Take Action - writercize #192

This week our nation has succumbed to violence. A mall shooting followed up three days later by a school shooting, at opposite ends of the country, with the same chilling results. Fear of the everyday. Uncertainty over what may be just around the corner. Confusion about what drives individuals to that breaking point. And, perhaps most importantly, the realization that we can not control our environment or understand where danger comes from.

What did I do? Turn off the TV and the radio, for one. I fear one of two things will happen if I watch - I will crumble with sadness and blaze unwanted images into by eternal sub-conscience or I will have to create such a strong, impermeable shell in order not to crumble with sadness that I will lose a bit of my humanity. Neither seems terribly appealing.

What couldn't I do? Ignore it altogether. Turn away from Facebook. There is something slightly, subtly comforting in processing fear and disbelief with others via social media. It is not the same as an intimate conversation with a loved one or small group in person, which I also did, but in many ways it opens up the opportunity to more depth and reflection as people share inner thoughts uninterrupted. I don't believe it is false or unworthy to share such experiences via social media - I believe it has the power to be cathartic, particularly when one has established real connections with Facebook friends.

I read thoughts by others - some simple, some direct, some lengthy. There were those that prayed for families, those who sought understanding, those who wanted to discuss gun control, those who looked for solutions to a seemingly impossible problem, those who wanted their families to know how much they loved them, those who were trying to figure out how to broach the subject with children, those who just wanted to speak up and say,  "hey, I heard too. This means something." And I felt honored to be given access to my friends' minds.

Here is what I posted:

"Violence permeates our society once again. It feels so "normal" by now to be faced with such news, that I am honestly shocked to think that Columbine, the first wild gun rampage I can recall, was *only* 13 years ago. 

As much as I wish all this could be blamed on guns - that answer strikes me as too simple in a complex problem. (And I do believe in stringent gun laws, and I do believe guns serve 

no purpose beyond harnessing the ability to kill, but even with my convictions, I am not ready to blame them for what is happening.) 

I am really at a loss on how we can prevent this, as I don't believe threat of a prison sentence or punishment works either. I even wish I could blame it on the state of the economy and desperation some individuals feel in a hopeless situation, but I don't think that's it either. 

The only thing I can come up with is that the one way to prevent individuals from this insane violence is to somehow ensure every member of our society feels loved, valued and cared for, and that every person feels deeply connected to a (positive) community. I hope against all hope that human love, compassion, a healthy respect for one another, animals and the earth and real, offline face-to-face heart-to-heart connection could be the trigger to stop violence, and that empathy can be learned. 

And, when a person does not have empathy or frightens others with a lack of humanity or dark intent ... or when we see a person under attack or faced with bullying or extreme loss ... or when we see a child chastised and made to be afraid of the world or human connection - we can not turn our backs and try to ignore that situation away. We must be brave and speak up and make others aware of our concerns. We must at once reach out and take precautions to protect one another and our families and friends.

We need to bring back the culture of neighborhood community and caring that would have made this news so utterly shocking a generation or two ago, and we need to look our children and those lost in society in the eye and let them know that someone believes, and insists upon, the concept that they can be a power for good. Somehow."

It felt good to put it out there. 

Then I wanted to do a little something more. So I went to the White House website and began a We The People petition. If you haven't heard of it, it's like a direct link to the White House - provided you can find 25,000 people who agree with your cause within a month - and the first 150 without your petition appearing on the public website. No easy task, my writercizer friends! However, the payoff is great - if a petition receives 25,000 signatures, it will be taken under consideration by the administration and a response will be issued. That is pretty amazing. I welcome you to sign mine if you like - verbiage below - but regardless, I encourage you to look at something in your own community that needs a little exposure, and expose it.  

Here is my link to the We The People petition:

http://wh.gov/Ryzh

Take action through your words.

writercize: Choose an issue that you want to champion or bring attention to, and write about it. Put it on Facebook, write a blog post, send a letter to the editor, email your friends and family, start your own petition - just get it out into the world.

