Friday, June 8th, 2012  This morning I had breakfast with some folks I’d never met before. Lovely, lovely bloggers — with family in tow — including a guy heading off to the Naval Academy. (Wishing him the best of luck!)
We laughed a lot, and told stories, and traded slang terms for things…some I’d heard of, others I hadn’t.
(Scribbling furiously now into that book I keep with new words in it. What? You don’t have one of those?)
I enjoyed watching everyone order. We’d been drawn together by common interest (blogging) but everyone is still so different! Not one of us ordered the same thing for breakfast or to drink.
And as much as I enjoy meeting new people (Yes: So I can steal bits and pieces of them, chop them up, and toss them into the salad of my novels…) I have to admit there was a bit of dread there on the way over to the restaurant:
What if I didn’t like them? What if they didn’t like me? What is someone had a giant scar (caused by a giant’s, giant cudgel) on their face and I became obsessed with staring at it over the meal?
It could happen.
Luckily, it didn’t. And a good time was had by all.
Here’s Your Prompt
- Write about a blind date: how you feel leading up to it, how you dress, what you anticipate will happen, what you expect that person to look like. Write, as well, about the initial moment of seeing that person. Did he or she meet your expectation or not? What was your initial reaction? Did your opinion change over the course of the date? (This exercise could be fictitious or real…)
- If you’ve never been on a blind date, or don’t want to dream one up, write similarly about a job interview.
- all
Seemed like some brothers on a journey wide
Gone forth, whom now strange meeting did befall
In a strange land round one whom they might call
Their friend, their chief, their father, for assay
Of peril, which had saved them from the thrall
Of death, now suffering. Thus the vast array
Of those fraternal bands were reconciled that day.
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam
- There’s a man or a woman sitting on a park bench reading a newspaper, a magazine, or on an electronic device. Sit down (or sit your character down) beside them and strike up a conversation. Write it. In your prose, make certain to include the setting, what everyone is wearing, what’s going on in the area, your thoughts, etc. Don’t just write the dialogue.
- Write about a time you were supposed to have a very important meeting — and the other party didn’t show up.
- Write about meeting for the first time:
- Your favorite school teacher
- Your mentor
- A policeman – during an “incident”
- A politician
- A priest, nun, rabbi, monk or other holy person
- Other trace
Survives, for worthy mention, of a pair
Who, from the pressure of their several fates,
Meeting as strangers, in a petty town
Whose blue roofs ornament a distant reach
Of this far-winding vale, remained as friends
True to their choice; and gave their bones in trust
To this loved cemetery…
~ William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Book Sixth, The Churchyard among the Mountains
- Write about the first time you met your spouse. Or, if you’re writing fiction, write a sex scene between two (or three!) people who are meeting for the first time.
- Trippers and askers surround me;
People I meet—the effect upon me of my early life, or the ward and city I live in, or the nation,
The latest dates, discoveries, inventions, societies, authors old and new,
My dinner, dress, associates, looks, compliments, dues,
The real or fancied indifference of some man or woman I love,
The sickness of one of my folks, or of myself, or ill-doing, or loss or lack of money, or depressions or exaltations;
Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events;
These come to me days and nights, and go from me again,
But they are not the Me myself.
~ Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1900)
Friday, May 25th, 2012  What do you do when you’ve got the inclination to write a story, and the time, but nowhere to go? You’ve got nothing: no plot, no character, no idea at all.
Why, to the same place you’d go if you were facing this same dilemma in life!
A tarot card reader, a palm reader, your spiritual advisor, and the like. Someone who will give you direction and/or tell you about those special characters who may be showing up sometime soon in your life.
(Yeah, I started out tongue-in-cheek there, but didn’t want to offend anyone. Kinda gets watered down when you do that… So, don’t do that when you’re writing for real.)
A tarot deck is a deck of playing cards, usually 78 in number, with four suits and a group of “major” cards, all of which have been assigned specific meanings. Generally, a question is asked of the cards before they are shuffled and dealt to their spread. In this case, you could simply ask, “What story should I tell?”
Depending on the spread, or the layout of the cards, much can be predicted (that is, randomly generated) for a story.
I-Ching, Runes, and tossing chicken bones could also be used.
