Cherish a taste of boysenberries just picked from the garden. Recall a scent that brings a memory. Notice a robin, bluejay or sparrow and write about its movement and behavior. Sing a few notes of a song with words of delight. Revel in a dark night of stars and moonlight.

Deepen the experiences. Reveal how they add enrichment to your life. Respond to the details of their nature. Explore contentment in a story or poem.

Gratitude Past the Comfort Zone

2011-11-23T12:56:00.001-08:00

Make today a Grateful day during your writing practice. Begin freewriting to develop a flow about thankfulness.

Write on and on with speed and grace. Lasso words to attract everyone and anything that makes your life bounce and race with delight. Take time to write about the inconveniences that also creep in.

You will realize the balance you search for arrives through the pen or while fingers bound across the keys.

After your gratitude exercise, delve into ways to expand your writing skills.

When have you stretched with writing way beyond your comfort level? What did you write and where did you venture?

If you haven't yet pushed past barriers or climbed cliffs, write for them now.

Scribble with intrigue and fascination. Make your sentences zing and ring with wonder and nuances. Feel the thrill of playfulness in words.

Writing the Bones

2011-11-23T08:32:00.001-08:00

To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone."
- Reba McEntire

Today, write about a wish, a strength, and a chuckle. Combine all into a story or poem.

Present Yourself with the Present

2011-11-22T08:39:00.001-08:00

Ode to the Present

by Pablo Neruda

This

present moment,

smooth

as a wooden slab,

this

immaculate hour,

this day

pure

as a new cup

from the past–

no spider web

exists–

with our fingers,

we caress

the present;

we cut it

according to our magnitude

we guide

the unfolding of its blossoms.

It is living,

alive–

it contains

nothing

from the unrepairable past,

from the lost past,

it is our

infant,

growing at

this very moment, adorned with

sand, eating from

our hands.

Grab it.

Don’t let it slip away.

Don’t lose it in dreams

or words.

Clutch it.

Tie it,

and order it

to obey you.

Make it a road,

a bell,

a machine,

a kiss, a book,

a caress.

Take a saw to its delicious

wooden

perfume.

And make a chair;

braid its

back;

test it.

Or then, build

a staircase!

Yes, a

staircase.

Climb

into

the present,

step

by step,

press your feet

onto the resinous wood

of this moment,

going up,

not very high,

just so

you repair

the leaky roof.

Don’t go all the way to heaven.

Reach

for apples,

not the clouds.

Let them

fluff through the sky,

skimming passage,

into the past.

You

are

your present,

your own apple.

Pick it from

your tree.

Raise it

in your hand.

It’s gleaming,

rich with stars.

Claim it.

Take a luxurious bite

out of the present,

and whistle along the road

of your destiny.

In his poem, "Ode to the Present," Pablo Neruda advises us how to slip free and clear into the opportunity of the present moment. The here and now is so ripe and willing, so malleable. "Take a saw to its delicious wooden perfume."

Build a staircase. Yes, a staircase. Climb into the present, step by step. Don't go all the way to heaven.

Today, write about the present moment with Neruda's verve. Seize the magic and free yourself. Take a bite, another and another. Fill your page with imagery and playfulness.

Editing Process

2011-11-21T08:48:00.001-08:00

You touch one part of it, and the whole thing shivers, from one end to the other. It's such a delicate thing, revision, and revision is where the artistry is; and so you have to be ruthless, and put away anything--even parts you like the sound of, even the matters that speak from your secret self to who you hope you are--put away anything that does not contribute to the whole thing. And it is hard. --Richard Bausch

The editing process becomes as challenging as the initial creativity of the writing. Dylan Landis author of Normal People Don't Live Like This her novel in linked stories, says of editing that she works the nails out slowly with a teaspoon. Landis reveals that metaphor by explaining about the spoon from a tenth grade art assignment. They had to form an egg from wet clay. After the gray eggs hardened, they polished them with the back of a teaspoon. By the end of a week her egg looked like polished pewter. She didn't understand the process until, twenty-five years later, she started writing fiction. Now she's discovered that egg-polishng gets her to character, story and conflict.

Do you have a specific way to revise your work? List the editing techniques you use. Do you read the words out loud or turn the pages upside down? How do you discover areas to enrich or delete?

Create a metaphor to represent your editing process. See where it leads.

