Writers Write...

Writers Write...
by
Diana Rowe Martinez

In order to be a writer, you must write, but at times, the seemingly simple process is a struggle for many of us.

For those struggling with the daily ritual of writing, first try some writing prompts to get your creative process moving. Then, you can go back to working on a specific project, like your novel.

Here are some writing prompts to get you moving:

·    Even though this isn't New Year's Day, think of at least five writing resolutions. Plan to keep them for the remainder of the year.

·    Write from this prompt: "Wouldn't it be strange if ... "

·    Write about your favorite restaurant or bar. What do you like about it? What does it look like? Why do you go there?

·    Write an essay that examines the nature of sibling relationships. (Only child? Address the relationship of parent to child.)

·    Switch writing tools: Can't come up with anything while sitting in front of the computer? Grab a pen and paper. Use a tape recorder. Scribble random phrases on Post-it notes or napkins. Use anything that makes writing easier.

·    Choose a classic fairy tale, but rewrite it from the villain's point of view.

·    Sit outside this evening when the sun is setting. And like the sun, let the writer inside you rest for tonight.

·    Make a list of as many metaphors as you can to describe how it feels when you become inspired.

·    Sit on your porch or balcony or in the yard, and concoct a conspiracy theory from the activity (or lack of activity) in your neighborhood.

·    You are in an elevator, and it suddenly stops. Who else is there? How do you get out? Write a short story. Make it as absurd and unrealistic as possible.

·    Go to a garden, and describe the flowers in detail. Marvel at the beauty of springtime and the gifts of nature.
·
You have just been granted three wishes. Write down each one and why you chose that particular wish.
·
Write a pros-and-cons page about whatever problem or decision has been weighing on your mind.

·    Be a reporter: Take an event from your day and turn it into a journalistic news-brief. Create a headline, pick an angle and give your (possibly unexciting) event a spin.

·    Practice dialogue. Write a police station interrogation scene. Don't use "he or she said." Convey the characters of a good cop, bad cop and suspect, using only dialogue.

·    Send an all-occasion card to a relative or friend. In it, explain why you love being a writer.

·    Take a dictionary, and select two words at random. Write a short story, essay or poem using these words as the first and last words of the piece.

·    Carry a notebook all day, and jot down any writing ideas that cross your mind.

·    Be your own thesaurus. Pick a word, and write down as many synonymous words as you can. Then, expand to synonymous phrases, then to synonymous metaphors. Play with the idea of similarity.

·    If you could have been born in another time period, where and when would you have liked to live? Write an account of your life in this setting.

·    Write from the point of view of your pet (or any animal), and describe the experience of a single day.

·    Write a letter to yourself when you were 10. Tell this young you what you wish you had known or understood then.

·    Think about someone in your life who stirs up extreme emotion-love or anger-and write a letter to this person, expressing your honest feelings. Don't worry; you don't have to mail it.

·    It's Friday night: Make a date with the artist inside you. Buy some wine, put on some music, turn off the phone, and write about the pleasure of stealing time for yourself.

·    Suffering from writer's block? Challenge yourself to not write a single word today. See if the dam breaks tomorrow.

·    Write about what it was like to not be able to write. Was it impossible because of your job? Did you get annoyed at not being able to jot down a phone number? Were you tempted to break the rules and write down that idea anyway?

·    Keep a journal starting this week where every day you write at least five good things about yourself.

·    Write about what love has meant in your life. Who has helped define it for you? When do you most see it at work?

·    Research writing contests, and choose at least one to enter.

·    Write a personal essay about what you did as a child during a storm.

·    It's Thursday. How do you feel about this day of the week? Has any significant event in your life happened on Thursday? Do you have a Thursday night routine?

·    Play Ann Landers. You've surely got a friend or relative who wears on your nerves by complaining about the same problem over and over again. In 300 words, write the response Ann would give to the complaint. Then tear up your work, and resolve not to give advice until it's requested.

·    Go to a movie and when you get home, write an alternate ending.

·    Exercise? Today think of writing as exercise. Write about what you do to stretch out, cool down and sweat. How do you feel after you're done?

·    Write a letter to "Monday" expressing the complaints you have toward it. Include personal reasons and contrast it with Sunday's ode.

·    It's Sunday. Write an ode to this day in praise of the good things about it. Include your favorite activities.

·    Stir your creative juices. Write the word "island" in the middle of an unlined piece of paper, draw a circle around it and then do some free association writing of any words, images, sights, smells or sounds that come to mind.

·    What is the relationship you have as a writer to your Muse? Write a humorous exchange between this Muse and you, during a moment of writer's block.

·    Now write the last page of that novel. (Fill in the rest as the inspiration comes.)

·    Start a novel today. Write page one of the novel you have always wanted to write.

·    Return to a piece of old writing and do a rewrite.

The above prompts were excerpted from the 365 Daily Prompts offered by writersdigest.com available at http://www.writersdigest.com/information.asp?homeprompts. I chose prompt suggestions from the past few months. To keep this flow going, you can check this web site every day or you can sign up for a monthly email that will list prompts for the entire month.

These prompts are a great way to jump-start your writing!

ASSIGNMENT:
Did you think I'd let you get away with just READING about writing? No way. I want YOU to take any one of these writing prompts and submit the writing exercise and/or the experience to ME, your newsletter editor, for July's newsletter. Make it short and sweet, 200 words or so, but most importantly, I want YOU to report HOW these writing prompts HELPED your writing this month. So go on! Do it now and I'll look for your submissions no later than the 20th of June. Email them to Diana10277@aol.com. (Please note, due to space constraints, I will take only the first few submissions, so get writing!)

Diana Rowe Martinez, a full-time freelance writer, finds herself occasionally staring at a blank page, but she presses forward, sometimes using writing prompts, to write something every day.

Writers Write... by Diana Rowe Martinez

Writers Write...
by
Diana Rowe Martinez