Please paste a link here, or leave your words as a comment below. I want to know what matters to you. My sample response below is taken directly from the We The People petition linked above. There is an 800 character limit.

writercizer sample response:

We petition the Obama Administration to:

Implement a national anti-violence PR campaign via multimedia, community meetings and school assemblies.

Through schools, community groups and multimedia, educate our community about gun safety and ways to minimize violence and isolation in our society with a nationwide PR campaign.

Roll out a la Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" to drugs, early 90s efforts to teach AIDS prevention, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and recent efforts by cigarette companies to emphasize the danger of smoking.

Educate through direct exposure to victims of violence, particularly gun violence and those with permanent scars, and share the stories of family members who lost loved ones to violence. Use powerful images and stories, and relate a message of community, caring, empathy and civic responsibility as a way to build up resistance to violence. Address dangerous effects of bullying and violent media.

Welcome Guest Kelsey Clark - Color Quandary

Please join me in welcoming guest Kelsey Clark to writercize! As many of you know, I love playing with colors and fanciful words, and Kelsey's great writercize brings the two together. Please read on, then give it a try. My writercize attempt will be in the comment section. Everything you read below is by Kelsey!
 

Color Quandary 

by Kelsey Clark

When I am stuck for ideas on what to write about it seems like I will never be able to write again. Sometimes I get stuck because I have too many ideas and just can’t seem to get them out. Other times I feel like I have no good ideas left at all. When either of those things happens to me, I know that I just have to start writing again and I will get back into the swing of things. One idea I have used to get writing again is this:

Writercize: Focus your attention on color. Pick one basic color and start your story from these. It can be a poem, a description, or even an entire story can start from your color choice.  

All you have to do is come up with a color and get started writing. If you have trouble or get stuck just think of things that are that color and include them in your writing. Here are some colors and objects to get you started, or you can think of your own:

·       Red – blood, cherry, lip, rose, crimson, rust, ruby, fire engine, barn, raspberry

·       Blue – moon, blueberry, sky, sea, navy, cerulean, cobalt, sapphire, indigo

·       Yellow – sun, star, buttercup, sunflower, butter, wheat, rubber duck, taxi, lemon

·       Green – tree, leaf, grass, mold, broccoli, kiwi, lime, jade, emerald

writercizer sample response:

It was a blue day. There was just no other way to describe it. I knew that I was feeling down, but it wasn’t just my imagination. The glimpses I got of the night sky were dark blue, almost navy, as the rain clouds hung heavy and grey-blue, trudging their slow path across the horizon. The rain, a pale, translucent blue, gathered in the upside down umbrella before me; it’s happy, bright, bluebird blue almost glowing in the dim light of a, you guessed it, blue moon. If I had ever liked the color blue before, the fondness had now been driven completely from me. Besides, blue was his favorite color and I had enough reminders of him, thank you very much.

The bright yellow taxi that pulled up in front of me seemed as blinding as the sun, and the taxi driver that got out was equally as surreal. His canary-yellow rain coat squeaked as he splashed through the puddles to open the rear passenger door for me. He stood in a several inch deep puddle, grinning at me as I stared at his lemon-colored galoshes. I got into the taxi, the blond faux-leather seats ripped but clean, and we set off. As he drove I watched his hands move across the wheel and wondered at the mustard tinted fingertips. How many cigarettes must he smoke to make his wizened hands so spectacularly stained?

Author Byline:

Kelsey is the editor in chief for www.findananny.net/. She loves to write article and ideas that parents & nannies would be interested in hearing. She helps society on giving information about nannies through nanny services. She is a professional writer & loves writing on anything.

