Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about an unlikely friendship amongst unusual characters.

Expert Advice

Introducing a new segment here at my blog, "Expert Advice" where I get to take all the wonderful little tidbits I gather from the host of writing books I read and share them with you all!

For today, a little tip on how to start a story. If you don't know what to say, just start saying it. Keep "talking" to the page until it talks back to you.

"I start with a line of dialogue. I have no idea half the time who's speaking or what they're saying. I'll start with that line, and the more dialogue I write, the better I get to know the characters."

-- August Wilson

Build-A-Book

So for the past week I've been doing something very interesting... An author by the name of William Vitanyi, who also happens to own a small publishing company, came up with a truly novel (pun intended) idea: Why not get a bunch of strangers together and all write a book together in three weeks? He decided to call it Build-A-Book.

I read about it in our local newspaper last Sunday, and thought it was too crazy to pass up! So I dragged my brother down with me, and we went to check it out. About 30 people showed up, all eager and willing to participate. Mr. Vitanyi had written out an entire novel idea about a young girl who meets an elderly man at a nursing home and he tells her something that changes her life forever. He took the plot and divided it into 78 sections, or scenes, which we could choose from and then go home and write. All sections had to be turned in by Friday at 5:00 PM sharp -- just 5 days later! The other two weeks would be needed for editing and continuity.

I, myself, ended up with 5 sections, and wrote like a mad woman all week long. In the end, my final word count for the week was 4,490 words -- and that's NOT including the thousands of others who lost their lives on the editing room floor! Not bad. Not bad at all. Especially considering I hadn't put that many words down in the last year, most likely. It was a TON of work, but a total rush and I enjoyed every second of it.

Now the ball is in Mr. Vitanyi's court. But in two more weeks we will all meet back for a ceremony at which the finished novel will be unveiled. All the local libraries have been invited and will receive a donated copy, and the media will also be there for a recap from their story last week. It should be exciting!

If the book turns out to be interesting, Mr. Vitanyi said he just might assign an ISBN# to it and make it available on Amazon.com and other retailers. All of us get to share in any profits.

And best of all, in two more weeks there's going to be a book out there with MY name on it! I've dreamed of this my whole life, and now it's finally coming true! I can hardly believe it.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

THRUM.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone to whom a letter makes all the difference.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is: FUZZY.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who is

using an unusual escape route.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

DAYBREAK.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone

who is preparing

their favorite meal.

Use lots of flavor!

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

GATHERED.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone

who desperately wishes

to be somewhere else.

Immerse Yourself In Freewriting

Are you feeling blocked? Don't have the time or the energy or the inspiration to work on your novel right now? Do you feel guilty because you know you should be writing, but you just can't seem to commit to a large body of work?

Why not give Freewriting a go?

Freewriting is a contemporary and popular way of playing with words. You can use it to prepare for writing, to develop ideas, to build characters or setting, to work through blockages, to keep your mind engaged and your thoughts fluid, or simply to catch ideas when they're coming too fast to be taken down in a more structured form.

There are no rules for Freewriting. Freewriting, by nature, defies all rules and restrictions, allowing you to open up and let go onto the page. But there are a few guidelines to help push you in the right direction, should you choose to employ them.

1. Find a quiet place where you won't be interrupted for several minutes.

2. Clear your mind completely, and then write whatever comes into it. Try to write for a solid time period or page length. Say, 5 straight minutes or one whole page, for example.

3. Forget spelling, grammar, punctuation and logical development for now.

4. Don't organize your thoughts into sentences or paragraphs, just let the words run out onto the page.

5. Don't stop until you've reached your goal.


I'm going to go ahead and give this a go right here, right now as an example. The word that came into my head was yesterday's spark word: MURKY. Let's see where it takes me from there.

murky perky beef jerky rough and tumble mumble stumble trip and fall stall wall bricks and mortar she was shorter childhood friend with raven hair flew away came back again grin sin dark and twisted how i missed it glory days gone by i stop and sigh why i longed to feel the sun again summer days sunkissed hair shorts and tshirts barely there beaches full with passersby sunglint waters squinted eye burning sand beneath my feet friends that came and friends to meet soon i'm walking down the street rainy days and gathered clouds shrouds i lift my hands toward the skies rainsoaked happy wild and wise rise lies i realize keep them to yourself i don't want any otherwise butterflies dipping soaring feather wings songs to sing that carry them by bells that ring coins that jingle in my pocket oh happy day all my sins were washed away oh love devine give me a sign that I shall see you again someday another day when this whole world has passed away and I shall fly up to your side on feather wings my very own

Hey, that was really fun! :o)

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

MURKY.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

NUZZLE.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who has had their privacy taken away.

