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"Learning to see is the basis for learning all of the arts."
- Flannery O'Connor |
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Directions: Free-write on each of the following topics for five minutes (set a timer), without trying to direct or control where it goes. Don't overthink it, just write whatever comes to mind on the following topics while trying to remember as deeply as possible. Use as many sensory, specific, and concrete details as possible. Don't worry about connecting these vignettes into a larger work - that often happens naturally, or can be worked on later.
1) A person you met within the past year 2) A person you've known for years, who played a vital role in your life this past year. 3) A joyful moment from the past year. 4) A highly-charged, emotional moment from the past year. 5) A striking, visual, strange, or mysterious moment from the past year. 6) A moment that gave rise to a small (or large) epiphany. 7) A physical place you saw, visited, or returned to that felt significant to you. 8) Something you gave away, shed, or abandoned. 9) Something you gained, acquired, grew into, or received. 10) A list of all the things you are grateful for from the past year.
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by Carolyn ZaikowskiSo you have writer’s block. Congratulations! This means you’re officially a writer.
I’m not just trying to make you feel better. Writer’s block has zero connection to your ability as a creative person. All writers on the face of the planet, through all of human history, have experienced it. If they say they haven’t, you can tell them Carolyn Zaikowski said they must be a creature from another galaxy. Or they’re fibbing. But if you’re anything like me, you sometimes want the end product right now. Oh, the instant gratification of a masterpiece appearing out of nowhere, like magic! If the process is uncomfortable, long, or chaotic, and if I don’t have a complete vision to start with, something must be wrong. Right? by Nikki SambitskyMy mind works in jumbles and pieces. Oftentimes, at my most vulnerable, thoughts come to me in fragments. What is it about grief that breaks the sentence? My writing reflects this too. Last year, my MFA grad school mentor, T Fleischmann, asked me to keep a grief journal. It was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do. Both of my children, ages seven and four, have high-functioning autism. We have good days, and we have bad days. The good days shine warm and bright in my memory like a ray from the summer sun. The bad days, the meltdowns, the self-injurious behaviors, the noncompliance, the opposition, break my spirit with their impossible weight.
by Joy BaglioHello, and welcome to the first-ever post of this blog! I'm Joy Baglio, Founder & Director of Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop, though first and foremost I'm a writer, working on short stories and a novel, and musing constantly on issues of craft! This will be a very casual, informal place where I (and other guest bloggers) will discuss our processes, thoughts on craft, books we're reading, and other writerly insights.
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