Dessert in Words

 

Add spice and imagery to your writing by avoiding worn out modifiers and phrases.When you write an overused image like blue sky, consider what else you could use in sound, scent, taste or texture to pique the reader's curiosity and gain attention. 

Notice the difference in imagery:

a broken tool          half a pair of scissors


a rusted car              Cadillac dappled with rust

beautiful woman     woman with a piano player's fingers

quiet day                  even the birds overslept

good friend              tasty as triple chocolate cake


Create descriptions:  summer day, hot morning, wet dress, cheeping bird, frustration, anger, anxiety. 

Fountain Pen Ponies

For me, a fountain pen provides pleasure more than fingers tapping on the keys. The scent and flow of a pen pony across the page creates rhythm and energy that equals meditation. Use of colored ink also enthuses my writer's mind.

I keep a full stable of fountain pens filled with green, turquoise, yellow and magenta inks. I also have red rose-scented ink. Some barrels feel feisty to my touch like Thoroughbreds. Others create the syncopated ride of a Missouri Fox Trotter. 

I have quarter horses and a Morgan or two that move my words with a pleasing gait. My Arabians kick up their heels on cold mornings. The scent of ink on a variety of papers stimulates my imagination.

Writing letters to friends and other writers encourages an action similar to free flow with a friendly recipient. 

If you have a favorite fountain pen pony, write a letter today and feel the energy.

Duty of Happiness

Robert Louis Stephenson wrote, "There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. Happiness does not need to become the goal. We need a variety of experiences and moods to write about." 

In the 1980’s  Martin E.P. Seligman adopted the term, “positive psychology.” After years of studying the “learned helplessness” that characterized depression he began to study how individuals could learn optimism. Seligman felt a search for “authentic happiness” made more sense than  relying on psychology’s one-sided focus on illness and disorders. 

Study optimism, courage and perseverance rooted in social and civil well-being.

Consider how to gather simple pleasures. The process itself will attract feelings of exultation.

Awaken to positivity that explodes in blossoms and blue sky. Take a pleasure interlude to revel in the marvelous nature shares.

Stay awake to joy and appreciation for growing creatures, birds, plants and trees.