A Writer's Postage Stamp

"I was trying to talk about people, using the only tool I knew, which was the country that I knew...I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about and that I would never live long enough to exhaust it." --William Faulkner

Hubby and I participated in our second-ever 5K Volksmarch yesterday (last year's here), a "German-style walk" hosted by the local German Society in our area. A volksmarch is defined as "a people's march," a non-competitive leisurely walk along a marked trail. The goal of a volksmarch? "To develop physical fitness and good health and enjoy the camraderie of fellow walkers." We can attest to that--it was great fun, and the German food afterwards delicious! And in talking with my brother after the fact, I found out that years ago he participated in volksmarches where they originated--in Germany itself. He was stationed in the army there at the time and recalls great memories of the native soil he strolled through.

Do you agree with Mr. Faulkner, that the "little postage stamp of native soil" wherever we writers might live is worth writing about? I know I captured a few images yesterday from my native soil. Wonder how I might draw inspiration for writing from them. Hmmm...

A few samples of my postage stamp this October:

                    

I must say I don't think I will ever exhaust the idea-possibilities abundant in my corner of the

world. What about you? What's your postage stamp like, and do you draw inspiration from what you see around you?

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Photo-A-Day Challenge Revisited

"For this is the artist's great responsibility, to listen, see, feel, smell, taste. To experience everything as intensely as possible, and then report our findings." --Silas House

I took time the other day to revisit my photo-a-day challenge, the project I undertook last year where I set a goal to take a photo a day. On this "revisit," I wanted to see if I could narrow a year's worth of pictures to a handful of favorites. Not an easy task, but here are the ones that made the final cut--a picture for each month with a few extras thrown in.

I remember how I started the project with a shake and a quiver, fearing I had set out on an impossible task. How could I ever expect to be able to snap a picture a day? Would it be too much to ask? What if I failed to stick with it, how would I feel?

Yet, over a year later, the results are in along with fun memories, fond images and an awareness of what an extraordinary experience it was. And I like this quote by Diane Mariechild that I ran across: "Trust that still, small voice that says, 'This might work, and I'll try it.'" 

I'm sure glad I did.

I'd love to hear from you on which of the above in the final grouping is your favorite, and why. Each one speaks a different word to me. I wonder what they might speak to you.

And, any daunting tasks you've ever set out to explore in which you questioned if you could stick it out, only to step back when it was all over to say, how in the world did I do that!?

Isn't it a wonder when we stop to listen to that still, small voice--and follow through?

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Photo-A-Day: October

"Potpourri--(n) a collection of dried flower petals, leaves, herbs, and spices that is used to scent the air; a mixture of miscellaneous things."

Photo courtesy of sxc.hu

Whimsy, beauty, reflection, anticipation. October offered all these things and more, represented in this month's photo-a-day project, a challenge I started--can it be true?--ten months ago. And what a mix of images unfolded from the month's beginning to the end--a potpourri of colors, textures, smells, and surprises. Each day offered something different including walks in the height of autumn, a photography exhibit, a stroll across a university campus, a book fair. New skills to learn, trips to plan, ideas to explore, words to write.  A hodepodge, assortment, collection, odds and ends, miscellany (synonyms for potpourri courtesy of askdefine ); "a combination of incongruous things" (Free Online Dictionary). In other words, random stuff--which is always good for the imagination. Where will it all end up? Who knows. A new story or two? One would hope.

What helped fill your potpourri bowl of experiences/inspiration this past month?

p.s.To those who will embark on Nanowrimo starting tomorrow (the annual "write a novel in a month" challenge), good luck! 

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This Week's Pep Talk

On Glasses, Shoes and Writing Prompts

Here we go again. After a few years of status quo, my glasses' prescription has changed, and I'll be getting new frames. How many styles have I sported through the years since I started wearing glasses at age thirteen (except for the period in which I wore contacts)?

Let's see. Dark frames. Light frames. Delicate frames. Austere frames. Nerdy frames. 1980s big frames (I refused to wear the '70s granny glasses), wire-rimmed, wireless. Pink, brown, gold, silver. The girl fitting me this time offered me bold glasses, pale glasses, black Clark Kent glasses. Ones with wide temple pieces, fat corners, bling along the sides, blue, red, plum. Whew.

Then for some reason I began thinking about the different styles of shoes I've worn through the years. The list is also long. Baby shoes, saddle shoes, Mary Janes and patent leather. Slip-ons, laced. Keds and tennies. Low heels, high heels, stacked heels. Penny loafers. Moccasins. Boots. Ballerina slippers. Cross trainers, walking shoes, flip flops, sandals. Green shoes (yes, once a long time ago), blue shoes, black, brown, tan, white and silver shoes. Naturalizers. Strapped, backless, open-toed. Comfort-Stride and non-slip soles.

Leap-frog with me here for a minute. What if, when brainstorming ideas for character development, we take two such divergent lists, shake them up, pair elements of each together--and discover something totally unforseen in that character? Granny glasses and patent leather? Bling and moccasins? Clark Kent and Keds? What images might come forth? What surprising personalities who come to life and shout, introduce me, tell my story!

It might be a revealing exercise, you think? The lists wouldn't have to be limited to glasses and shoes. What about hobbies and foods? Window shopping likes and most hated chore? Quirky family members and favorite books? Anything to get to know our characters better, and with that get creative with our stories.

So I tell myself:
 1. Shake it up.
 2. Look through a variety of lenses.
 3. Don't limit the possibilities.
 4. Run the distance with eyes wide-open.
 5. Explore the varieties.
 6. Fuel the imagination.
 7. Yet make it believable.
 8. Allow for individuality.
 9. Expect detours--and enjoy the adventure of it!
10. Deliver, even if you have to walk miles (whatever kind of shoe you wear) to get there.

This, at least, is my pep talk to myself for the week. And to think it started with glasses and shoes.

Have you had to give yourself a pep talk lately? What did it sound like? Any writing prompts that inspired you to move forward?

*photo: sxc.hu

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On Writing Prompts

"I don't know where my ideas come from, but I know where they come to. They come to my desk, and if I'm not there, they go away again." --Philip Pullman

Sometimes I need a kick start. It's like I need to throw ideas, words, letters in a big bowl and pull them out at random--or string them together like beads--to see what happens. I need something to stimulate the creative side and silence the editor. When this happens, I might pick up a book on writing and do an exercise the author suggests. I might borrow an idea I've read about in a blog. Or I might play a word association game. Often I start my day with a prompt, just to loosen up.

Recently I turned to Monica Wood's The Pocket Muse.

One idea Woods presents is this: Choose ten random letters of the alphabet, and write them at the top of a blank page. Example: C W I T S N E M B R. "Using words that begin with these letters, in the same order, write an opening sentence...

Woods gives a sampling from one of her writing workshops: "Cindy's winning?" Ian teased, suddenly nervous. "Everett may be right."

Here's what happened when I gave it a try:

I S L F V B Q E Z L

(I closed my eyes and typed randomly at the keyboard to get these letters, BTW)

And? "Instinct suggested Louie fling vegetables but quiet empathy zilched lobs."

Silly, maybe, but fun. How about you? Want to give it a try? I'd love to see what you come up with. Who knows, maybe it will be the start of something new and unexpected...

Do you use writing prompts? What are some of your favorites?

(In case you want more ideas, another fun place for writing prompts is found here at Squidoo.)

*photo courtesy: sxc.hu/

Prime the Pump

The act of writing begets writing. --Leonard Bishop

We've all heard the phrase, "prime the pump." This expression, early on in the plumbing business, came to mean the process of getting a water pump back up and running when air somehow got in the line and shut down the process. Thus a "prime"--the pouring of liquid in the line to expel the air--was needed to get back in business.

What about us writers? Do we sometimes need to prime our writing pumps--take an extra step to get words flowing again when they seem to dry up? I think so.

For me--I know so.

Jane Yolen, in Take Joy, A Writer's Guide to Loving the Craft (p. 18) says, "There are many ways to prime the writing pump, not all of them pretty. But most of them work. And if you work at your writing every day, you will get better. Exercising the writing muscle is important, because flabbiness is as bad in a writer as it is in a runner."

So what are some ways to prime our writing pumps on days when words won't flow, thoughts are jammed, and nothing seems to be working? On days when, instead of setting prose down on paper, we get--shall we say--a bunch of hot air? Or simply an empty page?

Some "prime" suggestions include:

• Journaling
• Freewriting
• Free association
• Word prompts
• Photo inspirations
• Writing exercises
• Poetry
• Daily word or page counts
• Blogging (which, I must say, has become one of my favorites :-)

Ms. Yolen reminds us (p. 59) of what we've read and heard many others say: "A writer is someone who writes." Therefore, no matter the means, we writers must get the word flow going. Use whatever prime works most effectively.

Of course, none of this addresses procrastination and BIC (Ms. Yolen's famous acronym, p. 84--"butt in chair). That, I think, is a subject for another post.

How about it? What are some of the ways you prime your writing pump when the lines go dry?