Write Your Weather

2011-11-20T08:57:00.001-08:00

Reciprocity rules in relationships that endure.

We also thrive in a reciprocity with writing. For writing to nurture us, we desire the thrills and rhythm to sustain our sense of direction. Writing must provide support as we struggle through the fog. Often this relationship feels unrequited. We push and push clutching for words that drown beyond our reach.

Similar to our relationships with others, we must figure out for ourselves what Aristotle meant by, “Know thyself.” What do we know about our individual strengths and challenges when churning in a wordless maelstrom ? We have to re-create our self-assurance and find a Positive to remind us what works . A "learn thyself" process keeps us going.

Nine Preparations for inclement writing weather:

1. Stock your own life raft while the sun shines. What are your best resources? During the times of flow, write down what works for you. What have you done "this time" to push beyond?

2. Challenge yourself to discover ways to return to the page or screen. Turn up the music. Sit there and let fingers fly without worry about the result. Don’t become anxious to create a finished piece.

3. Learn your rhythm. Chart your mind's peaks and valleys by week. Give yourself a day of rest and read a variety of words. Choose words that amuse or amaze. Write one word or one sentence on colored cards.

4. As you begin to learn about yourself, consider: Does creativity increase the closer you get to the deadline? Can you count on this? What other ways could you manage your creativity? Consider setting an earlier deadline to trick the "procrastinating creative."

5. When frustration floods, return to research and information gathering. Write a letter to your writing as a friend. Ask this pal for help.

6. Most breakthroughs occur when you move away from the project. Take a walk. Write about forces of nature deal with weather.

7. Consider improbable connections. Let your ideas rearrange in kaleidoscopic fashion

8. Write your process for all writing projects. Notice it does not progress in a linear fashion. This will become your Best Friend.

9. Create your own metaphor for struggle. Consider your greatest accomplishment and how you achieved it. Use all your senses to recall it in detail.

In a write relationship, no one can supply what we have the ability to discover for ourselves. Learning our rhythms and styles will support us through any weather and become habit. With habit and resilience, we will always have two Best Friends and will benefit from the reciprocity.

Creative Write:
Write about how you deal with all types of weather in your writing.

A Child's Mind

2011-11-19T04:47:00.001-08:00

"Give me the mind of a child." - Pablo Picasso

All children share delight and curiosity in discoveries. They seek direct experience of the world as it unrolls. The joy of adventure becomes stimulation for their creative exploration.

A writer's intuition requires a similar sense of wonder. Writers begin with awareness and write to expand and explore the images that flow. They climb trees of possibility and feel the crust of bark with their hands as they spiral into the branches. A new world opens for playfulness with words.

Reflect on an event you observed in the past week with freshness and a twist. Take a mental stroll to a familiar place and observe it for the first time with a child's attitude and insight. Notice the ocean as more than water and waves. See color in variety and subtlety of gradation. Hear a bird's music and the wind's roar.

Creative Write: Write about a moment of pure joy experienced with a child's mind. Or, write about the remembrance of a first gift received. Get into a rhythm a child might use to explain the situation.

Horoscoping Characters

2011-11-17T08:22:00.001-08:00

Read a few horoscopes and make a list of ideas and traits to create a character.

http://horoscopes.123newyears.com/2011-horoscope/

Add:

1. Your character's favorite food, color, choice of music.

2. How does your character dress? Add the details: current style, flamboyant, sloppy

3. Reveal your character's temperament in dialogue: easy going, flashy, pouty, withdrawn, quick to anger. Add the opposite trait in some way.

Creative Write: Develop a scene after adding dimensions to your character.

Define a conflict situation and your character's reaction to it.

Your character has a series of mishaps: stepping in chewing gum, spilling coffee on new suit, car battery dead, misplacing keys. How do the small inconveniences in life affect your character?

Your character has to make a life changing decision in a time of frustration.

Scintillating Scenes

2011-11-13T14:58:00.001-08:00

Scenes are major building blocks in fiction. They describe any sequence or detailed episode. A scene might focus on one character's goals and obstacle, characters who confront one another, and those who speak dialogue.

Think of your story in a series of pictures or segments of scenes. Visualize: love scene, fight scene, flight scene, or one of pursuit. Become a moving camera to capture the situation.