Welcome Guest Katheryn Rivas - Finding Motivation

Please welcome Katheryn Rivas to the writercize platform today. After college, Katheryn temporarily lost her passion for writing - see how she found it again! Her story is compelling and easy to relate to!
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How I Re-Discovered My Motivation to Write After College

by Katheryn Rivas

I majored in creative writing in college, and spent pretty much every day of my college career working on some writing project for one of my classes. When I graduated, I thought this trend would continue. I imagined myself completing a book of poems and a novel the year after I graduated, while I idly passed the time at some office job and applied to MFA schools. Then life happened. The economy was a wreck. I had to move back in with my parents. I spent most of my free time writing cover letters, not poetry. By the time I finally found a low-level editing job, I hadn't written anything creative in almost six months.

My editing job was mentally taxing, and I rarely felt like writing when I got home. I rarely felt like reading either. A year passed, and I still hadn't prepared the portfolio I planned to use to apply to MFA schools. I started to wonder whether I even wanted to go to graduate school for creative writing. Was I even good enough to make it as a writer? Without the validation I received from my peers in college, I started to seriously doubt my writing abilities, and I nearly lost all the motivation I had to be a writer.

I've heard this happens to a lot of writers. It's even happened to many of the people I know who've completed MFA programs. Some writers don't know what to do with the lack of structure in the real world. Unless they're forced to write for their jobs, they find it difficult to produce any written work.

Fortunately, over the past year, I've started writing again. I write a poem or work on a short story almost every day now, and I'm getting close to completing my novel. One night, in the middle of a deep phone conversation with a friend from college, I realized that life had become dull and lifeless because I didn't write anymore. And I thought of the Rilke quote from Letters to a Young Poet:

"Search for the reason that bids you write; find out whether it is spreading out its roots in the deepest places of your heart, acknowledge to yourself whether you would have to die if it were denied you to write. This above all—ask yourself in the stillest hour of your night: must I write?"

I asked myself Rilke's question over and over again for the next few days after my realization. My life had lost meaning because I wasn't writing anymore, but was I not writing because I intrinsically didn't need to? My feelings about this matter confused me. I knew it was time to stop thinking and start writing.

Writing had always helped me sort out my feelings. So, I sat down at my computer, started typing, and all of my pent up creative energy just seemed to pour out. What started out as a simple electronic journal entry turned into me writing a short story about a girl who struggles to define herself after she graduates from college. It was similar to The Graduate in many ways (minus Mrs. Robinson), and it wasn't very good. But it was something, and writing it made me feel amazing. So, I kept on writing. Sometimes I didn't feel like it, but I didn't stop.

Now, I keep myself motivated by reminding myself that, for many reasons, I must write. My life loses meaning if I don't. I've joined a local writing workshop group to help keep me focused on completing projects in a timely fashion. I set aside at least thirty minutes every evening for writing, no matter how tired or busy I am. I keep myself healthy by eating well, sleeping enough, and exercising. This gives me more energy to write and helps keep my brain as sharp as I need it to be to produce quality work.

Writercize: Make a list of what prevents you from writing. Then make a list of what motivates you to write. Think about how you can eliminate some of the factors in your life that stifle your motivation.

Katheryn Rivas is a freelance writer and blogger who contributes to a variety of sites about her experiences as a writer and human. When she's not working on professional writing projects for www.onlineuniversities.com, she's working on her novel and staying up late writing poetry.

Welcome Guest Heather Smith - Setting the Stage

Please join me in welcoming freelance writer Heather Smith to writercize today! She has a great way to create a scene by setting the stage below. The writercize sample is hers - I will post my own in a comment below. I welcome you to do the same!

Read on for the writercize, sample and Heather's bio!
 

Setting the Stage

Coming up with ideas on what to write about is never easy. Sometimes it seems like I am pulling teeth just to get down a few hundred words every day. Other days I feel like my fingers will just not type fast enough! We all have good days and bad days, days where we feel like writing is a chore and days where we feel like there is nothing in the world we would rather be doing.