Quoteworthy

Ink on paper
is as beautiful to me as
flowers on the mountains;
God composes,
why shouldn't we?
~Audra Foveo-Alba

Take A Breather

This morning, outside my window, the clear blue sky is filled with birdsong. The air is chilled, but the sun is proudly shining, warming my spirit and calling it to come out and play.

Today, find yourself a notebook and a window, or better yet, a dry patch of grass, and set your pen to paper as you set your spirit free.

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

BUDDING.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

What is your innermost desire?

Write about someone whose secret wish comes true.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who loses their winning lottery ticket.

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

RUSH.

Pretty Little Puppets

I came across an article yesterday that I found poignant and I wanted to share some excerpts. It's called "Infuse Characters With Sincere Emotion" by Faith Baldwin, from the March 2008 edition of The Writer magazine.

If the reader, literally or figuratively, can laugh or cry with the people in a story; if he can put himself in their places -- however different their type-script situations; if he can say, "That's what I would have said or done under the circumstances"; if he can leap from page to page in a fever of anxiety to see what happens, good ending or bad; and if he lays the magazine or book aside with the feeling of having lived, for a little while, a life like his own, or a life such as his might have been or might yet be, or a totally unknown life which still holds for him the sense of validity, then you've written a good story.

The touchstone is, do you believe it, as you write?

You have to believe it, you know, or no one else will. The souped-up, the dressed-up, the overwritten, the superior attitude of the godlike writer moving pretty little puppets around a pretty little stage, against a fine backgroud, is just no good.

The great books, if you will take the time to read them again, have valid emotions; they are peopled with realities; they move you, sometimes against your will, and they will endure. Any book or story worth the paper it's printed on must have genuine emotion, communicated by the writer to the character and by the character to the reader. It must have, as well as technique, a spiritual content.

Write from knowledge; learn your techniques, but remember that the great quality is not learned even by experience in writing, for it is the quality of understanding and compassion, and of objectivity as well as subjectivity, so that you can see your characters up and down and around and inside and out, and know what makes them tick ... no matter who they are or what they do. Learn to know them -- by heart.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Start with this opening line:

She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled.

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

WANDERLUST.

It was a dark and story night...

One of the keys to writing a great book is to have a great opening line. Here is a small sampling of my personal faves:

*It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton Paul Clifford

*There once was a boy by the name of Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.

C.S. Lewis The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

*They met -- Colin and Julie --not very long before they were born.

Mildred Cram Forever

*It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice

*One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.

O. Henry The Gift of the Magi

*It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

George Orwell 1984

*The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.

Samuel Beckett Murphy

*It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not.

Paul Auster City of Glass

*We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall.

Louise Erdrich Tracks

*I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.

Dodie Smith I Capture the Castle

What are some of your favorites?

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

You're walking down the street one day when you nearly trip over an old skelleton key. Beside you is a strange door in the wall. You try the key in the ancient-looking keyhole and amazingly, it turns! Holding your breath, you swing open the door to find...

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

TENACIOUS.

The Writing Life

Is it just me or has 2009 been passing incredibly fast? I apologize for majorly slacking as far as this blog is concerned, I've been so busy... But before I get to that, I want to thank all those who left such wonderfully sweet and encouraging comments on my last post! You really cheered me up and made me feel that the time I spend here is worthwhile. So I thank you very sincerely.

2009 has brought a few exciting surprises for me, the biggest of which was that we were able to remodel our spare bedroom into an office for me (it still has a bed in it, just in case we should get any visitors). I painted it a gorgeous shade of antique pale green with pale silvery white trim. The colors make me feel like I'm sitting in a place where a fairy tale is about to begin. It's breathtaking. My husband bought me a beautiful, cherry wood, rolltop desk -- my dream desk since I was a little girl -- and a matching chair. With our tax return we bought a new laptop with wireless capabilities which means I can move around and find a comfy place to sit and still be able to write from anywhere in the house. And for Valentine's Day he surprised me with a beautiful cherry wood two-drawer filing cabinent. So I'm basically all set with everything I could possibly need to really begin to pursue my dream of writing as a carreer. Not that you have to have all these things to write, but it sure is nice now that I do!

