So I’ve made a new commitment to myself, one that I have made over and over, but this time I am really serious. At least 5 days a week I have to sit down and write about something that is outside of any projects I am working on. I have a huge mason jar where I’ve collected words and phrases over the year to pull from. Sometimes I’ll ask a friend for a prompt or I will find something to write about in a book or from another writer. Think of this as a continuation of the Lil Journal Project, and so I’ll be posting prompts here at the end of each week with a few sentences from my journal just to keep myself accountable. I’d love for you to follow along and write too. I’ll post each prompt on Facebook each morning (Monday through Friday) and the entire week will show up here Friday or over the weekend if all goes as planned.
I try to write for at least 10 minutes, and sometimes I’ll get about 30 minutes finished. If I get stuck I try to just keep writing about anything that comes to mind…even if it’s just a line of expletives on how frustrated I am that nothing is coming to mind. I like to write long hand in a composition book with a really good gel pen. I’m less likely to edit if I’m writing in a notebook and so it’s just a long stream of random writing to get my brain working:
So even if you’ve never written before see where you can go with it! I try and stretch my imagination to see what pops up and write with no shame, no embarrassment of what comes out. Sometimes it’s a list and sometimes it’s just what’s going on around me. Sometimes I write for 2 minutes and struggle for 8, and sometimes I have these huge moments of clarity where I could write for hours if I kept going.
Here are last week’s prompts (#5 I just finished up a few minutes ago):
Prompt 1: The Center of the Universe.
From my journal:
“…a star that will die in a thousand years and its light will travel for another one thousand years after that. (An ant just walked across my foot.)”
Prompt 2: My life in trees.
From my journal:
“There was the magnolia tree at the lake growing up. Its branches hung down low enough to create a huge void underneath, large enough for a fort. Leaves carpeted the ground. Crunchy, and crispy potato-chip-leaves. Paw-Paw had a huge cherry tree at his house that we could pull the picnic table underneath to reach the fruit….”
Prompt 3: Things To Do.
From my journal:
“Patch the baseboard in the kitchen. Replant the pepper plants. Fold the laundry. Funny how I automatically start making a list of things I think I need to do. Maybe I just need to lower my expectations of myself. But how low can they go? Where is the bottom of expectation? I could end up being a sloth, and I think about this video I saw recently of a sloth eating while it was napping. Scary that I could see that in my future somehow. But really what’s wrong with eating while napping?”
Prompt 4: Chemistry. (from Food from the Soul Train’s Jar of Prompts)
From my journal:
“I just can’t keep a straight face: Pipet. Test tube rack. Gas collecting tube. Screw clamp. Rubber policeman. Rubber plug. My maturity is at an all time low today.”
Prompt 5: Read this quote and then write about it:
Those who would mend the world must first mend themselves. -William Penn
From my journal:
“The word mend makes me think of a careful, quite, concentrated stitch. It’s a nicer word than fix I think. Mending implies that there is still some imperfection, like in the patching of a quilt or sweater or the darning of a sock. Mending is healing.”
I’ll also start posting the prompts each morning on my Facebook page if you want to follow along day by day instead of delayed. (I’ve scheduled them to post at 7am EST.) Feel free each week to share any writing below or on the Facebook page post as well! Everyone’s reaction to a prompt is different and we can learn from the writing of others and how they see things different from us. It will be like we are writing partners.
Don’t think you have time? You do. Take your notebook with you on the train, to the carpool line, to the park, and especially the DMV. Turn off your phone for a while.
More on the Lil Journal Project here:
More posts on writing here:
With a weekly deadline, I find myself searching for inspiration. sometimes it just is somewhere else…maybe with you?
Yes! I have to get excited about it somehow, especially to just get into new stuff. I find myself rehashing the old, over and over. I was actually inspired by Crossfit…it’s a surprise each day I walk in. Never knowing what to expect so hopefully that will happen for you with writing!
Thank you for giving me a good “kick” of encouragement. I used to faithfully blog until my site kept getting spammed. Who am I kidding? That’s no excuse! I will do this the old fashioned way with a pen and journal!!
Love this! I’m going to try to keep up with you! Thanks for the inspiration!
Thought it would be fun, if you had a group of writing friends, for each person to bring a small bag with 5 or ? things in it, to next meeting. Whatever bag you select your assignments is to write a story using all the items. i.e. Small plastic animal, flower, belly button from a naval orange……you get the picture. I don’t have a group of writing friends…….maybe I just ask a friend to make a surprise bag.
This nothing to do with your blog on writing. I wanted to tell you that my husband & I are visiting Cheyenne,NC for the first time. We got lost the other day and saw a sign for Bryson City and thought of you. We had dinner at the Cheyenne Casino last night and met a young woman who owns a restaurant across from your business I think. Country Outfitters? Anyway we love this area and golfed the Sequoia golf club twice this week. We plan on coming back next year. I can understand why you moved here.
The best to you and your family,
Bonnie Barnhart
Bonnie, You mean Cherokee North Carolina right? And the Cherokee Casino? It is a fantastic area in those historic mountains!! And Bryson City is a True Gem of a Town!!! A great area for creative people, for sure! Lots and Lots of inspiration!!!
It’s beautiful so glad you are enjoying your visit! Our store is right in downtown Bryson City….maybe you met one of the owners of Cork and Bean?
Ok here goes….Got a family reunion tomorrow about four hours away. My Mom and Dad are in their 80s so now I am going because it’s a family thing and as we have always done I know it makes them proud to have all the kids there. I know if they pass before me my mind will change to wanting to go to exchange memories and feel their presence. Things have changed with our present generation. They don’t care as much about staying connected and we have mothers and fathers raising grandchildren. Am I wrong feeling this way? Life has flown by and I wish I knew what I know now. I hear many say I wouldnt change a thing. Sometimes I think I have been standing still and have been capable of so much more. Wish I still had the days of my youth!
Love it Pam. Thank you for sharing!
I just started my blog and this is a great idea! I have a list on phone and when I’m out jot down anything that comes to mind because I KNOW I will forget them!
Prompt #4 “Chemistry”….the last word I wrote in journal was….BOOM! (I am a former Chemist…with a weird sense of humor) Thanks for the prompts!