If none of those appeal, you can use the Bible to suggest interesting plots or characters as well. Randomly open the Bible to any section, close your eyes, and drop your index finger down on a passage. Use the single verse you’ve pointed to as a scene or story starter.
For more complexity, open several random sections in the Bible and drop your finger down. Some verses will speak of people (use those to build your characters); some verses will relate events or tell stories (use those for your plot). Combine several different verses to come up with an interesting idea.
The wonderful thing about these tools is that the pieces are plentiful, and the combined combinations offer thousands of plots and characters. Don’t rely on the first one you come up with. Try several different tarot spreads or variations of other tools to find something you really like.
Here’s Your Prompt:
Pull out your trusty deck of tarot cards and lay out your favorite spread. Pretend that what you see isn’t affecting your life, but the life of a character in your story.
If you don’t have your own deck, or just want the convenience of an online dealer and layout, here are several sites you can use to generate a layout:
– Facade.com
– The Artist’s Inner Vision Tarot Cards
– The Tarot Goddess
Use I-Ching, Runes or other tools to find similar ideas.
– The I-Ching Online
– Flytrap Interactive I-Ching
– Free Runes
Use the Bible (with the method described above) to generate a story plot or character sketch.
Likely, a lot of the ‘fortunes’ you will receive will be obscure. You might need to give them some thought before the story reveals itself – but then, you wouldn’t want to be handed a story on a silver platter, would you? Good stories always take some thought!
Good luck!
Tarot Card Image from The Artist’s Inner Vision Tarot Deck
Friday, May 18th, 2012  I have a tea set that belonged to my Grandmother Spina. It’s a lovely shade of periwinkle blue with matching cups and saucers. Not really a feminine color or style, yet feminine all the same because it’s a tea set.
I keep it in the same curio cabinet as my doll collection, and I see it everyday, reminding me of her, keeping her spirit alive.
I love that about the pot. I’ll never make tea in it, never shared tea in it with my grandmother, but the memory of her having it is there all the same.
Things, like my teapot, become talismans, lucky charms, or bridges to the past. Touchstones. Reminders.
They can be motivators, or de-motivators. They can represent loss, or terrible things. Depending on what they represent, their presence can implore you not to act a certain way or do a certain thing.
The “thing” doesn’t even have to be tangible. It can be a once-held conversation, a fleeting thought or a note written on a card.
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write about a special token from your past. Why do you keep it? What does it mean for you?
- Write a story about a character who has such a token, and then loses it. What happens?
- Go through your closet and put your hands in every coat or jacket pocket until you pull something out. Write a story or poem or journal entry about this thing. Or, use this ‘found’ item in a scene or vignette of one of your story characters.
- Write about something you brought home from a journey.
- “..a shield lifted up above the side of the ship, and the point of the shield was upwards, in token of peace. And the men drew near, that they might hold converse.” ~ from Bullfinch’s Mythology: IX. Branwen, the Daughter of Llyr. The Mabinogeon. Vol. III: The Age of Chivalry.
- Write about:
- a token of love
- a token of hate
- something that belonged to your grandmother (or grandfather, sister or brother)
- a hand-me-down, a used article of clothing, a hole in your shoe
- something you found in a book (a scrap of paper, a bookmark, a ribbon, or a passage)
- Enobarbus: How appears the fight?
Scarus: On our side like the token’d pestilence, Where death is sure.
~ William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act III. Scene VIII.
- Write about something you found.
- Write about something you want, but can’t have.
- Conversely, write about something you wanted and received, but that doesn’t mean as much now that you have it.
Good luck!
Friday, May 11th, 2012  On this date in 1934 a huge dust storm sent 350 million tons of silt and topsoil catapulting eastward from the Great Northern Plains, some of it reaching as far as New York and Atlanta.
The reason?
When the plains states were settled in the mid-1800s, the land was covered by prairie grass which kept the ground moist and kept soil from blowing away during hot, dry times. When farmers began plowing the grass under to plant crops, the soil dried and had nothing to keep it from blowing away.
Worse, the U.S. involvement in World War I in 1917 created a huge demand for wheat, and farmers plowed under more and more grassland, thanks also to a new invention: the tractor. Farmers continued to plow after the war, as even more powerful tractors came on the market. (In the 1920s, wheat production increased by 300%, glutting the market by 1931.)
In the early 1930s, a severe drought caused crops to die, and wind to carry the dust from the fields. Storms increased yearly until 1934 when the number of them decreased, but the severity increased, causing the worst dust storm in history on May 11. The New York Times reported, dust “lodged itself in the eyes and throats of weeping and coughing New Yorkers,” and even ships some 300 miles offshore saw dust collect on their decks.*
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write a poem, essay or journal entry about being unexpectedly caught in a storm.
- Write about being caught in a dust storm, wind storm or any kind of storm other than rain or sleet or hail. Was it a small storm, or a large one (affecting your town or the entire state)? Did you need to seek shelter? If so, where?
- Write about:
- biting the dust
- dusting it up, or dusting it off
- gathering dust
- when the dust settles
- dry as dust
- dust bunnies
Theorize about how something we’re doing today could unintentionally cause a catastrophe such as the dust storm of 1934. What would we need to do to prevent it? How could we fix the problem if we don’t?
Would you ever consider being a storm chaser? Why or why not? What do you think the risks would be? What do you think the rewards would be?
Scientists risk their lives chasing tornadoes in hopes of learning about them. What do you think these scientists are trying to find out? What do you think the benefits will be for society if scientists find these answers?
I’ve seen the dust so black that I couldn’t see a thing,
I’ve seen the dust so black that I couldn’t see a thing,
And the wind so cold, boy, it nearly cut your water off.
I seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down,
I’ve seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down,
Buried my tractor six feet underground.
Well, it turned my farm into a pile of sand,
Yes, it turned my farm into a pile of sand,
I had to hit that road with a bottle in my hand.
~ From the Dust Bowl Blues, Woody Guthrie
“Charge it to the dust and let the rain settle it.”
Write about any other natural disaster, such as a tornado, a landslide or avalanche, a tsunami, or an earthquake.
Write about a storm that personally affected you in some way. What kind of storm was it? How did you get caught in it? What were the consequences?
Write a story where a storm is the inciting incident. (The inciting incident is the action or event that sets in motion the central conflict of the story.) Or, write a story in which a storm plays a major role.
Write about:
- the calm before a storm
- the eye of the storm, or being in the eye of the storm
- weathering the storm
- stormy weather
- any port in a storm
- a storm is brewing
- storming out of a room
- taking something by storm
We are the voices of the wandering wind,
Which moan for rest and rest can never find;
Lo! as the wind is, so is mortal life,
A moan, a sigh, a sob, a storm, a strife.
~ The Deva’s Song, Sir Edwin Arnold
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Quote from History.com’s May 11 entry.
Image Credit: A dust storm strikes Powers County, Colorado, in April 1935. Image: Library of Congress, FSA-OWI Collection, Repro. Num. LC-USF343-001617-ZE DLC.
Thursday, May 10th, 2012  Before I left for my writer’s retreat I set some pretty ambitious goals. When I got there, I wrote them down on a wall poster and hung it in the room where I did most of my writing.
(You’re seeing an early version of it here in the pic to the left. By the end of the retreat, I’d finished many more items than indicated in the photo.)
When I completed a task, I made an “X” in the box to the left of the task and moved on.
Other members of the group also wrote their goals on the easel pad and hung it, and as we worked, we were surrounded by these wall posters of what we wanted to accomplish. (It was gratifying to see that I wasn’t the only one who’d listed projects that should have been done months — if not years — ago.)
It was interesting to see the different styles by which we all worked. My list had no priority order, and I chose the easiest/quickest items to complete first and cross of my list. For me, it was motivating to see items checked off, and I built momentum as we went along.
Another member prioritized his list, then started from the top, working on each item in 30 minute intervals. Once 30 minutes passed, he added a tick mark to the item and moved on to the next: his method for avoiding writer’s block or getting discouraged by the length of time one item might take.
Another member just started from the top of her list and worked her way down.
When we rented the cabin earlier this year, we’d planned to work on card tables in our own rooms, but the “great room” of the cabin was so spacious (and contained a fire place!) that we decided to work together at the large dining table.
I wasn’t certain how that was going to work at first, and it felt a little bit like being stuck in “study hall” in high school, but it worked splendidly. We were quiet and industrious, with the occasional question tossed out to the group. I liked it better — and got more work done — than our previous retreat (though I enjoyed that retreat very much, too).
During the previous retreat, we lived and worked in separate rooms, dormitory style, and only saw each other for meals (at which time we weren’t allowed speak to each other).
I found this retreat much more enjoyable, even if we tended to spend too much time (IMO) socializing at meals. As a group, we’ve already decided to rent again at this location next year.
I find the benefits of “communal” retreating to be:
- Having the camaraderie of like-minded, motivated people who are on hand immediately to bounce an idea off of or ask for a quick critique
- The “immediate” presence of other writers encouraged me to write, even when I didn’t feel like it.
- By the same token, the presence of other writers discouraged web surfing, excessive solitaire playing and general cat waxing. (In fact, I didn’t goof off AT ALL…and didn’t feel deprived, either.)
Another thing I learned: Don’t take too much stuff.
All of us over packed, including on food. “Starving Writer” would certainly have been a misnomer for us.
Beyond food, we brought a printer, extra cartridges and reams of paper which we never touched, as well as office supplies, some writing prompt books, and other things we never used. I brought two novels to read. Although I read voraciously at home, I found when I tumbled into bed after writing all day I was too tired to read more than a page or two. I’ll leave those at home next time.
We did coordinate supplies: a “you bring this and I’ll bring that” kind of coordinating, but I think we’ll do more of that next time.
On the last day, I packed up my goals poster and brought it home. It’s now hanging on the wall over my desk. There’s nothing like staring at a list of “unfinished projects” to keep you moving. When I’m done with it, I’ll likely grab a new easel sheet and start another. And although I’ve got a ton more things to do than what’s on the list, I like the “finite” feel of the limited size of the wall poster.
Along with the poster, I’ve got an electronic “to do” list of things I need to accomplish now that I’ve returned. Many items on that list take the form of: “Send suchandsuch project to suchandsuch venue.” I’ve done a few of those tasks already, but I’ve more to do: all related to manuscripts completed on retreat (which might not have gotten done if I hadn’t gone away).
All in all: A huge success. It was a blast, and I’m ready to go again.
Friday, May 4th, 2012  I spent a few days last week and this on a writing retreat with my face-to-face critique group. We traveled out of state, to Cacapon State Park in West Virginia, and hunkered down for a few cold and rainy days in the mountains.
The cabin was beautiful with hardwood floors and paneling, a stone fireplace, and set in the rustic location of the woods.
It was modern enough to have a full kitchen – with microwave – as well as forced air heat (and cooling) if we needed it.
It was everything you could want in a home, and yet, it wasn’t home.
There’s nothing better to me, than arriving home after being away. (And I don’t care if it’s a vacation I’ve gone on, or a visit “home” to my folks’ house, or just being at work for a full day…I enjoy coming home.)
Home is safe.
It’s more comfortable than any other place. It’s got my things laid out just the way I like them.
It’s mine.
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write about coming home.
- Write about the old neighborhood.
- Write about something quirky in your house which drives you nuts, but you wouldn’t change.
- Write an essay: though I live ____________, my real home – my heart of homes – is ______________.
- Write a story where your character is homesick and can’t return home for a long while (if ever). How does he cope?
- If you journal, write about a time you were homesick. How did you feel? When were you able to go home? What did you do to alleviate the desire for home while you were gone?
- Write about:
- something in the closet (or the basement)
- knocking down walls (figuratively or literally)
- a room of your own
- Write about running away from home.
- Write about:
- moving out
- moving into your own apartment for the first time
- buying a new home
- losing your home
- Write about a world in which there are no homes left. How do people live? What if there were no space on top of the earth, so new apartment complexes are built down? What if the moon were able to be colonized and governments were offering homesteads to folks to move there?
Good luck!
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
- To start a new project.
- To complete a project.
- To recharge your writing batteries or find your Muse.
- To relax or rest. To catch up on your reading. To gain a fresh perspective.
- To reward yourself for what you’ve accomplished so far.
- To be alone to write.
- Or, to be among fellow writers with whom you can discuss ideas, get feedback, or bask in the support of like-minded people.
- To evaluate your skill, your projects or your deadlines.
- To organize your manuscript(s) and prioritize.
- To write in a focused space without the interruptions of your daily life.
Friday, April 20th, 2012  I’m heading out today for some research at the Baltimore Zoo.
I LOVE the zoo. It’s been a long time since I’ve been, and I’m really looking forward to it.