After a short holiday break, I did jump right back into the thick of revising a short, non-fiction story that I've been working on, a "slice of life" if you will. I have a mentor that's been working with me on it and I feel that it is almost ready to send out. Good thing, because my husband has given me a deadline: I have to have something in the mail by the end of the month or he's taking over my office! What can I say, I'm a perfectionist who can always find some little thing that still needs work, and not only that, but I'm absolutely unsure of myself, which keeps me from sending anything out. Thank God I have someone like him who not only loves and supports me completely but is also strong enough to give me the required boot out of the nest so that I can test my wings and see if I'm able to fly.

I'll keep you posted on what happens. And in the meantime, I'll get back to posting spark words and writing prompts that will hopefully encourage your imaginations to soar.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

TUNDRA.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who was fired from their job after accidentally dialing the wrong number.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who is

dressed up in disguise.

Five Questions for Characters

From The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration by Monica Wood, five fab questions to ask your main character:

1. How did you get your name?

2. What object from your childhood do you still own?

3. What was in yesterday's mail?

4. When did you stop being happy?

5. What is your strongest superstition?

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

DISINTEREST.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write a story about a musical instrument that is passed down through family generations.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Describe an everyday adventure.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about an object that

has been mislaid.

Tip For Today

Turn off your computer and reintroduce yourself to a pen.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

REFRESHING.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone whose

differences are glaringly obvious.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write a scene involving the most romantic wedding proposal you can dream up. Give us tingles! Make us weep!

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

SOLITARY.

The Right to Write

I am nearly finished reading and taking notes on "The Right To Write" by Julia Cameron. This book has literally changed my life. I cannot even begin to number all the misconceptions I had about the writing life that I wasn't even aware of until I read this book. It's incredibly positive, encouraging, compassionate and enlightening. I've read probably close to a hundred books on writing so far, and if there was only one I could recommend to anyone who is even slightly interested in writing, it would be this one. Buy it or check it out from your local library (I did). It'll blow your mind. And even better than that, it will get you writing.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write a scene in which your character tastes something new.

Spark Word

Today's spark word is:

ASSEMBLE.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about a surprise guest.

Procrastination Station

Are you a procrastinator?

I know I am.

Why do today what you can

put off until tomorrow, right?

But while I'll readily admit

that I am the queen of procrastinators,

I'll also admit that living

like that is no fun.

Procrastinating is like walking around with a dragon constantly breathing down your neck. Whatever it is that we're avoiding doing, we can't get it off our minds. We can't really put our full efforts into anything else either, in the meantime, because we're using all

(or most) of our energies pushing those nagging thoughts back that tell us to go do what we really should be doing.

Especially when it comes to writing.

"Come on, what's the big deal?" you say, "All writers procrastinate."

That may be true. Robert Masello, author of Roberts Rules of Writing: 101 unconventional lessons every writer needs to know, says "Both successful writers and unsuccessful writers procrastinate -- but there is one big difference. Successful writers get over it."

"But I enjoy procrastinating," you say, "When I finally do sit down to write, that's when I do some of my best stuff."

No you don't, and no it's not. Trust me.

And if you don't trust me, trust Robert.

According to him, "Procrastination doesn't make the task any sweeter or better, it just drags the whole thing out. Every day you delay makes the work look more formidable, and every day you chip away at it, even with only a few paragraphs, makes it look that much more managable."

I don't know about you, but that's one quote that's going on a post-it above my workspace.

So, stop procrastinating and get back to work already!

Chip, chip, chip!

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Describe a time you peeked in someone else's diary.

What did it reveal to you about that person?

How did it make you feel about yourself?

Your Creative Best

I stumbled across this fantastic gem

of a verse this afternoon, and I just

had to share it with all you creative,

passionate people out there.

It's from Galatians 6:4, The Message.

"Make a careful exploration of who you are

and the work you have been given,

and then sink yourself into that.

Don't be impressed with yourself.

Don't compare yourself with others.

Each of you must take responsibility

for doing the creative best you can

with your own life."

The creative best... Amazing little phrase there, isn't it? It's like an affirmation of your gift and the permission to explore that gift to your heart's content all rolled into one.

What a lovely feeling!

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

According to the officials at

Graceland, Elvis Presley

receives an estimated 100

valentines every year.

Write about one of them.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Visit a nearby cemetary --

the older the better.

Sit down beside the most

unusual tombstone you can

find, and write about the

person lying underneath you.