Scenes should:

Reveal character, create tension, and move the plot forward.
Define a conflict; an encounter in which questions are raised and answered.
Clarify a location. Where are we?
Provide a tense of time: then, now, the future
Create atmosphere.
Express emotion anger, love, joy, resignation.
Provide a climax. The main character wins or loses or learns or doesn't.
The end of one scene should move into another.

All writers hear it again and again - show, don't tell. Details stimulate the reader's imagination. Reveal the character's emotion. Don't say, she's angry. Show his or her actions. Describe dinner, don't just say they ate it.

The opening scene provides orientation. The writer must hook the reader, introduce the protagonist or hint of one. This includes a sprinkle of landscape, weather, mood or atmosphere.

Use summary scenes to show less important action and to bridge scenes. Summary can cover long periods of time.

Creative Write: Write a scene to engage the reader. Create an altercation between two friends who meet in a park. Show their moods through the action and weather. Use body language to enhance the exchange.

The Promise

2011-11-13T14:50:00.001-08:00

In a story's beginning, a promise is made. Something amazing exists in that room, down the hall, in that confrontation. The writer must open the door and fulfill that promise.

If writing your life story, your writer's work could be a question, a promise and a truth.

What does a writer do when faced with a question the size of life? It is an invitation to reveal the extraordinary. Deepen the question, magnify the promise and see what flows.

Creative Write: Begin with the initial question of your existence. How did your parents meet? Describe the circumstances of their connection. If you don't know specifics, develop your own creation myth. Add details and sensory imagery.

Plot Simplified

2011-11-12T12:54:00.001-08:00

Life is a flow of different experiences. In fiction we frame it:beginning, middle and end. Acharacter exists in a maze facing a series of obstacles; not too many, not toofew.

To simplify plot, think about a character wanting something and someone or something getting in the way of that. The story involves the "and then whats."

Three basic plots exist in the conflict situation: man against man; man against nature; man against himself.

Consider the underpinnings of story as character, emotion, situation and setting. The challenge becomes what to put in the middle as a tent pole.

Character

Emotion Situation

Setting

Creative Write: Practice a few simple plots today and turn them around. How would you rewrite Goldilocks and the Three Bears?

Epiphany

2011-11-11T13:59:00.001-08:00

"This is the moment I call epiphany . . . when the relation of the parts is exquisite . . . its soul, its whatness leaps to use from the vestment of its appearance. The soul of the commonest object . . . the structure of which is so adjusted, seems to us radiant. The object achieves its epiphany." - James Joyce

The typical story carries the seeds of conflict. Two men are rivals in conflict for a girl, a treasure or a corporation. They are evenly matched and only the author's deceptive clues will tell you who is the good guy and who is the bad. The action can seesaw until eventually someone wins.

James Joyce dispensed with this formula and created short stories to reach a moment of revelation or epiphany. In place of winnings and losings his stories dealt in nuances, illuminations, and sudden spiritual manifestations.

Joyce used epiphanies as both a way of seeing or hearing and a way of showing and writing. Some are fragments of overhead conversations of strangers. Some are accounts of dreams and others are brief dialogues betweeen Joyce and individuals he knew. Some are uncategorizable. They are poetic-prose statements or transcriptions of actual life. He defines epiphany as the quididtas the whatness of a thing.

Life fades into the sunset or a silence prevails. Often no one wins or loses and many characters do not reach self-knowlege in the moment. They do not even realize how hopeless they are. The stories reach their conclusions only in the minds of the reader, Or, the whatness of a character is revealed like a light bulb over his head.

After Joyce introduced the concept, the meaning has become elastic. Writers have attempted to use subtle effects of this technique to reveal character, attitude and emotion.

Epiphanies are used for short mood pieces because there's not enough action to sustain them. The realization story may include urgency and a sense of something or the pain of discovery and self-realization.

Example:

Late in the afternoon, a married woman hurries to meet her lover. The breeze shakes flowers from the cherry trees that bloom in the garden. He is waiting for her and they make love with frightened haste. With a gesture reserved for women who know that they are beautiful, she tugs her dress over her head and tosses it behind her like unwanted memory - Shulamith Wechter Caine

Creative Write:

1. Create an epiphany based on a quiet encounter with something that has always been out of reach. Something always seems to have just turned its corner as you have turned your own. This could be a moment in memory or pieces of a scene which needs dream and imagination to make whole.

