WRITING 101 … SPACE TO WRITE

WRITING 101 … SPACE TO WRITE

In today’s writing 101, we were asked to tell about our writing space. Where do we write…what equipment & supplies do we like to use…what does your space look like…what would be your dream writing place?

First of all, I can and do write pretty much anywhere and in any situation I find myself. I always have a pen and notebook handy for spontaneous ideas that jump out at me…and anything I see can trigger the writing ideas. Sometimes I think they are pretty cool, and sometimes they are just absurd, but I write them anyway. I write pages and pages sometimes, just while waiting at places. I take note of the people I see, and imagine stories about them, and details of whatever is around me. All of this is done by hand writing in a notebook.

Actually almost all my writing for my blog is written out on paper before I type it up. Then I can change things around when typing, if I need to.

Here at my home desk is where I do most of my writing. I have my simple computer desk, my awesome office chair (it only cost me $1.00 at a yard sale), the computer and printer, of course, and my spiral notebooks of all sizes. Pens, markers, sticky notes, and reference books (dictionary, thesaurus) are right here, too. That’s the basics of it all.

Now for the rest. Take a look with me over to the left. You’ll see the TV entertainment shelves. I can put things temporarily on these, until it gets to be too junky, then I clean it off. There are more markers, another dictionary, a magnifying glass (because sometimes reading small print on the computer isn’t easy), and my I-pad in a case. My little, pink guitar is in the space between the desk and the shelves. . I can pick it up and practice chords while I’m thinking of something to write about.

Also on the shelves, on the top, is my wooden incense burner and some scented candles. I love the smell of incense, and burn some every day. Right now it’s the cinnamon flavored one. My spirit candle is also there on the shelf below that. It’s the one I think I wrote about on here before…it’s haunted. Sitting on top of it is a tiger…well, a furry tiger bookmark. The tiger is my spirit animal, so I suppose it works out fine. My spirit tiger keeps the lid on the spirit candle…maybe for protection?

Next, in front of me, is a small bamboo shelf. It holds a few notebooks, some Halloween candles, a clock, and a butterfly. Beside that, hanging on the wall is my Zen cat calendar. It’s very artfully done, including quotes. Up above that are my crosses. I’ve been collecting them for awhile. I find them at yard sales, and so far I have wooden, metal, glass, and ceramic ones. There is also my small tributes to Frida Kahlo.

Over to the right is a small file cabinet, holding computer necessities. The printer sits on top. On top of that is a stack of more spirals, my Kindle, and my sketch book. I draw Zentangles in it with the markers. It’s relaxing, and fun to do, so while I’m still thinking of something to write, I’m drawing. By the file cabinet is a pole lamp, with multi-colored shades, and two cat scratching posts, one medium, and one very tall.

So, that’s what is around me, when I write. When do I write, and what do I use? I only have a desktop computer and full size keyboard. I have an I-Pad, Iphone, and Kindle, but never use them for writing. I usually write in the afternoons/evening hours. I usually have it silent in here, when writing, but other times I need music…loud music. It’s always The Eagles Greatest Hits, no other ones. Sometimes I’ll put one song on repeat for hours. If my husband is home, the TV is on, and it is distracting.

If I had a dream writing space, I guess I’d like a bigger desk, with drawers. Everything else is pretty good, just like it is now.

For extra, we could add a poll to this piece of writing, and/or a contact page. Maybe another time…

I will ask you a question, though. Is there anything you’d like to have me write about more often, according to the categories I have? I will say, that coming up in October, is the Octpowrimo Poetry month again. I’ll be doing that. Last year I had a theme for all my poems – Halloween. It was so much fun. My question … should I have a Halloween theme again this year, random subjects, or another theme entirely? If you could be so kind to leave a comment, I’d sure appreciate it. 🙂

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{

WRITING 101 … LET SOCIAL MEDIA INSPIRE YOU

WRITING 101 … LET SOCIAL MEDIA INSPIRE YOU

For this assignment on the Writing 101 course, we were given a choice of some Twitter quotes to respond to. The above quote, by Leah Reich @ohheygreat is the one I chose.

