Weekly Writing Prompt — May 14, 2014 Edition

May 14, 2014Weekly Writing Promptcriticism, feedback, snap writing, w2 writing, workshop, writers writeadmin

Greetings Writers!

Are you working on your snap writing? Remember, last week I told you to carry a small notebook and pen with you to write whenever you got an idea or had 5 minutes or more to spare? Snap writing is a great way to keep plugging along on a project and keep the creativity juices flowing and steady. Please keep working on that. I saw lots of photos of notebooks. Now, send me photos of them being filled up. 😉 Think of snap writing as Whenever and Wherever writing. W2 writing. It’s done in a snap. Before you know it, you’ll have made headway in your writing life.

We talked at last night’s workshop about finding more quality time for your writing and identifying your productivity zone. Don’t deny your desire to write. Give in to it. There’s a story or stories that need to come out. Your story is important. So if you have to get it out by doing snap writing, do so. But know when you’re most creative — likely when you’re groggy — and go with it. Chunk it out in 15-minute time intervals if necessary.

Bottom line is that writers write. If you’re not writing, then perhaps you’re blocked and need to go back through the steps in The Artist’s Way? Forgive yourself and restart the forward momentum. But, you need to write. Trust me, you’ll feel better.

Today’s prompt is to identify a piece of work — either a short story, or a chapter of a larger novel, or a couple of poems, or article and work on it for our May 27th workshop. Be prepared with at least two hard copies of that work. We’re going to focus on feedback. What it is. How to give it. How to receive it. And then we’re going to read and give feedback. It’s one of the most important tools for growth a writer can give and receive. We need to get back to that. So, be ready. Two copies of something you want feedback on, a pen, and you at 6 p.m. on May 27th at the North Bend Library Meeting Room. Hope to see a big group for this.

Our redo of the Solidifying Your Online Presence workshop will be June 10th.

Now your moment of Writing Zen:

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

― Winston Churchill

—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — May 7, 2014 Edition

May 7, 2014Weekly Writing Promptmakje time for writing, portable notebook, week-long exercise, whatever pen, work shopadmin

Bet you thought I forgot about you? Nah! Just been busy taking advantage of the dry weather to get some urban farming chores done. Now it’s back to the write life.

This week’s prompt is about carrying a notebook & pen. It doesn’t have to be a leather-bound journal. It can and should be something uber portable — something that fits in your pocket, in your purse, in a side pocket of your knapsack. Same for the pen. No feather plumes, or calligraphy pens necessary. I somehow ended up with a Jay Berry’s Pen and a QFC pen in my purse. Still there. Still using it. Nothing fancy, see? Do not think your digital notebook on your phone, ipod, or tablet is the same. We want old-school paper and pen. Ya dig?

Your job is for the next week, carry this tiny notebook and whatever pen with you and write whenever you are stalled. Stalled on the bus, waiting for the doctor, waiting for the kid after sports, drinking coffee in the morning. Your code words (maybe emboss it on the front of the notebook?) is: Squeeze & Scrawl. Squeeze in some writing time — just a sentence or two. A thought. An idea. A quick Haiku. Anything. Something. Do this every day through next Tuesday’s Workshop and then, let’s talk about it. I’m betting you will fine that you have a ton more words than if you’d not carried that. Five minutes extra a day can net you that many more words, thoughts, ideas, maybe even a whole short story to work for submittal when the week is up.

Email me photos of your notebook and pen, or text them to me, so I can post on our web site. This is just a bonus, just an option, but I’d love to see it and I bet you all might find it inspiring to know that many of your writing colleagues are doing the same.

And now take a moment and RSVP for May 13ths work shop. 6 p.m. North Bend Library Meeting Room. If you’ve already responded, no need to do again. Looking forward to seeing you all at the various cafes or the forthcoming workshop.

Here’s your Writing Zen for the week:

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” ~Carl Sandburg

—
—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 30, 2014 Edition

April 30, 2014Weekly Writing Promptjournaling, leader, mentor, motivator, new energy, prompter, spring, sunadmin

Writers:

I would be a bad prompter/leader/mentor/motivator (whatever you choose to call me) if I told you to do anything but go outside and soak up the sunshine today. Although, I aim to misbehave most days, today, I shall be good.

Go get some sun. Take an old-fashioned paper journal and your favorite pen along. Find a quiet spot and do your morning pages (even if it’s 6 p.m., Takako). Write about the sounds you hear, what the freedom of just being does to your imagination. Go with it. Don’t think it’s stupid. Don’t worry about if it’s good. Just write.

Report back to me about what happened.

Don’t forget out next workshop is May 13th. Put it on your calendar. 6 p.m. North Bend Library Meeting Room.

And now your moment of Writing Zen:

“Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.” ~Robert H. Schuller

—
—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 23, 2014

April 23, 2014Weekly Writing Promptbe an agent's star, Critique, feedback, Finding Time for Writing, poetry, Prompt, Sno Valley Writes!, solidifying Your Online Presence, work shop, writing cafeadmin

Writers!