2. Build an epiphany for a character leading to an emotional realization. Begin with fragments of overhead conversations, a ringing bell, or an emotional incident.

3. Create an epiphany within a prose poem like the example above.

The Premise

2011-11-10T16:10:00.001-08:00

Fiction's premise involves what happens to the characters as a result of the major conflicts plus twists and turns in the story.

If a writer wishes to prove love leads to disaster, he shows Dan and Sheila falling in love and bad things happening. Dan loses his job and becomes depressed. Sheila leaves him because he has lost his drive. He falls into deeper despair and becomes homeless. He may end his life.

In the next premise, love leads to bliss. Bill and Bonnie meet on the subway. Love transforms their dull lives as an accountant and teacher into an ongoing series of delicious moments. After they get rid of respective spouses, they buy a farm and grow old together.

Discover your story's premise and take it through all the twists and turns of possibilities.

Suggestions:

l. Trusting someone leads to disillusionment.

2. Greed leads to alienation.

3. Courage leads to redemption.

4. Nothing can crush the human spirit.

Creative Write:

l. Outline a premise based on the above suggestions or your own.

2. Start with a character and give him or her a dilemma. Set your imagination free and let writing take you on an adventure.

Tone in Writing

2011-11-10T16:07:00.001-08:00

Tone is a changeable aspect of a writer's voice. It indicates the writer's attitude. While the writer's voice always shows through, the tone may show as angry, comical or ironic, depending upon the piece.

Creative Write: Use word choices to create tone.

Begin with the words - It would be much too dangerous to talk about. Write with a frightened tone and then with humor.

Write a humorous approach to: Can you tell the truth in a small town?

Seeds of Traditional Story

2011-11-10T15:51:00.001-08:00

A traditional story structure revolves around a series of events (plot = action) where the main character (protagonist) faces a problem (conflict). Dealing with the problem causes a change in the hero and a conclusion of the action (resolution).

The protagonist, the story's main character, wants something that brings satisfaction or resuls in misery. The more this character wants, the more intense the struggle to get it becomes.

Plot creates a harmonious fit for a series of events. It unites and controls various scenes and characters in a cause-and-effect pattern. Each event promotes another to happen until a resolution occurs. During the unraveling of the story, the reader learns that the conflict either can or cannot become resolved.

Is this a story?

Joe gets up for his big meeting of the year, drives to work, presents his advertising campaign which meets with success. He meets his girl friend for a drink and goes home to sleep.

No story results because Joe only follows a sequence of events. No conflict or action arises.

How about this?

Today is Joe's big meeting of the year. The alarm never goes off so Joe gets up late. His car doesn't start. He pushes it to a gas station just as a Brink's truck filled with bank robbers turns the corner and hits him broadside. They kidnap him but he breaks free. He eventually gets to his office late for the meeting.

Lots of conflict created!

In order for the resolution to tie up the story, we need to see a change in Joe. How does Joe change? Does he walk right in after his adventure and win the account? Has all the chaos made him realize how his life is a whirl and he needs to slow down.? Does he go along with the bank robbers and discover a new career path?

Joe needs a personality to prepare him for his struggle. He needs more dimensions.

Fictional characters are constantly making choices and solving problems; some good, some not so good. Opposite dimensions of a character always tug at him.

Joe needs strengths that give him the ability to strive (courage, love, altruism, ambition) and flaws that lead to a breakdown if not checked (fear, lust, power-hunger) to become well-rounded.

Creative Write: Develop a story idea in five to six sentences. Introduce your character to a problem he most solve. His efforts will only worsen the problem yet is he is relentless. Move the story in wild ways. Stay open to nuances.

Outline a problem that will help your character learn about his flaws. Have him make a final, enormous effort, overcome the flaw but never triumpth over the story problem

Create an event that grows from a character's successes in the past or one strength of character.

A Writer's Voice

2011-11-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Finding one's voice is a challenge. It takes time to develop and becomes the individual writer's mark. Even though a fiction writer may speak through different characters,voice reveals the writer's fingerprint. A writer promotes his or her own linguisticquirks, sentence rhythms, tone, and recurring imagery.

Developing one's voice takes time. It results from practice with the flow of many words. A writer learns to love the successes and disasters of the writing process. Reading other writers with a focus on their style helps determine one's own.