My first thought was, do these people know that their tweet is being used as an assignment? Do we need to find them, follow them, and let them know?

Then I was thinking, well…if I was to actually respond to their tweet, it would have to be within the Twitter guidelines of the 140-characters or less word limit.

I’m on Twitter a lot, and enjoy tweeting, responding, and the conversations that spontaneously occur. It’s fun.

Then, I was thinking, well, so far I haven’t said anything abut the quote in the chosen tweet.

Then I’m thinking, I have no idea how to do any of the hovering, embedding, copying/pasting, URL things that were suggested to put the quote on my post. I almost gave up doing this one at all. But, then I tried saving the picture of the tweet/quote, and then I could at least have a picture of it on here. I think it worked.

I’m now thinking I’m thinking too much about it all.

So, the quote, as seen in the picture says that self storage is where we store our past selves. Ok…cool…seems legitimate. We’re born, our brains begin to soak up tons of information, and it’s all up there in our head somewhere, right? If I really try, I can imagine the brain as a living storage building business. For each area of learning…say, language, feelings, talents learned, studies in school lessons, compassion, and empathy, love, things we hear, see, taste…all our learning is kept in these separate rooms. We respond to outside life events by opening the door to the appropriate unit in our brain, according to how much experience we’ve had.

Anyway, all our past is stored in our self storage brain, to be used in fractions of seconds. It’s amazing how that works.

Oh, if I actually responded to this person’s tweet, in true Twitter fashion, I would have just said …Cool, I agree…or more likely I’d would just favorite and re-tweet it. 🙂

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{

WRITING 101 … PHOTOGRAPH INSPIRATION

WRITING 101 … PHOTOGRAPH INSPIRATION

Today, the 4th assignment, we were shown 4 pictures, all interesting. We were to pick one to write whatever we wanted to about the picture, in whatever style you wanted. Here is my interpretation of this picture, in a short fiction piece.

ABANDONED

The late summer’s, afternoon sun has made the attic room at the top of the stairs unbearably hot. I’m already sweating from climbing the rickety, wooden stairs…upward into that sauna of an attic room.

Pausing in the doorway, I take a long look around. There’s nothing much to see…an unadorned window, framed in weathered wood, the slanted wall boards, giving this area of the room a tri-angular shape.

There is no hint in daylight of what is to come at nightfall.

I make my way back down the narrow stairway, taking note of the steps that creak. I must remember not to step on them later.The house is over a hundred years old…now abandoned in it’s declining years. There are spider webs in the shadowy corners, and dust particles make me sneeze. I must remember to wear a mask, when I return.

Sweat now trickles down my forehead, and my t-shirt is soaked. There are signs of mice living here…the only living creatures, besides the spiders, to call this place their home. I hear a skittering behind a wall, and smile. I’m not afraid of the mice. They’ll keep me company tonight, as I search for the abandoned souls of the dead.

For I am a ghost hunter…this is what I do.

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{

WRITING 101 … ONE WORD INSPIRATION

WRITING 101 … ONE WORD INSPIRATION

(for Sept. 9th)

The challenge was to take a look at several words, as a prompt, to write your own interpretation. The words were: Treasure, Regret, Home, Love, Uncertainty, and Secret.

I decided to use them all.

TAKE A CHANCE

~I would rather regret the things that I have done, than the things that I have not~ Lucille Ball

Do you agree with that statement?

I think I do. For the most part, as we go through our daily life, we try to make the best out of it. We all strive for happiness and love in our personal relationships, don’t we?

In our free time, we do the things we enjoy, whatever it may be. I don’t think we regret any of that. However, I imagine most people also have the desire to do better, to love more, to try different things.

Maybe you have a secret wish to do something outrageous, or completely out of your character. Why haven’t we already done that? If time and money were no object, and it’s legal, what’s stopping us?