On the days that I get stuck for ideas, however, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. One of my tricks I will share with you now, in the hopes that it, too, will help you get started in your writing adventure.

writercize : Instead of coming up with a plot idea or even characters, first start with the setting. You can look at a painting on the wall, the background on your computer desktop, or an image on Pinterest. Once you have the setting in mind, picture what would go on there. Who would live there? What job would they have? What kind of relationships? What era is it in – modern, historic, fantasy, or future? Once you get to thinking about the setting, other things start falling into place. If you do not have access to an image or do not want to look one up, then try one of these settings below:

·       A dark city street filled with fog

·       A green pine forest

·       A towering glass skyscraper

·       Twisted trees barely visible in the dark

·       The cogs of a great machine, slowly turning

·       A cubicle-filled office

·       A grassy meadow with a red barn in the distance

·       A lighthouse in the middle of stormy seas

·       A grey cement jail cell

writercizer sample response:

The cell was the same as it always was. Pale grey-green paint peeled from the ancient walls. The bars were rusted, coated in sharp, flaky powder. The remnants of names and numbers were barely visible all across the grey cement, like graffiti washed away by the sands of time.

Jeremiah shivered, wishing he had never taken the job. Sure, it sounded like an easy opportunity to make a few bucks, but as he eyed the cracked and stained wooden cot in the corner with trepidation he wondered what he had gotten himself into.

“A word of advice,” the old man croaked, his voice barely audible as he forced the words past the cancerous lump in his throat, “Stay away from cell number four. That’s his cell.”

Jeremiah nodded mutely, stifling a cough as the man’s cigarette smoke curled around his trembling, yellowed fingers. Jeremiah threw a glance towards cell four, lost in the shadows. The narrow, barred windows let in precious little light, especially as the sun set.

As the old man shuffled down the long, empty corridor, the crash of waves masking his footfalls, Jeremiah couldn’t help but wonder if Alcatraz was truly as haunted as the stories said.

Pulling out his lantern he went to work, the broom scraping against the dust left behind by inmates long dead but never forgotten.

Author Bio

Heather Smith is an ex-nanny. Passionate about thought leadership and writing, Heather regularly contributes to various career, social media, public relations, branding, and parenting blogs/websites. She also provides value to www.nanny.net/ service by giving advice on site design as well as the features and functionality to provide more and more value to nannies and families across the U.S. and Canada. She can be available at H.smith7295 [at] gmail.com.

Guest at Nutschell's Today @nutschell #writing #onwriting

Howdy Writercizers!

Today I don't have a normal writercize for you, as I'm hanging out over at Nutschell's blog, The Writing Nut. Contrary to my norm guest post practice, I don't offer a writercize up over there either, because Nutschell did it for me!

Nutschell wants to know where writers write, what their workspace looks like, and how they get inspired. She features a different writer every week in her Wednesday Writer's Workspace series, and this week it's me!

I'll leave my intro about myself and Nutschell to you, so go ahead and click on over. While you are there, check out Nutschell's veritable encyclopedia of all things writer-related. She is one of the best resources on the net for helping writers navigate the tricky waters of querying, building a platform, editing material, and more. And if you are lucky enough to live in the Los Angeles area, you can see her dynamic teaching style in person at Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles meetings.

So, come on over. Find out a bit more about who I am and why I write, and I'll see you there!

If you'd like to share info about your writer's workspace, let Nutschell know while you're there. She has openings available.

If you still want to do a small traditional writercize here, here you go.

writercize: Share five attributes of your ideal desk space. You can focus on the desk itself, items, organizational qualities, room placement, even geographic location. Whatever you like!

Enviro-Poem - writercize #191

Today I just want to play with language and create sounds that flow off the tongue. I want to use words like pop, and slithery, and laden - pretty words and startling words. I want to feel them glide through my mind and out of my mouth and transport me to a place that is not my desk chair in the dim light of the night room.

Join me in this literary romp. 

