Tag Archives: writing life

Weekly Writing Prompt — July 8, 2015

Weekly Writing Prompt, , , ,

Wow, every time I type the date for one of these I”m amazed by how long we’ve been together encouraging one another, helping, boosting, critiquing, and becoming friends. I have much love and respect for this group. I hope you all feel the same.

However, there’s still more to do. Still more growth to happen, more pushing of boundaries for our writing lives.
What did you push this week? What have you pushed this month?
Your writing prompt is to answer that question, to yourself, in reply to me, and with members of the group as you see them at cafes, at the July 18th peer-review critique meeting, or around the valley.
If you can’t answer that question, you have work to do. If you can answer it, how can you push further? Make a plan. Get to work.
And Now your moment of Writing Zen:
“That’s why I write, because life never works except in retrospect. You can’t control life, at least you can control your version.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Stranger than Fiction

—

—
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 — January 28, 2015 Edition

Weekly Writing Prompt, , , ,

Good morning, Writers:

There are times when I sit down to do this that I am unsure of how else to encourage, support, mentor, and motivate you to do what I know you want to do, what you should do — your story matters — and keep things interesting along the way. We’ve been at this collectively for more than six years. Clearly there’s more work to do — each and every day.

Each and every day brings me to our focus today. I think in conversations with many of you over the last couple of weeks, and I am guilty of this myself, that we have to feel each night when we rest our heads that there should have been MORE work done in our writing life. There should have been hours and hours of editing, instead of the quick lunch-time session we had. There should have been 5,000 words written instead of 500. We should have read for an hour instead of the 20 minutes before bed.

Stop it.

More and Great are the enemy of Enough and Good.

Did you work on your writing today? If you can say, yes, then you are good. You did enough. We all have struggles with the responsibilities in our lives that impede on our writing life. But, if you worked on it, if you’ve continued to make it a focus, even if twice this past week it took a back seat and you only got so much done — don’t sweat it. It’s kind of like falling off your diet. You get back on and keep moving forward.

Therefore, your prompt today is to know that each and every minute you spend is good. Feeling good about that will lead to more minutes, trust me. Before you know it, you’ll have that revision done. You’ll have that pitch done. You’ll have that short story sent out.

You’ll be moving forward. That’s enough. That’s good.

Speaking of moving forward and doing pitches, the February 21st workshop is all about the KindleScout (the replacement for ABNA). Things kick off at 10:30 a.m. at the North Bend Library’s meeting room. There are a few phrases every writer hates to hear. “It’s just not quite right for us,” definitely tops the list. However, second place winner is probably, “Tell us about your novel in 300 words,” otherwise known as a pitch. Condensing hundreds of hours of labor of love into mere paragraphs designed to make an agent or publisher realize what brilliance is being offered to them is enough to make any writer cry, on the spot, in public. The Feb. 21 workshop aims to take a little pain out of the process. You’ll be breaking down and rebuilding a proper monument to the pitch. Bring your first, or four hundredth, attempt at a pitch for the novel you are looking to shop to an agent, publish, or submit to this year’s KindleScout (ABNA’s cancellation was announced on Jan. 19th). We will round-robin them into book-selling shape.

Hope to see you all there.

Now your moment of Writing Zen:

“Everyone has a story that makes me stronger. I know that the work I do is important and I enjoy it, but it is nice to hear the feedback of what we do to inspire others.” ~Richard Simmons

—

—
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 — March 5, 2014 Edition

Weekly Writing Prompt, , , , , ,

For those that practice, I wish you a blessed Ash Wednesday.

I’m not getting all religious on you here, just humor me a moment, please. Today marks the beginning of the Christian faith’s season of Lent. Much like Christ’s 40-day fast in the desert, many who follow the season leading up to Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection give something up for the next six weeks (40 days, actually). Long through history, practicing Christians haven given up everything from bad habits to not eating meat (where the tradition of fish on Friday came from….), or even giving away worldly goods.