Wow! We’ve had a busy writing-centered week. Love it. Poetry on Monday. Work shop on Tuesday. And tonight is Writers Cafe at Jay Berry’s.

Congratulations on a great event on Monday! The library seemed fairly happy with the participation — both from poet and audience. Feels good!

Last night’s workshop helped our authors focus in on what to do and not to do to be a better candidate for an agent to notice: Do’s and Don’ts and things to do before you knock on the agent’s door. Now, go get ’em gang!

Our May 13th workshop will be on Finding Time for Writing. Over the past few months at workshops and cafes I keep hearing folks make a comment about writing time getting pushed down in the priority list. We’ll go over strategies to make time for writing, juggling your writing needs and family/work/community responsibilities. For some it will be a repeat, but it seems we all need it, including myself. I also have learned a few more things that I will share with you during this time as well. Oh, and we’ll also write.

There is some desire from the groups for me to repeat the “Solidifying Your Online Presence” work shop. So, I’m going to put that on the calendar for May 27th.

Our first June workshop, June 10, will be on critiquing. Be prepared to bring a few copies of one of your short stories, sample chapter, or a few poems (not more than 5 pages) to exchange with a couple of the group. Remember, we practice a creative safe zone tactics. Don’t know what that is? Then plan to be at this work shop.

Please put these dates on your calendar and be there. As always, 6 p.m. at the North Bend Library meeting Room, until about 7:30. Last night we went over a bit, but dealing with agents is kind of intense. 🙂 I’m always happy to stay later (we have the room until 8) to answer questions.

Today’s prompt is a straight-up prompt getting you to just pause and get words down.

Start your piece based upon this sentence: The janitor finds something interesting in the accountant’s waste basket.

Go.

Write.

Don’t just stare at the screen, go write. After you write you can get your Moment of Writing Zen:

“You need three things to become a successful novelist: talent, luck and discipline. Discipline is the one element of those three things that you can control, and so that is the one that you have to focus on controlling, and you just have to hope and trust in the other two.”

― Michael Chabon

—

What did you Write today?
~Casz

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 16, 2014 Edition

April 16, 2014Weekly Writing Prompt2 for 1, national poetry month, support poets, work shop, write lifeadmin

Writers!

I hope you all have recovered from Spring Break and are rolling along into the active season of warming.

I have a simple request as your prompt today.

Please attend this:

Photo: Come and help celebrate National Poetry Month. There will be several published writers reading published and new works at this special event at North Bend library on April 21st. This is a King County Library System event. Join Us! Appearances by Jacquelyn Fedyk, Linda Garcia, Sheri J. Kennedy (aka Kennedy J. Quinn, Takako Wright (aka Tommia Wright), Rachel Barnard, Stephen J. Matlock, and David S. Moore

I know that it means for some of you, that you won’t be able to come to the work shop the next evening (6 p.m. 4-22, at the North Bend Library Meeting Room) But if you have to support one and not the other, please attend on Monday night. April is National Poetry Month. Fiction and Non Fiction writers, we need to support our Poet counterparts.

Please RSVP and let me know which of these events you plan to attend.

And now your moment of Writing Zen:

“Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.” ~T. S. Eliot

—
—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 9, 2014 Edition

April 9, 2014Weekly Writing Promptagent list, book review, SnoValley Writes!, work shop, Writing Zenadmin

Warm April Greetings To You:

The work shop last night was another intimate affair. Those that attended got some juicy details on book reviews — the how, the why, the where, and the who, of course.

I’m missing many of you. But we can’t look at changing when the work shops are until January of 2015. Regardless, it seems no matter what day and time, some of you won’t be able to come. Do know that I always plan to give good information, exercises, and encouragement to follow your writing dreams and desires.

If there is a topic you would like covered in the work shops, please let me know and I’ll do my best to get it on the schedule. We meet again April 22, at the North Bend Library, 6 p.m. I hope to see more of you there. The topic is “How to be on an agent’s MUST HAVE list.”

Today’s prompt is a more traditional prompt. I’ll give you a scenario and you try to write a short story or scene in your WIP around the prompt. Try to get at least 1500 words.

You or your main character is a writer (haha, big stretch, I know), and everything you write keeps happening around you. What does the writer do?

Go. Write. Don’t worry about editing, punctuation, spelling, none of it. The goal is to just get the words down.

Don’t put it off. Go do it now. Or put it on your daytimer/calendar to make it happen before next week. Just do it.

Writers Write. So, go write.

And now your moment of Writing Zen:

“One can be absolutely truthful and sincere even though admittedly the most outrageous liar. Fiction and invention are of the very fabric of life.” ~ Henry Miller

—
—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 2, 2014 Edition

April 2, 2014Weekly Writing Promptadmin

Don’t forget! Workshop next week, April 8 at North Bend Library Meeting Room, 6 p.m. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

Last night as I was falling asleep, I thought of the most perfect prompt for you. I made of the mistake of not writing it down. So, now, you, like me have the opportunity to make sure that near your bed you keep a ready pen and notebook for writing down ideas. When you’re mind is quieted at the end of the day, that’s when you sometimes have your best ideas. Scribble it down in as much detail as you can muster. Keep it until morning and then see what creative projects it seeds. Do you already have one of those pen/paper combos waiting on your bedside table? Good! Now use it. 🙂

Conference season is upon us. I encourage all of you to attend a conference at least once if you haven’t done so. Or try a new one if you’ve been to one before. What conference would you recommend?

