Taking a 5-Minute Break from Writing

I think the words, "Let's take a break," are some of the loveliest in the English language. 

A break can mean having fun, eating a snack, or renewing our energy.

It can also mean seeing our stories in a new way.

A friend mentioned a writing exercise she did with a group. Write for a certain amount of time--say, 15 minutes. Then take a break for 5 minutes, walking around and not consciously thinking about your story, novel, essay, or poem. Then go back to your writing. 

She guarantees that you'll go back to it with an insight. 

I love this exercise. Often we think that writing involves work, work, work. But we can also be working while we seem to be doing nothing. A part of our brain is still thinking about our story, even if we're not aware of it. That 5-minute break can give our brain time to "churn."

This is an especially great exercise to do if you're stuck. 

Try the 5-minute break. And if someone asks why you're not writing, you can honestly answer, "I am!"

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2015!

Are you ready to get back into the routine of writing? 

Maybe you've been writing all through the holidays--congratulations!

Or maybe, with all the busyness of celebrating, you had to put your story or novel aside for a while. 

Maybe you're tempted to quit. Don't! Now is the time to recommit.

Wally Amos, of Famous Amos cookie fame, said something I love:

"Not quitting means you live constantly where the action is, in the now."

Don't we all want to be "in the now," instead of living in the past or future? 

We can do that by sticking with our writing. Our "now" is our current story or novel.

So wish yourself a happy new year, start writing, and live where the action is. I'll be right there with you. 

A Writer's List to Santa 2014

Ho ho ho! It's time to write to Santa.

What do we writers really want? 

Instead of asking for the newest gadgets under our tree, what if we request inspiration for our writing? 

What if we ask Santa to bring us patience, or confidence, or other qualities that help us begin and finish the best story we can write? 



This year, I'm asking for:

• Belief in myself when I lose faith in my story.

• Perseverance when I'm writing yet another draft. 

• Humility to ask for help from a teacher or another writer when I need it.

• Curiosity to keep looking for great story ideas. 

• Genius--just kidding, but wouldn't it be nice?

How about you? What qualities would you like to find under your tree? 

Olympics for Writers

I love the winter Olympics. 

It's exciting to watch the athletes go for the gold. Whether they're skiing, skating, snowboarding, bobsledding, curling, running the luge, or doing the half-pipe, the winter Olympians inspire. 

These amazing athletes give it their all, and then find the strength to give even more. 

Strength. Endurance. Perseverance. Wouldn't an Olympic athlete make a great character to write about? 

Try doing just that. Create a fictional character who competes at the Winter Olympics. Which sport does he or she participate in? What motivates this character to practice a sport at the very highest level?

Write a paragraph using a first person "I" point of view. Let your athlete tell us what it's like to win a gold, silver, or bronze medal. 

Or let your character speak about coming so close, but not earning a medal. After all, most athletes at the Olympics don't. But they still keep going. 

I find that inspiring for us writers. We may not win a gold medal, but we keep going, too. Go, writers! 

Magic Pen Story Starters Part IV

It's time for more Magic Pen Story Starters! I hope these prompts inspire you to put pen (or pencil) to paper or tap words onto your screen. 

Remember, there are no rules. Find a Magic Pen Story Starter that grabs you, and write away! 

1) Write a story about:

• a couch that breaks out of the furniture store

• a lost dog that moves into your classroom

• a brother and sister who find magical leaves in their backyard

2) Write these folktales:

• "Cinderella Goes to Broadway"

• "Hansel and Gretel: The Prequel"

• "Little Red Riding Hood Opens a Wolf Shelter

3) Write a story with this first line:

• The ice broke under my feet, plunging me into the cold water.

• The penguin waddled over the snow and searched for her mother.

• I went to the store and bought a shovel, a map, and a banana.

• "Stop!" he yelled, but the thief sprouted wings and flew away.

4) More writing ideas:

• Write a story about a family that takes a vacation in their backyard.

• Write a story or poem about the new crayon in the crayon box. 

• Write a story with the title, "Me Big Caveman."

• Close your eyes and think about five things you can find in your backpack. Then write a story about a space alien who steals your backpack and eats those five things.

Use your imagination and let your magic pen soar!

Writing Inspiration for 2013

Next to my computer is a little piece of paper with two sentences, and I look at them each day. They're from the marvelous book, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, by Steven Pressfield. 

Here are the two sentences:

"The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down each day and trying."

Those two sentences inspire me each day. Do you know why? Because they take the pressure off me. All I have to do each day is try. I can do that! 

Each day. That means not just when I feel like it, or when inspiration strikes, but each day. Even when I don't feel like it. 

And you know what? When you sit down and try, magic happens. No, you may not write the Great American Novel, and Steven Spielberg may not ask to turn your book into a movie. But when you try, words appear on the page or screen. Your words. Words turn into sentences. Sentences turn into paragraphs. And paragraphs turn into stories. Your stories. 