We’re going to be looking at giving up stuff in our writing life for the next six weeks, and maybe beyond. I’m not suggesting you give up your lap top, coffee fund, or anything like that. No, I want you to get rid of the things we keep around because being successful can kind of be scary.
Here’s a list of things I need to give up in order to make my writing life more successful:
procrastination
self doubt
fear
and
anger
All these things keep me from doing what I need to do to be successful in my goals as a published author.
Today’s prompt is for you to think about the things you need to give up in order to make your writing life more viable.
Do you need to give up NOT going to writers cafes?
Do you need to give up relying on adverbs?
Do you need to give up not practicing dialogue in your stories?
Do you need to give up putting something ahead of Workshops?
Do you need to stop procrastinating about editing?
Think about what is keeping you from moving forward and GIVE IT UP.
As with any goal, I encourage you to write it down. They say it only takes 21 days to make a habit. So before Easter arrives, you could very well be on your way to a more successful writing life. Now what do you need to give up?
***
Our next workshop is March 11 at 6 p.m. at the Library. I’m feeling stronger and stronger each day and have spent a few hours here and there being around people. So, hopefully health will continue to rule and we’ll finally get that workshop complete. Please RSVP if you plan to be there.
***
And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”
― Babe Ruth
—

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 — March 27, 2013

Weekly Writing Prompt, ,

Well, congratulations — especially to those that came to the workshop yesterday. We finished The Artist’s Way.

Now what, you ask?
Reread it on your own and do the exercises and tasks again. Continue to look out for synchronicity; do your morning pages; take your artist’s date. Keep doing the work.
Now we will transition into more MFA-style work. We worked on some of that yesterday in the workshop, too, concentrating on working against Writer’s Block (more accurately described as resistance). I’ll be pulling from many resources for this, and I’ll share them with you as appropriate.
But let’s start at the basics of  a writing life. Below are some questions you need to ask yourself. Write down the questions in your notebook/journal and actually answer them. Give details.
Reading, Writing, Workshop, Community.
First:  Reading.  Do you read regularly? If so, how many books per year, on average? What are your top three preferred subjects or genres? List the last five books/magazines you’ve read. What are you reading now?
Second:  Writing.  How long have you been writing regularly? Do you have a project you’re focusing on? Are you experimenting with various things? How often do you write? Is your writing schedule regular or sporadic? (That being a writer versus being an author dealio we talked about int he beginning of the month).
Third:  Workshop.  Do you belong to a writing group or have writer colleagues who read your work? (and not just via Email — are you doing in-person stuff?) Do you participate in workshops at conferences or other live or online events?  Do you take time to evaluate the feedback and implement what resonates with you into your work?
Last, but not least:  Community.  Do you have writer friends? Do you engage with other writers either face-to-face or online? Are you a member of any writing associations?
Any places where you’ve answered No is likely the area in your writing life that you need to give more attention to. Now make a plan on how to do that.
Alright Authors:  Don’t forget the Writer’s Cafes this week.
And now your moment of Writing Zen: “Love is easy, and I love writing. You can’t resist love. You get an idea, someone says something, and you’re in love.” ~Ray Bradbury

—
—
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 10, 2012 Edition

Weekly Writing Prompt, , , , , , , ,

Sorry we missed yesterday. You missed this, right?

Yesterday was one of those days you’re not really sure where you are, what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it. And I kept thinking it was Tuesday.
/blush.
So here’s the check in:
1. Morning pages? Doing them? Yes? No? If so, how often?
2.  Artist date? What did you do? What did you discover?
3.  Synchronicity? Did you have it? What happened?
4.  Spiritual Reading? Doing it? What did you discover?
**********
Exercises as we push through chapter 3 in the Artist’s Date. If you’re actually doing these you will see progress.
A.  List five people you admire. Now, list five people you secretly admire. What traits do these people have tht you can cultivate further in yourself?
B.  List five people you wish you had met who are dead. Now, list five people who are dead whom you’d like to hang out with for a while in eternity. What traits do you find in these people that you can look for in your friends?
C.  Compare the two sets of lists. Take a look at what you really like and really admire — and a look at what you think you should like and admire. Your shoulds might tell you to admire Edison while your heart belongs to Houdini. Go with the Houdini side of you for awhile.
**********
And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“Eliminate something superfluous from your life. Break a habit. Do something that makes you feel insecure.” ~ Piero Ferrucci

—
—
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