Now your moment of Writing Zen:

Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.

Jim Rohn

Weekly Writing Prompt — March 26, 2014 Edition

March 26, 2014Weekly Writing Promptbook reviews, freewrite, nonfiction authors, solitude, workshop, writer cafeadmin

Wow, the end of March is upon us. Where does the time go? As one of my favorite non-fiction authors, Gretchen Rubin, says, the days are long but the years are short.

Hopefully you’re reading and working on creating book reviews. I missed being able to do the workshop yesterday, but as it turned out it was just as well. Hospital stays, even when they are not yours, are exhausting when you are a caregiver.

Our next workshop is April 8 at 6 p.m. at the North Bend Library. In between, I would hope you would all participate in a writers cafe or two.

An administrative note, our Facebook page will be going away soon. Due to Facebook’s new policy for “pages” the likelihood of you seeing it is about 8 percent, which doesn’t make it worth our while. I’m in the midst of trying to determine the best social media format to feed into our web site. If you haven’t bookmarked our website, please do so today. I’m trying to determine the best path to make it more interactive, but that has been difficult. Also, I’m looking to see how many of you are on other social media platforms like twitter, Google+, linkedin, Tumblr.. Just ship me a quick email to say which is your preference for social media usage. I don’t need handles or anything like that, just an email that says, “I’m on twitter, but love Google+,” or whatever. This is all to help you stay connected as writers.

Today’s prompt/exercise is to do a freewrite as a response to a book you’ve just read. Set a timer for 20 minutes, and just write everything that comes to your head about the book. Don’t stop, just let the pen flow or your fingers fly. Allow a stream of consciousness. Don’t worry about punctuation or spelling or any of that. This is strictly for you. When the timer goes off, put it aside. Wait at least a day and then revisit it when you’re ready to do your review. It might give you a great hook for your review or, at minimum, a jumping off place.

Don’t forget to keep doing your morning pages and participating in artist’s dates.

And now your moment of Writing Zen: “The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.” ~Albert Einstein

Weekly Writing Prompt — March 19, 2014 Edition

March 19, 2014Weekly Writing Promptbook reviews, lit salon, reading, workshopadmin

Writers:

You should be reading. Reading like a writer. Making notes (if you need) for a review.

We will discuss this in great length on our April 8th Workshop at 6 p.m. at the North Bend Library Meeting Room.

Remember: The March 25 Meeting is cancelled (scheduling issue with library). I’m sorry we couldn’t make the Lit Salon work. It’s just as well as I have a child in the hospital with an expected week-long stay (no worries, she’s going to be fine and is getting great care), so next Tuesday would have been an extreme juggling act for myself. The universe always answers us the right way, ya know?

Also, before April 8, I hope many of you will make an effort to get to one of the Writing Cafes. They have been a huge source of inspiration and favorite work time for myself. Many will also tell you they use the time productively.

Now your moment of Writing Zen:

“A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility.” – Aristotle – Greek Philosopher

—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — March 12, 2014 Edition

March 12, 2014Weekly Writing Promptfield trip, march 25, schedule snafu, Writing Promptadmin

Writers:

Greetings. Here at Thrasher Studios, the sun is shining and I’m getting ready to plant some of the seeds in the garden. Hopefully you’ll have some time to soak up that juicy sunshine and get your Vitamin D & K fixes. Many folks around these parts yesterday were what I have termed “sun drunk.” Let the UV Ray Party continue. 🙂

Those who did attend the workshop yesterday learned quite a bit. I’m happy to pass along whatever knowledge, skills, tips, tactics, etc. in regards to the writing life. Hemingway said that writers needed to stick together like beggars and thieves. Thanks for sticking with Sno Valley Writes! all these years. We’re approaching our 6th anniversary. I can easily report that everyone has grown as a writer, author, and artist since our inception. Way to go!

We’ll continue throughout the months to help anyone with solidifying their online presence as an author. There’s some easy tools out there to use. I hope you all go and get it done.

Important: In regards to our March 25th workshop, there was a scheduling snafu at the library, so we don’t have the space there. I was trying to put together a literary salon and have a special speaker come, but I wasn’t able to pull that off under short notice. However, I’m not without ideas.

There is a couple of literary events we could field-trip to together.

Poetry reading

Book reading

Competitive Storytelling

If any of these sound interesting (I’m kind of partial to the competitive storytelling as I am aware of the work of the authors there and I think there might be some good laughs…but I’ll go with majority rule), please let me know what your preference is. If you, also, have ideas, please speak up. I hope to have a plan before next week’s prompt, so don’t delay in voicing your preference.

That is your prompt this week. Give Casz suggestions, ideas, your preferences on what to do with our March 25th Workshop.

Now your moment of Writing Zen:

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

—

What did you Write today?
~Casz

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron