Writing Prompts ~ 3 ~

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then shouldn't we be writing those words down somewhere?  Every time I see a beautiful scene or picture of just about anything, my mind wanders.  A story forms or I become inspired to write about it or describe it. 

Writing prompts can be a way to trigger or inspire words from anyone, most especially writers.  It's a great way to practice or even try a different style of writing.  I like to use prompts to help me get started on stories.

When my daughter was very small, she would get a story before bed.  Most of these were made up and most were inspired by an idea or character that she would ask for.  Some things she'd ask me to tell a story about include, a particular Disney Princess, the board game Candy Land, and Strawberry Shortcake (from the children's cartoon show).  

Many of my poems have been inspired by images, nature, or pictures.  Others have been inspired by a person or a particular trait of someone I know, like my grandmothers laugh.  

I have been very lax in writing poetry lately because I was working on writing stories about my uncle who passed away recently. As my thoughts wandered to all the memories lurking in my brain and heart about my uncle, I decided that the best way for me to mourn him was to write them down.

The stories about my uncle are on my Wattpad account in a new work called "Choose to Smile."  Here's an excerpt:

CHOOSE TO SMILE

Every year, around Easter, my family would drive out to visit them. My brother Keith, my Grandma Bang, and one parent would go along with either me or my sister (we had to take turns).

New Hampshire was like a dream when I got to go. On my very first trip I slept in the spare room all by myself. That first morning I remember waking to strange noises outside my window. The sound was rustly and crunchy and huffy. I lay in bed listening for a while until my imagination and curiosity could not be held back another minute. I climbed up to look out and saw three horses wandering around outside my window. They were nibbling at the ground and pushing at each other. They huffed out their noses as though the air was too cold. Finally they sauntered out toward the street.

I knocked shyly at my uncle's bedroom door and said, in an almost unheard voice, "There's horses outside my window. Can I go see 'em?"

All I heard was excited voices from behind the door. In a flash, my Uncle and Aunt were both bolting out the front door in coats and boots.

"Louise, what's happening, honey?" My Dad asked in the dark hallway.

"Daddy, there are three horses outside! Can I go see 'em?" I asked sweetly.

The next thing I knew, my Dad was running toward the door with boots and a coat too. Apparently, the horses weren't supposed to be walking around outside the house.

HALLOWEEN WRITING PROMPT
So, writing prompts can come from anywhere and your response to them can take many forms.  As usual, I'd like to present another picture writing prompt.  

I hope this isn't too scary for you, but it is the Halloween season, after all.

How does this image inspire you?  Write 150 words story or 3-4 stanza poem from this image.  Hopefully you will post this in the comments below and share with me and others.  

Here is my offering from this image:

She’s finally left, thought the evil presence behind the wall.  Slithering toward the mirror, tap, tap, thud, thud, harder and harder it knocked on the wall.  One small crack was all it needed to penetrate the other side and escape.  First the wall, then the mirror gave way to the insistent efforts.

An icy chill emanated from the fractured hole with razor sharp edges.  Slowly, the image of evil appeared from behind the wall.  Staring out from an abyss of darkness, the grayish creature had a visage of resentment and hatred. 

Noises came from outside the room. 

Now’s my chance, thought the entity, slinking back into darkness.

Bursting into the room, a tall, thin and lovely woman dressed in a flowing organdy gown covered in lace and pearls fairly floated toward the mirror, humming.  Seeing nothing amiss, she placed a vase of flowers directly beneath it on a table.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

That was fun to do.  I hope you like my interpretation.  Please keep writing.  Use prompts if needed to keep you going.  Also, please share your writing prompt offerings in the comments so others may enjoy them.

Keep Calm 

and 

Keep Writing

Know Yourself as a Writer

Recently, I was trolling about on a few writing blogs that I follow and found a post about knowing yourself as a writer.  Click here to access that blog post.  The author presents an exercise to help clarify reasons and motivations for writing as well as setting some goals.

Knowing your motivation and goals for writing, regardless of genre, theme, or style can be critical in your success, especially if you strive to make a career as a writer.  

When working on this exercise, I found myself feeling torn.  On the one hand, I write blogs for others and earn a bit of money.  On the other, I write my own blogs for practice and to express or share things that are meaningful to me.  On yet another hand, not sure where I get this hand from, I write poetry for myself and occasionally for others.  If my poetry is published, then it's an exciting bonus.