My favorite: the snakes. But I also like the primates, too. And the giraffes, and the hippos. The lions, the tigers…
Oh, who am I kidding? I love it all, but especially, the snakes.
I’m sure you can imagine where today’s prompt is going? You guessed it: it’s about zoos and animals.
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Imagine visiting a far off planet. [Class M, if you will.] and you find the most unusual animals. Write about which one is your favorite and why. How do you have to care for this animal? How does it live? What does it eat? Could you bring it back to earth? How would you manage that?
- Me, Tarzan. You, Jane. (I really mean that the other way around. But if I’d written it that way, it wouldn’t have been half as effective!)
Imagine you — or a character in one of your stories — has been raised by animals. Describe life with these animals from early infancy on. Caveat: you can’t choose apes. Bonus points if you don’t choose wolves.]
- If you’re journaling, write about the best (or worst) time you ever had at a zoo.
- Another journaling prompt: write about an encounter with an animal that really sticks in your memory: have you ever been bitten by a dog? How about peed on by a toad? Tell us what happened.
- If you’ve never had an encounter with an animal…pretend. What would it be like to be a veterinarian? A lion tamer in a circus? A scuba diver who investigates invertebrates?
- Write about your encounter with an imaginary animal, such as a unicorn, a dragon, a werewolf or the phoenix.
- Imagine you are the one locked up in a zoo. Someone cares for all your needs. People stare at you all day. How do you feel? What’s the best part? The worst? In an animal zoo, the animals are given toys and their special habitat to make it more palitable to them. What does the zoo provide for you?
- What if you could understand the language of the animals? What would they say to you from behind their bars at the zoo? Do they like being there? Do they want to return to their natural habitats? What do they like or dislike about being in the zoo?
- What if all the animals in the world were locked up in zoos? Keeping pets is forbidden. Only farm animals are “free.”
- What if only all the “frightening” animals are collected and locked up? Which animals would those be? Why?
- Pretend you are Dr. Seuss’ character Gerald McGrew. Like him, what would you do, if you ran the zoo?
Good Luck!
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 My face-to-face critique group and I are headed into the mountains for a four-day writer’s retreat at the end of the month. We’ve rented an 8-person cabin in a West Virginia state park and hope to get tons of writing done.
My list of writerly “to dos” is growing as the days go by.
Initially, my goal was to write 3,000 or more (no less!) words per day for each day we’re there. It doesn’t sound like much, but we can’t check in until four and must leave by ten, so it’s not really four full days. Maybe I should break the word count down hourly…
But now I’m toying with adding some “housekeeping” and “task” stuff to the list, like re-formatting some stories — whose rights have reverted back to me –for publishing on Amazon, Nook and Smashwords. Or updating the bibliography on my Web site. I could kill a full day doing that.
This retreat is different than our last. For one, we won’t be staying in a monastery.
This means (first and foremost) that we’ll be able to talk to each other. It’s tough for a bunch of writer friends not to discuss their work, but we managed. This time we’ll be able to chatter all we want. So I’m hoping not only for some writing time, but some critique time.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go away and bring back some polished writing?
I’ve starting packing my boxes to take with me, and making lists of things not to forget.
For writing, I’m taking both my novel work in progress and two short stories I’ve started. I’d like to finish the shorts and grow the novel by a third, but I’ll be happy if I can add 12k of words total.
Before I go, I’ll clean off the desk and empty out the mailbox. I’m sure there’s at least a dozen things I’ll add to the list.
If you’re interested in how I’ll go about preparing for a writer’s retreat (and ranking how I’ll choose items to work on), read this post I made before the last retreat. (There’s no sense re-inventing the wheel.)
Anybody else out there take trips with their critique group? I’d love to hear how you pull it all together. Do you schedule the time or just wing it? Do you do free-writing exercises, or only work on stuff you hope to market? Inquiring minds want to know!
Friday, March 30th, 2012  Spring has sprung!
And it’s not always sweet. Anybody live around those horrible Bradford Pear trees?
(They’re native to China and Korea and were brought to the states in the 1900s. As far as I’m concerned, they should have kept them!)
Spring has me thinking of gardening, so today’s prompt is all about planting, sowing, and tending.
Here’s Your Prompt:
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Writers - Maryland Writer's Assn.
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