Do you know what distinguishes your writing? List characteristics you feel define your voice. Do you vary your sentences? Does your style include poetic devices and sensory imagery? Do you include details in the narrative and spark it with humor?

Creative Write: Write about a great surprise in first person. Change it to a third person perspective. What have you gained or lost from the switch? Does this help you define your voice?

Situation to Story

2011-11-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

Every work of literature has both a situation and a story. The situation is the context or circumstance, sometimes the plot; the story is the emotional experience that preoccupies the writer: the insight, the wisdom, the thing one has to say.” ~ Vivian Gornick

When writing about a situation, bring in all the senses. What does it smell, sound and feel like? Add taste and temperature. Define it by adding these details interwoven with your emotions.

When you return to relive the situation in writing, what insights arrive from your current state of mind? What wisdom did you gain? Include the texture of your experience to create a story or poem.

Creative Write: Choose situations you've found uncomfortable or uplifting. First, define what happened, where it happened, and how it happened. Who else became involved? Add details to share this experience with the reader.

A Gratitude Write-a-thon

2011-11-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

You're the running back in your game called life. It's a team sport with many individuals creating lanes for your success. You cannot exist in this world without the assistance and support of others.

Make today a Thank You write-a-thon.

Write a Gratitude note to someone who has helped you in the past. Acknowledge a family member of friend who has always run by your side in times of need. Thank someone for memories and fun.

Pen a supportive letter to a supervisor for someone who aided you recently.

Send written applause to the checker at the market, a store clerk, or someone who fixed your car. Share your gratefulness for all the performances. Give someone an uplift in writing today.

Post a line or two here to show how you spell gratitude.

A Taste of Wonder

2011-11-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

As knowledge increases, wonder deepens - Charles Morgan

Today, open the dictionary and learn five new words you've never seen before. Then spend time wondering and writing about it.

Look deep into flower faces and smell the breeze. Write three gratitudes and keep the weather sunny inside. Eat meals with gusto and delight in the textures of foods. Hug several people today. Surprise someone you don't know.

Celebrate your knowledge and deepen your wonder. Love the world with words!

Language of Fragments

2011-11-05T11:49:00.001-07:00

Potential for stories appears everywhere as you travel your day. Stay alert for words and conversations. Use your cell phone to photograph phrases from billboards, road signs, and cafe menus. Collect lists of overheard conversations.

Play and rearrange this language of fragments and bounce ideas off the photographs.

Observe a cafe scene:

The buzz of conversations and clicking fills the room. Forks, spoons, and knives clash with dishes to provide a symphony. To entice hungry diners, scents of cinnamon rolls and bacon release out the door.

“The only reason she went back. .. “

“And after that he….

“Do you really want the sameresult you got last time?”

“Can’t believe they actually. . .”

"Oh really, then what did you tell her. . ."

Creative Write: Have fun and add to the dangling conversations. Notice if a story or poem appears from the language of fragments and dangling conversations.

Ways to generate a poem

2011-11-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

Try these five ways to unlock your poetic notions.

l. Make a list of five experiences.
2. Write three names for colors that have a rhythm (magenta, aubergine, tangerine)
3. Add three scents and three sounds.
4. Write three questions you'd ask if they were the last questions you could ever ask.
5. Write an extreme sensation you've felt. If an animal, which one would it be. Describe it.

Once you've responded to the above, you'll have lots of material. Use one of the questions as the first line, each of the senses more than once. Use other parts in any way that works. Your description of the animal might describe a friend.

Try for a poem with 20 lines. Let each line be ten or more syllables long. Think of the poem as a dream and don't force it. Let the music and senses speak through you.

Transport bits of your life into a poem.

Multiple Personalities

2011-11-04T14:06:00.001-07:00

Play and explore your multiple personalities. Describe yourself in three different ways. You might begin by describing: Me, Myself and I.

Name these personalities with first and last names. Try for two syllables for the first name and three for the last name. Add a middle name for rhythm. What nicknames will you choose? Make one personality an insect or fish.

Have fun and do a freewrite from each persona. Create dialogue among them.

If additional characters move in during your freewriting, keep expanding their traits. Notice those you might invite to enter a story or poem.

Writing about Hope

2011-11-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

How you do anythingis how you do everything – Zen proverb

Beginning to writeabout a difficult experience signals that we

have chosen hope rather than despair.