Would I love a full career as a writer?  I'm not certain.  While I enjoy writing and believe that I have some skill/talent, I'm not sure I want it to be my career, at least not right now.  Do I want to be a full time writer someday?  Yes, I do very much.

My answers to the questions in this exercise revealed an important fact about my writing that I need to change or I will not move forward, I need to spend more time writing.  Honestly, I spend too much time on wasted activities during my non-working hours.  It's a constant struggle, as I'm sure most can relate to.  In my own words from my post on August 3, 2015, "to be a good writer, you have to practice writing."  I hereby pledge that I will write for at least one hour everyday, 'cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!'  (Yes I will quote, and even swear an oath, from My Little Pony)

Another thing I learned about myself as a writer is that I write to tell stories.  Stories have always been a way for me to share my own thoughts, feelings and experiences with others.  I believe that I have always been a storyteller and always will be.  There are just multiple ways that I enjoy sharing a story.





What I have discovered about myself as a writer by answering these few seemingly simple questions is so enlightening.  Read through this post on Writing Forward and see what you learn about yourself. This blog is a very good for any writer of any genre or style.

Just by perusing some writing blogs that I enjoy, I found an exercise that has revealed some important aspects of myself as a writer.  In another six months to a year I'll answer these questions again to see if I've changed at all. I'll post my results here.  Comment below on how this exercise affected your outlook on writing and your knowledge of yourself as a writer.  I'd love to know more about you and your writing.

Time to Write

I’ve definitely been struggling to have/make time to write lately, whether it’s writing for this blog or just for me.  If you too have this problem, hopefully some of my ideas will inspire you.

Have/Make Time

Because everyone’s lives are different, there are no magic tricks I can provide to give you the time you may want or need to write.  I can only tell you that, if it’s important enough to you, you will have the time

Write First Thing

Writing first thing requires coffee for me.  If I have that, then I can grab paper and pen or my laptop to get started.  I do like to be inspired, even for a blog, but sometimes I just write whatever’s on my mind, like journaling.  The mere act of writing is an exercise in putting words to paper. 

If you’re not a morning person, like me, find a time when you’re alone and can concentrate, perhaps after the kids are in bed.  Grab a cup of tea and off you go!

 

Writing Prompt/ Write with Someone

Writing from a prompt is a good exercise because it can take you outside your comfort zone.  It can also just be fun.  Spontaneously, and for fun, my daughter and I write a jingle to replace a really bad one from a commercial we just watched. 

Usually I write with my daughter.  At times, I help her with ideas for her stories or edit them.  We also work on our own projects at the same time.  We make writing dates with each other, like every Thursday night. 

If you have a friend who writes, whether local or long distance, make a date to meet up, face-to-face or on line, to write together.  Each of you can come up with a writing prompt then make a date to share your results.  I have an out of town friend with whom I do timed writing prompts.  During a phone conversation we set a theme or idea then call each other back in ‘x’ minutes to share what we did. 

Write on Break

Whether you work in or outside your home, breaks are a time when we move away from our work tasks and relax.  Writing should be relaxing, at least I think so.  Move to a comfy spot with your writing materials, or go get a snack or drink, then open up to a new page and get started.  Maybe you just want to write some thoughts, maybe you’re working on a story or novel, or maybe you want to write a poem.  Make sure to watch your time or set a reminder on your phone so you aren’t late returning to work.

I hope you got some ideas from me and can find a way that works for you.  Remember, to be a good writer, you have to practice writing.  TTFN, Ta-ta for now!

Spiritual Inspiration

Without entering into a lengthy and probably controversial discussion of spirituality or beliefs, I want to discuss how I have been inspired and share some of my writing with you.  

My spirituality or feelings of connection with my God come at times when I am contemplative, under stress, relaxed or are unexpected.  During some of these times I find myself talking to him and even creating something in my mind.  Do you know those times when words just start to form and you have to write them down, those times when you are talking out loud to yourself?  Those are the times when I know I am being inspired to write.  So, I write.

Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly what was going on in my life when I wrote this, but I called it 'A Psalm' for a reason.  When I was first discovering my faith as a Christian, I read the Psalms A LOT!  I connected to them because they are poems, song lyrics, direct messages to God.  I wanted to have (and still want to have) a directed link to God.  David wrote many of the psalms as his expressions of great emotions toward God.  Sometimes he was angry, sometimes he doubted, sometimes he expressed deep faith and love.  The overall feeling of this psalm is a desire for connection, not wanting to be left behind or forgotten.  I can see a strong desire for hope and belonging.  Also, I believe that I needed spiritual strengthening.

A Psalm

By Kimberly L McClune, January 18, 2013

Diffused light from the bright morning star

Emanates through a maze of frosted branches.

Fingers of illumination pattern the blue tinted ground.

A glowing countenance gracefully peers from beyond

Bearing a measure of hope to my longing my soul.

Oh, light that brings peace and love

Renew my spirit, fill the depths of my soul!

Shine your light in and through me.

Reveal your truth to my hardened heart.

Shower me with fulfillment and joy!

Do not deny a weakened spirit.

Open a portal to the inner sanctuary

Hardened by disappointment and fear.

Pour out your soothing balm to cleanse

And heal the wounds left by an ordinary life.

Oh, mighty and righteous giver of peace,

Wondrous lover of needy and aching hearts,

Let your love reign in my gasping soul,

Lift up my wounded spirit,

Wash me clean of all wrongdoing.

Heavy heart, wounded and sore

Hold fast to that one remaining thread of hope.

Don’t loose your grip, but cling to it

As if nothing in the world can move you.

For this is the path to enlightenment.

Hope does not fail, love does not leave

Peace is never far away.

All around are signs of faith and healing.

Open the heart, the mind and the spirit

And all shall enter in, together at last.

Whether you are Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, or have any other faith, we can all relate to similar spiritual needs.  We want the belonging and the comfort of a faith in something greater than ourselves.  I encourage you to embrace your spirituality as it relates to writing and see what you come up with when you bring the two together.  Writing as an expression of yourself, for some, is the only way to write.  For others, writing can be a way to escape yourself.  

Writing Prompts ~2~

In this post, I’ll be giving you some ideas for writing prompts, as well as sources for finding them.  Perhaps, I’ll even give you an example of one or two of mine. 

As I’ve discussed in previous posts, the best way to get better at something is to keep doing it.  Practice, like with an instrument or a sport, will help you to get better.  Getting better and seeing improvement in your own ability is one of the best ways to be inspired, at least for me, to keep working at it. 

Writing Prompts are a great way to challenge yourself to try new things, new themes, new styles and new genres of writing.  I find they can help to bring me out of a slump too.  There are many different types of prompts. 

 

If you’re a story writer, a good source for writing prompts could be the newspaper.  Review the headlines to find a situation or story that interests you and, without reading the newspaper’s article, write your own article or story.  Or, you could buy books that have prompts like, The Writer’s Book of Matches or 1001 Prompts to Ignite Your Fiction.  I found out about this from Writer’s Digest

online.  You can find it on Amazon or at a local bookstore.

On the website Creative Writing Now, www.creative-writing-now.com, you will find hundreds of ideas for writing poetry, as well as tips and advice, and a bevy of other helpful things that writers like to poke around and read. 

You could chose to write about an image or painting or other visual stimuli you encounter or peruse in the course of your day.  You can also simply search for images of a certain thing, situation, feeling or word on your favorite internet search engine, like Google.  I searched ‘images for peace’ and got a load of “Peace Sign” images and doves holding olive branches and people holding hands, etc. 

Here’s a writing prompt with a visual for you to contemplate and write a poem for.  It can be any type of poem in any form, just use this prompt as your inspiration.  Try giving yourself a time limit for your piece.

                                                       The sun is rising.

Here's what I threw together in 10 minutes based on this image and these words.

Misty sunlight scrunches my eyes.

Still water slides past my weighty and sluggish strokes

As the long night turns to new day.

Faded, the world drifts past.

Molten gold swallows my oar as it pushes on

While daylight unfolds before me.

I would love to know what you come up with from this prompt.  It would also be great to hear from you about where you get ideas for poems and what inspires you. 

Keep writing and watch how much you improve with the practice.  