I don't have a New Year's resolution. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm going to sit down and try. Each day. 

Happy Writing in 2013! 

Magic Pen Story Starters Part II

This is my second week of teaching summer writing workshops, and what a great group of writers! Some of the stories by the young authors involve a decathlete, a secret room, a fire-station dalmatian, a journey through a garden, a fight for plunder, a gift involving a very special dog, a banana with a mind of its own, an adventure for Goldilocks, and some dragons with attitude. 

Here's a sample of more Magic Pen Story Starters using first and last lines: 

Write a story with this first line: 

• All my life I wanted to be a rock.
• The notebook sighed, wondering why it was destined to be written in and thrown out. 
• The worst thing about living in a desk drawer is the paper clip that won't stop talking.
• "No."

Write a story with this last line:

• "Got you," she said, skipping away.
• At the end, Dad told me to clean up the atomic waste in my room.
• The spaghetti-eating contest was the most fun a mouse and a lizard could have.
• And that's why I always wear orange tennis shoes.

Happy writing!  

Magic Pen Story Starters

I'm teaching summer writing camps over the next two weeks--for ages 8 to 11 and ages 12 to 14. Super fun! I'm inspired by every single writer who walks through the door. Anyone who spends part of their summer vacation at a writing workshop is my kind of person! 


A lot of the young writers have story ideas, but some are looking for a prompt to get them going. For those writers I have "Magic Pen Story Starters." 

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll give you a sample. 

Write a story about:

• an elephant that wants to win a skateboard competition
• a boy who wants to be the broccoli-eating champ in his school
• a tree that wants to live in the desert
• a girl who wants to work in a shoelace factory

Write a story with one of these titles:

• "Goldilocks Moves to Hollywood"
• "The Barnyard Blog"
• "The Big Yellow Sky Falls Down"
• "The Diary of a Paper Clip"

Maybe you'll be inspired by one of the "Magic Pen Story Starters." If so, get out your pen--magic or otherwise--and start writing!  

More Inspiration from the Olympics

I don't know about you, but I'm becoming more and more inspired by the Olympic athletes I read about or see on TV.

The volley players are jumping beans. The swimmers are fish. The runners are blurs of movement. The divers are sharp knives in motion.  

What motivates a person to become an Olympic athlete? What kind of strength--physical and mental--is required to compete at that level?

Even if we're watching from the couch, we can be inspired by the sheer amount of beautiful energy we see on the screen.

What if we tried to experience--through our writing--what the athletes are going through? 

Close your eyes. Imagine you're an athlete at the starting line, on the diving board, at the edge of the pool, behind the net. What's going through your mind? What are you telling yourself as you prepare for the most important competition of your life? 

Write down your thoughts, and have fun starring in the biggest sports arena in the world! 

Olympic Gold...for Writers!

Have you been watching the summer Olympic games? 

I'm super inspired by the athletes who run, bike, spin, jump, race, swim, twist, sprint, lift, and hurdle. They perform amazing feats with their bodies that don't seem possible. 

What about writers? We perform amazing feats, too. We create fantastic tales from our imaginations. We bring characters to life. We keep going even though we may not be the next J.K. Rowling (or Michael Phelps). 

Don't we deserve a medal, too? I say YES!

Write down 5 reasons why you should win an Olympic Gold Medal in Writing. Here are mine:

1. I show up at practice every day to write.
2. I warm up for the day with a writing exercise. 
3. I struggle through the rough bits and keep my goal in mind.
4. I sprint to the finish when the story end is in sight. 
5. I do the heavy lifting of revising to make my story better. 

What are your 5 reasons? Make your list and take a bow. And don't forget to hum your national anthem! 

Inspiration from a Box

On May 21 I posted about having an Idea Box. That's where you put objects inside a box, and when you need an idea for a story you reach inside and...voila! You have an idea. 


Today I'm thinking outside the box. Literally. I bought some stacking storage boxes for my study, and as you can see, they're covered with pictures. Each day I look at these boxes, but I don't feel inspired by them. Today I do. 


The pictures include a pair of gloves, chess pieces, a cat, a shovel, Christmas ornaments, garden shears, a screwdriver, a pair of pliers, a dog, a doll, a scuba mask, a sewing machine, a shirt, a pair of pants, a hammer, and the following types of shoes: tennis, T-straps, and high heels. 


Wow. That's an interesting assortment of stuff. Why did I feel inspired to really look at the box today? That's how inspiration works. We can't predict when or how it will strike. We just need to be open to it. It's everywhere, even on the side of a box. 


What if it's a magical box someone left behind when they moved? And when someone else opens the box, a pair of talking tennis shoes jump out? Followed by a scuba mask, a hammer, and a sewing machine? And they're all complaining about being left behind? 


Here's my challenge. Find an object in your house that you see every day. It may be a lamp, your kitchen table, or a pillow. Let yourself get inspired. See something magical about that object, and write about it. 


And if you write about my box and all the objects inside it, don't forget to put the lid back on.