Your Life as a Great Story: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, May 16

Yesterday I had a discussion with some friends about "writing your life story." Sometimes this is a literal process and we sit down with pen and paper or at the keyboard and we begin to write. For some, however, they write this story in their head and save it up for that "someday" when they will have time to sit down and do the actual writing. Not everyone wants to write their life story, or even a snippet of it. But there are those of us who feel a need to get it all down even if no one else reads it.

Let's imagine for a moment that you want to write your life story, or a portion of it, and you want others to read it. Since we publish a magazine of storytelling, of course we would want you to imagine this scenario, right? Every great story needs to have a great first line. So here is your writing prompt for today:

Pretend that you are sitting down to begin your autobiography, memoir, or novel loosely based on your own life. Write a first line that will "hook" the reader into not wanting to put down the book.


Happy Monday!

Your Moment in History: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, May 9

School is almost out! My two oldest children had college finals that began today. My son wrote 13 pages for his final in Western Civilization. Ugh. In honor of his heroic effort, here is your writing prompt for today:

What is the period of history that you identify with the most? The flappers of the 1920s? The royal family during the War of the Roses? Choose one and write a day in the life for yourself during that time.

Happy Writing and Happy Monday!

Coming Home to Lindsey House Video

Rediscovering Roller Skates: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, May 2

My youngest daughter discovered roller skates this weekend after a birthday party at the skating rink on Saturday night. Watching the car hops at Sonic drive-in was her only experience with roller skates and so she was understandably nervous. "What if I'm the only one who can't skate?" she asked, which of course made me feel like a slacker mom - one who should have bought her a pair of cute pink or purple skates long before she was ten years old. As expected, she fell in love with skating during the party, so on Sunday she begged for a pair of skates and the guilty mom gave in. The fact that it was raining and cold didn't bother her a bit. She skated around the garage, which reminded me of the hours I spent in my childhood garage skating in circles and singing John Denver songs (yes, John Denver songs).

It amazes me how easy it is to forget the things we loved as children. I owned at least three pairs of roller skates as I grew out of one pair and had to replace them. I spent hours skating in the garage, with friends up and down the driveway and through our small town neighborhood, and of course, at the rink. How could that escape my memory? So now that I have rediscovered skating through my daughter, we've planned a trip to the rink to skate together.

Here is your writing prompt for today:

Go back in time and remember something you loved doing as a child. Describe it in detail and how it made you feel.

Here's an additional challenge: Chances are good that if you enjoyed that activity as a child, you would still enjoy it as an adult. Plan an afternoon to rediscover it and then write about it.

Happy Monday!

What To Get the Graduate Who Has Everything: Tuesday's Good Read Recommendation: A Short Guide to a Happy Life

Spoiler alert: If you're graduating from college this year and you sent me an announcement, you will receive this book from me. It's a quick read. It takes me about one evening to read it, which is about every six months. This book is literally ON my shelf as a display because I love the cover, the title, the author, and of course, the content. So here is my pitch for the book, an excerpt straight from the dust jacket:

Life is made of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement. It would be wonderful if they came of us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won't happen. We have to teach ourselves how to live, really live...to love the journey, not the destination.

So, here is the most prominent book on my personal bookshelf. And there you have your Tuesday Good Read Recommendation.

And by the way, Happy Graduation to our intern Nicole Pride. She's been a huge help to us this semester, and I hope we've been the same for her. No surprises on the gift though.

Moody Weather: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, April 25

It's been raining for two days here in Tulsa, and the week I was in New York City it rained four of the six days we were there. I don't mind rain, but I'm missing the sunshine. There are other ways to get Vitamin D, but that's my favorite.

Here is your writing prompt for today:

Write about a time when you were caught in a storm - either figuratively, or literally.

If you've missed some writing prompts, you can access all the back writing prompt posts on the right column under Blog Feature.

Happy Monday!

Write It Short and Sweet: Storytelling Tip #2

Thursday seems like a good day for Storytelling Tips. I posted the first one two weeks ago, so here is Tip #2.

Confession: I read blogs every morning. It's a kind of happy wake-up routine for me (and coffee, of course). When I read this from Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project blog, I let out a deep breath of relief:

"The idea of keeping a proper journal was far too daunting, so I decided instead to keep a “one-sentence journal.”

Release! I am also a hit-and-miss-stop-and-start-love-it-and-hate-it kind of journaler. If I sit down at night, in the morning, or during the day to journal, I feel a need to write more than one or two sentences. After all, will I really want to go back and read a collection of one-sentence entries? Actually, when you are forced to hone your writing down to one sentence (or two, or three since cheating IS allowed), your writing can often become more focused, clear, and yes, creative. Facebook status posts are an interesting study in one-sentence journaling. The best "posters" are those who can say it quickly, but they say something that is worth remembering: funny, provocative, enlightening, but it doesn't keep me reading for TOO long. The rambling posts drive me mad. So in a one-sentence journal, I am able to hone my storytelling skills by force. I better think carefully about that sentence, because it's my story for the day. I have just begun my own one-sentence journal. I didn't go out and buy a fancy Moleskin notebook, however. That's too much pressure. I have a free app on my IPad called My Writing Spot where I dash off my one (or two, or three) sentences after dinner or right before bed. Of course, a notebook journal works fine too; just don't make an investment that doesn't seem worthy of only one sentence per page! If you need more inspiration for this, check out Gretchen's post about her journal.

If you want to slash that sentence even more, Smith Magazine is the home of the six-word memoir. Now there's a challenge! This website is also a bit addictive, and I've been known to spend way too long reading the six-word stories of other memoir writers. So lose the intimidation and try writing your story short and sweet!