Other online sources for prompts:

http://www.writingforward.com/category/writing-prompts/poetry-prompts

http://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises

Culture in Poetry

Being partly Irish, I am drawn to the overall culture and all things Irish.  I love music so I listen to Irish tunes quite often.  I have an extensive collection of Irish poetry and stories and love to let my eye wander over pictures of the Irish landscape.  Oh, I neglected to mention my love of Irish food!

I’ve been reading some of the Irish poets lately, W.B. Yeats, Thomas Moore, Patrick Kavanaugh and Oscar Wilde to name a few.  In my poetic contemplation over these beautiful works I began to notice a great sense of the Irish culture itself within them.  Each piece gave me a different sense of who the Irish are, what is important to them and how they live, think and believe. 

Some themes I’ve culled from the works I’ve read are the importance of family and relationships, love of the land, the importance of history to everyday life, strength of spiritual belief and a great love of life and living.  The Irish are a very proud and expressive people.  They carry their hearts on their sleeves and live every moment as if it’s their last.  Humor sustains them through thick and thin and their ability to survive is second to none.  All of these qualities of the Irish come through when reading their poetry.  I consider them to be some of the strongest poets our world has produced. 

If you’ve ever wondered why the Irish are so much in love with their homeland, then you’ve never been there or lost yourself in pictures of the beautiful, magical landscapes and architecture of this incredible island. 

In his poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree, W.B. Yeats expresses his desire to return to the peace and beauty of his home from the wild and raucous streets of London. 

 

“And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.”

Poet Patrick Kavanaugh expresses the deep love of a man for his mother in his poem In Memory of My Mother. I love his optimism for seeing her once again when he, himself, passes into heaven and his wonderful memories of her very essence. 

“And I think of you walking along a headland
Of green oats in June,
So full of repose, so rich with life –
And I see us meeting at the end of a town.

On a fair day by accident, after
The bargains are all made and we can walk
Together through the shops and stalls and markets
Free in the oriental streets of thought.”

While these are only a couple of examples of great Irish poetry, you can find many sources for them in your local bookstore or on various websites like the following:

www.irishcultureandcustoms.com

www.poetryfoundation.org

www.poetrysoup.com

Find some beautiful images of Ireland here:

Christian McLeod Photography: www.cmcleod.com

Inishowen Photography – www.inishowenphotography.com

Images of Mayo Landscape Photography of County Mayo, Ireland by Eamonn McCarthy– mayo.photium.com

Irish Dew Landscape Photography – www.irishdew.com

Try an Irish dish from:

www.donalskehan.com

www.yourirish.com

Perhaps you have a favorite culture or are from a particular culture that also has beautiful poets.  Do some reading and see if you also find that the culture of the poets home is carried into the work of the poet.

Word Choice

When writing in any format or genre your choice of words is important.  This is likely quite obvious to most, but perhaps not to everyone.  In my experience, when editing or even writing the first draft of a poem, I choose words carefully.  Some of the things I consider are meaning, flow, sound, rhyme, rhythm, and sometimes even spelling.  

Each choice depends on what effect or meaning, images or thoughts are behind the work I’m creating.  For instance, in my poem “Smoke” I took quite a long time to decide the words to describe the smoke patterns and qualities.  

“Clinging to the air, fluctuating,

Gradient translucence shifts in silent grace.

Amorphous fog, ethereal silk

Drifts away then subtly coils and spins.”

The word ‘amorphous’ was selected because of its meaning, as well as its sound.  Likewise, the word ‘ethereal’ has a sort of fantasy quality to it (at least to me) and it was fitting for the images I was describing.  I chose silk because its movement as a fabric was mimicked by the movement of the smoke.

There are times when my vocabulary needs a boost while writing.  At these times I turn to a dictionary or thesaurus for ideas.  Keep in mind that too much reliance on these tools can be obvious in your writing.  If I get really stuck for words I like to write out a list of possible choices then insert them into my piece.  It’s like trying on clothes to see what fits and looks the best.

The most important part of word choice is that you find what works for you and for the piece you’re creating.  Having the words flow with your voice is crucial to success for your writing.  I have friends or my father read my works in progress.  They’ve always been able to tell if I had been through the thesaurus too heavily.  

Enjoy writing and playing around with words to complete your writing pieces.