Could it be the fear of ridicule? Could it be the uncertainty of how your actions would turn out…how other people would judge you… that you’d fail?

What about this writing course we’re doing? Has writing been a deep seated, secret desire of yours for many years? I can guarantee you, most every writer has times of uncertainty. The fear of no one liking what they write, that no one would care to read what they write, the fear of criticism, or even the fear of being made to look a fool in the eyes of others.

But, think for a moment…if you let the doubts and uncertainty creep into your mind, the nay-sayers, the warnings, and the cautionary tales will stifle your dreams. This goes for anything you want to do, not just writing.

You will someday regret never having tried at all. So what, if it doesn’t work out the first time? So what…it’s not the end of the world. Try again, or try something else. Treasure your hopes and dreams. Don’t keep them secrets, forever hidden away to be looked back on as regret, for never having the courage to try.

Why don’t you start at home. Be brave…take a chance. Try something new that you’ve always wanted to do. It may turn out better than you thought.

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{

WRITING 101 …LISTS

WRITING 101 … LISTS

So, today’s assignment for the daily writing course says to make a list. It can be a list of things I like, things I’ve learned, and/or …something else was on that list of things to choose from. See, that’s my problem. I can’t remember what else was on there. I could go back and check, but you know, that would be a lot of trouble. I mean, it’s coming up on the end of the day, and I still haven’t done this list post yet.

I like reading lists, I like making lists, but I’ve never wrote about making a list, or posted a list on here. Well, I take that back. Once I did…I listed all the stuff that was in my purse one time…can you hear the crickets? No response whatsoever. Anyway, I make lists, but then forget to take them with me to the store. Or, I make a list, and while reading a list at the store, forget to get whatever it is anyway, even though I’m looking at the list.

I have a weird habit, too. I save lots of my lists. I don’t know why, except they are fun to look at later on…like years later…and then I can laugh at the silly things that are on there that I thought was important enough to write down. And the cryptic words that I’ve used to jog my memory are sometimes hilarious…at least to me, but make no sense to anyone else.

So…back to making a list…for this list post…yeah…so many choices…too many choices of which way to take it. I’m at a loss because faced with too many choices makes me freeze up, resulting in doing nothing. I’ve had fun writing ‘about’ lists, so better get on with actually listing something? Yep…here goes… such a silly thing to list, but hey, it’s something! 🙂

My list of favorite computer games that I play every day, because I like them.

1. Words With Friends …because…words of course.
2. Candy Crush … because candy is addicting.
3. Cradle of Rome …because it’s match 3, and you don’t have to think of anything about the game, so I think about writing things, when I’m playing it.
4. Enchanted Cavern …same type of match 3 game.
5. Scrabble … Words again…it’s always about the words.

I’m outta here…can’t wait to see what is on the ‘list’ for the assignment tomorrow! Yay! I’m having fun! 🙂

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{

WRITING 101…WHY DO I WRITE?

WRITING 101? WHY DO I WRITE?

Today is the first day of another writing course offered by the Daily Post. This one suggests daily writing prompts to follow, and hopefully give inspiration, and writing practice. Today’s prompt was called “Why Do I Write”. They mentioned setting a timer for a certain amount of time, and just free-write your thoughts.

Why do I write?

I write because I wouldn’t know how not to. I’ve been writing things ever since I can remember. I enjoy words…the way they sound, the way they look, the different ways you can put them together to be serious, funny, thought provoking, to tell a story, or just say something that’s on your mind.

There are just so many ways I like to use words. I’ve been creating stories, plays, poetry, essays, articles, fiction, fan-fiction, non-fiction, diaries, assignments, and long handwritten letters it seems forever. I’ve saved most of these, and it is fun to look back at them.

I’m not a very good speaker, even to family and friends…I stumble over what I’m trying to say. I don’t read aloud very well, either…but…I can write…and I do…because I am a writer.

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Thanks for visiting! Peace }I{