Combine the tools of onomatopoeia (words that evoke a sound) and alliteration (same beginning letter). Challenge yourself to invoke the inner Latin in your soul and bring fanciful words to light. One does not share a secret, one engages in a clandestine conversation. A gem does not simply sparkle, it shoots stars from within. Play with similes and metaphors. Ooze with adjectives and adverbs. Forget about grammar and the writing rules, and just enjoy the sounds of language.

writercize: Pick a place that you love. Conjure the image, the sights, sounds and smells in your mind's eye. Now paint a picture of that place in words. An environmental piece of grammar-optional poetry.

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response. Please leave your writercize result in the comments below!

Writercize #FlashbackFriday - Naming Babies

Last weekend I attended a baby naming party. For those who want input from friends and family leading up to baby's birth, it was truly genius. 

Mom and Dad collected names, and plugged 14 choices into brackets that both agreed were good names. The night of the party, attendees chose their top choices among several additional "pre-vetted" names - the top two were entered into the brackets, making a total of eight pair-ups of two names each. Think of it as the "Sweet 16" of baby names.

From there, friends and family compared and contrasted sets of names - there were debates galore about famous people, personal experiences with certain names, nicknames good and bad, positive and negative associations, rhymes, considerations of the last name. Aspects of pairs like Dexter vs. Pierce and Grant vs. George were picked over with a fine-toothed comb. 

"Presidential!" "Mass-murderer!" "Screams cowboy!" "Rough elocution!"

Lots of fun, but could be rough for sensitive parents-to-be with a true preference or affinity for a particular name.

Once the discussion for each pair wound down, they went to vote, with the majority vote moving on to the next round. The names were whittled down from "Sweet 16" to "Elite 8" - then the semi-finals and finalist.

Before anything went to vote, attendees filled out brackets and threw in five bucks to add intensity to the challenge. Winner took all - one point per winner in the first round, two points per winner in the second round, three points per winner in the third round, and four points for the overall winner - 26 points total up for grabs.

Throw in balloons, pink or blue chocolates, champagne, pizza and cupcakes, and you have a co-ed baby shower (or in this case, just plain old party) to remember.

I have to admit, when it came down to finals, I was torn between voting for a name that I liked a bit more than I was expecting and the name that I had put down as the winning ticket. Certainly added a bit of a twist. Vote for a potential payout with my original pick or vote for a name I was digging in the moment? The intensity! The drama! The FUN!

The hosts did include a clause claiming full legal authority to disregard the choice upon completion of the birth certificate. However, since they were 16 choices both liked, that would be highly unlikely. They also held onto the full right to pick a middle name all on their own.

When it came to naming my own girls, my husband and I immediately agreed on the names, and didn't share them with another soul until after they were born. Our families kept perking up their ears, hoping for us to slip and use real names rather than Baby A or Baby B, but we never did. And which name belonged to who was not chosen until after they were born, and the NICU staff wanted something to put on their beds. My husband randomly assigned the two names we'd selected while I recovered in Labor and Delivery immediately post-birth.

This was night and day from our selection process, and I loved being a part of it.

I also felt like it was time to do a flashback to an old writercize from several months ago, about playing with names. Read on! The sample is my original sample, but I have eliminated the lead-up. To see the entire post, click on "Inspired by a Phone Book."

Have fun with it! Look for #FlashbackFriday posts this fall, as well as a return to the #WeekendWritercize coming soon. Guest posts will also make a comeback and original writercizes are on the way! The girls are back in school, and this Mama is ready to WRITE!

writercize:  Grab a phone book (or name generator ... or name shake app).  Close your eyes and open to any random page.  Point to anywhere on the page.  Create a completely fictional character based on that name.  

(I would recommend against disclosing the location of your phone book for this exercise - make up a fake location, or leave it out.  It is legal to create a fictional story about a real name, provided you state it is fiction, but the less you reveal about a person's true identity, the better for everyone.)

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response about a Cecilia Guerra.