It’s a very deep experience for so many people to read ‘Wild’ and feel what they feel, because of course they’re not feeling it about my life, but about their own. And that’s what art does. It reminds us that we are more alike than different and that our common humanity connects us really profoundly.
— Cheryl Strayed
Cheryl Strayed, author of “Wild.”
We write for a variety of reasons:
~ To tell a story, or what happened as we remember it
~ To create a fictional story
~ To tell a fiction story, based on truth
~ To journal what happened and our feelings about what happened
~ To write non-fiction: share our knowledge or to tell what happened
All of this involves what we learned, what changed us, what impressed us.
It doesn’t matter why you are writing. It is important that you write.
No matter the motivation for your writing . . . Just Write!
Today’s prompt: Pressure.
Norman Mailer“In writing, as in so many pursuits, it’s not the most gifted but the most determined who succeed.
— Norman Mailer
Shame. . .
For this prompt, you can write about “shame” as a topic in general.
Or: Write on something you are feeling shameful about. You can fictionalize your personal situation to write about a difficult subject.
Or: You can write about shame as character development . . . a character feature to be overcome.
Photo by Jane Person
Write about a secret. Either a secret you hold, or write from a fictional point of view.
You can take your personal experience and write it as fiction.
If you want, change the gender, age, details of the main character.
If you could live one day without consequences, what would you (or your fictional character) do?
Today’s prompt: Evening.
Hmmmm. . . I wonder what you will come up with for this freewrite? I look forward to your writing about “evening.”
— Christina Baker Kline, interviewed by Alicia Anstead in the October 2014 issue of The Writer Magazine.
Or, as Dory sings in Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming. . . swimming. . . swimming. . . ”
At some point in your writing life, you may think your writing is no-good, awful, horrible and no one would want to read it.
Join the Ark. Most writers, I think, are in that boat at least once.
Take the advice of Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train, “Breathe, focus, keep your head down and keep going.”
Click here if you want prompts to jumpstart your writing. Click on “Comments” on any of the Write Spot Blog posts to read inspirational writing.
And just keep swimming, swimming. . . writing, writing.
What do you want?
Set your timer and write for 15 or 20 minutes. See what comes up for you.
If this prompt is too “open” or vague for you, how about this:
What do you want to do today? If you could do anything you want. . . what would you like to do today?
You can answer for yourself, or as your fictional character would answer. This might be a fun way to get to know your fictional character(s) a little deeper.
Above all, have fun with this prompt!
