Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Prompt, First Line & Question

So how did the prompt go?  Did it help you get started writing?  As writers, we can come up with some pretty great reasons to NOT write and one of those is we don't know WHAT to write about.  Using a prompt is a good way of putting that excuse to bed.  Now let's get writing:

Prompt: 

Write about a childhood incident that is still alive to you today.  It might be something humorous, terrifying or life changing.  Put yourself there and tell us all about it.

First line: 

It was the biggest pumpkin in the patch, and it seemed to be moving.

And now for the question of the week:

Do you have a favorite time or place to write?  Where?  When?  Why?

My most productive time to write is first thing in the morning, before "life" creeps in.  That means before I get dressed, before I eat anything, and definitely before I answer the phone.  And I have to make sure I do NOT check my e-mails.  Once I do that, I've lost the momentum for writing.

The place is my bed.  I grab my laptop, prop my pillows behind me and start writing.  It is where my writing takes off and it is a safe, comfortable place.  Often, Sally (my miniature bull terrier) is laying under the blankets beside me; Eli (our rescue dog) is laying on the pillow beside me and Mary (our other rescue) is laying on a pillow on the floor beside the bed.  They are all sleeping and I'm writing.  What could be better?

So tell me what is your when? where? and why? for writing.

~Tricia

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to enjoy writing when I was younger. Things seems to flow more freely then. As I grew up and life took over, I fell away from it. Now I find it quite a challenge to try to write anything at all. I am finding, though, that the more I do it the more easily it comes. I think my difficulty lies in being (or attempting to be) a perfectionist.

I write whenever I'm moved. I write in my head a lot but I'm not around a computer or paper to caputure those. That's usually my best stuff.

Tonya Christiansen

~Tricia said...

Tonya - Overcoming that desire for perfection is one I hear all the time from writers. And I'm guilty, too. It is one of those nasty gremlins that keep us from our potential.

When you're writing a first draft, give yourself permission to write it as the "shitty first draft." Know that it isn't going to be the final draft and that you're just getting it down on paper. Once it is on paper, then you can go back and edit.

And I hate it when I get a great idea and I'm not around a computer or paper because I always forget it.

~Tricia

Anonymous said...

Hi Tricia,
I tend to write best in the A.M., early: but after ritual, flush, brush, hot water protocol. My tendency is to edit as I write, not so much about perfection as jugling ideas and allowing process time for where I want to go. I almost always start out in the "Journal" mode, which can segue off in some other direction. I don't spend a lot of time following dead ends as I tend to write short pieces, knowing by instinct when it's time to close the circle. Nice website.

Frank Stevens

~Tricia said...

Frank -

Nice to hear from a voice I usually don't hear until the winter retreat. I like the idea of starting in the "journal" mode. Sounds less intimidating.

~Tricia