Happy Mother’s Day!

Hello everyone!  Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day can be a complicated holiday.  Hopefully, your mother is as wonderful as mine.  But maybe, you don’t have the best relationship with your mother.  Or perhaps, your mother passed away.  Regardless of the situation, we all have a mother, and Mother’s Day can stir up some very strong emotions.

This writing challenge is personal, and will hopefully help you to release those emotions.  Choose the variation that best fits your relationship with your mother.

Variation 1: Positive Relationship with Mother

1. Write down all the good things about your mother.
2. Write a poem about your mother or write her a letter telling her why she’s wonderful and/or what you appreciate about her.
3. Send the letter or poem to your mother.

Variation 2: Strained or Difficult Relationship with Mother

Write an honest poem or letter examining why the relationship is the way it is.  (Use this writing exercise as a way to get those feelings off your chest.)

*I would recommend not sending this poem or letter to your mother.

Variation 3: Mother Is No Longer Alive

1. Write your mother the poem or letter you would give her if she were here.  (Use this writing exercise as a way to get your feelings about your mother out.)
2. Symbolically send the poem or letter.  (This could be tying the message to a balloon and releasing it into the air, burning it, putting it in a memory box, etc.)

I hope you have an amazing Mother’s Day!

Happy Writing!

Katie

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Find Your Joy

Hello everyone!

The holiday season can be a time of great joy or a very difficult time depending on a person’s circumstances.

Your writing prompt for the next two weeks is find your inspiration through your joy.

1. Do a 10-15 minute free write about what makes you feel alive.  (A free write is where you write down whatever pops into your head without censuring or editing it.  The goal is to write continuously for the full 10-15 minutes.)
2. Read over what you wrote, and find the theme(s).
3. Write a poem, song, or short story with the same theme.

Happy writing!

Katie

Daily Inspirations

Hello everyone!

Have you ever noticed how everyday things can be the best inspiration?  I recently got two parakeets: first Orville, then Wilbur a week later.  Orville was lonely, so it seemed like the right decision to get him a brother.

It struck me that my interactions with my birds were a lot like the way I develop characters for a story.  I got Orville for companionship and planned to let our relationship develop based on his personality, but I got Wilber to fill a hole in Orville’s life.  (I had a function and name, all that was missing was the character.)

Once Wilbur joined our family, Orville’s true personality came out.  The quiet bird who let me hold him, became a vocal hand-avoider.  As a result, I had to re-think the way I was training both birds.

 

My parakeets have been so inspiring to me, that I’ve decided to turn them into characters for a picture book.  I have several ideas for the theme, but it could still change.

Your challenge for the next two weeks is to use something new or ordinary from your daily life as the foundation for a picture book, short story, or poem.

I’d love to know what your inspiration is and whether you will be writing a picture book, short story, or poem. If you’re comfortable sharing, please post in the comments below.

Happy writing!

Katie

Word of the Day

Hello everyone!

I love words!  Word choice is crucial to my enjoyment of a song, movie, or book.  The perfect words and references make the experience rapturous while poorly chosen ones make it painful.

Your writing challenge for the next two weeks is to build a story using one or more words as your foundation.

1. Go to merriamwebster.com and write a story using the word of the day.  The word of the day can be used in your story or be the theme of your story.
2. For something even more challenging, go to merriamwebster.com 5-7 days in a row and use all 5-7 words in your story.  Make sure there’s a plot!

*Remember, this is a writing exercise.  If you like the story and the words don’t work, cut them during the revision phase.  (Considering I’ve never edited something just once, I should probably say “phases.”)

Happy writing!

Katie

Daily Disasters Make Fantastic Fiction

Hello everyone!

What is comedy besides a light-hearted portrayal of errors, deception, and miscommunications?

Your writing challenge for the next two weeks is to take something bad that happened to you and use it as the basis for your comedic story.

Remember, a story needs a plot.  What was your protagonist trying to accomplish when this misfortune befell him/her?  How did your protagonist adapt his/her plans?  Feel free to add on multiple mishaps and disasters.

Also, remember that comedies usually end well, or at least ironically; otherwise, it’s just tragic to have someone be that unlucky.

Happy writing!

Katie

How to Succeed at Writing: Working through Frustration

Hello everyone and happy Presidents’ Day!

While working towards my 2018 goal of editing my novel The Four Crystals from beginning to end, I hit a snag in completing my weekly goal.  Apparently chapters 3-5 heard me say I was going to edit one chapter a week and conspired to detain me longer than that.  If they weren’t essential to the plot, I’d show them who was boss and cut them.

Needless to say, feeling stuck is very frustrating.  It’s made me question why I torture myself with writing when there are other things I enjoy that require less effort.  When I get depressed with my own writing journey, I find inspiration from reading about what established writers do.

Below are a few articles which recently helped me.  I hope they also inspire you to keep writing.

In case you don’t have time to read them, here’s a quick summary: 1. Find a writing space, 2. create a writing routine, and 3. make yourself do it.  (They say it much more elegantly than I just did.)

“Mark Ellis – A Writer’s Life” by Mark Ellis

“10 Habits of Highly Effective Writers” by Robert Blake Whitehill

“Ten Ways To Succeed at Writing Without Really Trying” by Ruthy Logan Herne

Happy writing!

Katie

April is National Poetry Month

Hello everyone!

In honor of April being National Poetry Month, below are four links which poets ready to be published and writers wanting to try their hand at poetry may find helpful.

“Writing and Publishing FAQ” https://m.poets.org/poetsorg/text/writing-and-publishing-faq

“Poetry: Submissions & Letters to the Editor” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/submissions

“How to Write Poetry” http://www.creative-writing-now.com/how-to-write-poetry.html

“Types of Poetry” http://www.poeticterminology.net/

Happy writing!

Katie