Conversely, when we’re in despair,

if we write we becomemore hopeful. – Tom O’Brien

The discipline ofwork provides an exercise bar,

so that the wild,irrational motions of the soul become formal and creative – May Sarton

Writing is a way ofrecovering what is lost. - Isabel Allende

Emotional territory we live in and manage providespowerful, authentic potential for writing. Our challenge is to allow feelingsto emerge as we write; to let ourselves experience them and use them to deepenour writing.

Often writing uncovers emotions that temporarily make us uncomfortable. If we can tolerate these feelings, ourwriting will become enriched by the self-knowledge gained.

We need to dig in and take risks to explore unresolvedpuzzles or ongoing concerns. We willdiscover greater range and depth in artistic expression.

Writing about troubling life experiences makes us healthierand able to achieve a level of understanding of our lives that only writing canprovide. In part, this is becausewriting distracts us from our problems. Through writing, we cultivate the quality of absorption – becomingdeeply immersed in our work. Writing regularly fosters resilience.

Writing as an observer, we regard our lives with a certaindetachment and distance when we view it as a subject to describe and interpret.

Creative Writes:

1. Choose aquote above and begin writing. Seewhat flows from your pen.

2. Considerwhat puzzles, confuses, or troubles you. Make a list. Choose one topic from your list and then write from theperspective of the third person – “he or she.”

3. Think of “tangled emotions” – emotions where you feel conflicted. How can you write to untangle them?

4. Define someone else’s problem you’ve already solved. How did you solve it? How did you change your relationship to trauma? How did you transform despair intounderstanding?

Writing Gathas

2011-11-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

When birdsong is loud in the trees
I vow with all beings
to put down my work and to listen,
recreated as song. - Robert Aiken from The Dragon Who Never Sleeps

A gatha is a Buddhist vow that expresses the interconnectedness and interdependence of an individual with nature. The first line sets up a situation in nature beginning with the word when or whenever.

When planting lilies in my garden
When I hear the sparrows sing
When I smell sea spray

The second line, "I vow with all beings" represents the basic commitment of the Buddhist gatha. You might substitute another commitment or promise.

I promise to myself
I make a commitment to the earth
I pledge myself

The last two lines tell of the promise and begin with to.

to put aside worries
to stay focused
to engage with . . .

Gathas focus on everyday aspects of life and express how all beings and things connect. The gatha form becomes meaningful way to express the interdependence felt when observing nature.

When I hear the Black Phoebe's call
I promise to us both
to remain in the moment
and sing of love

Creative Write: Arrange your gathas today to connect and express your interdependence with nature.

Grab Experiences in Writing.

2011-11-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

Research has revealed that money, status, and relationships don't keep individuals inspired and happy over time. New experiences, alone or with a friend, spouse or family member, provide the greatest satisfaction in life.

The mind becomes stimulated by constant learning, visiting new places, developing connections, and writing about them.

Creative Write: Today, recall an experience that lead to different ways of thinking. Did you feel apprehensive about trying something new? Did you bring friends or family along for the ride?

Delve into emotions and frustrations that accompanied the situation. Write until you discover the inspiration that resulted from your ability to learn from the experience.

Writing Success in November

2011-11-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

To have a successful writing life, we need to occupy the pen or keyboard and write. Like training a muscle, the more written, the easier the words flow. We just need to plant ourselves with dedication and avoid judgment.

Today National Writing Month begins. November unfolds with thirty days to experiment with words. Even if you don't plan to devote extensive time each day to meet the 50,000 deadline on November 30, make word awareness a priority this month.

Write your definition of writing success.

Outgrow your fears and have brainstorming sessions with your alter ego.

Everything will be Just Write!

Laff Time

2011-10-31T05:41:00.000-07:00

Laugh at yourself and at life. Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity, but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain, cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective that seemingly terrible defeat and worry with laughter at your predicaments, thus freeing your mind to think clearly toward the solution that is certain to come. Never take yourself too seriously.” Og Mandino

Use writing about laughter to conquer life situations. Maintain a list of all possibilities for humor.

How could you turn a mistake into a first scene in a sit com? Prepare a dialogue between two people where both laugh every three lines. Write about a humorous connection between a duck and a ladybug.

Laugh your fingers across the keyboard and don't take life seriously today.