Goals for 2012
Every year I like to pick a word that is the center of my goals for the year: 2008 was Passion, 2009 was Improvement, 2010 was Writing, 2011 was Writing and Publication, and 2012 is … Writing! But what else would I like to do in 2012?
Travel?
Translation?
Create!
The word for 2012 is Create. I do want to focus on creative endeavors that influence my writing, like making a musical quilt (details to follow in another post); finishing crochet and knitting projects; continuing to play piano, violin, viola, and djembe; finding a weaving loom that will fit in my apartment; and painting with cardboard and tempura paints. Examples of my work from 2011 (cardboard, tempura, painted with my fingers):
Why did I pick up painting this past summer? I have a story idea about a finger painter, so I started painting with materials I had on hand: tempura paint and cardboard (an interesting canvas). Paper is fun too.
For 2012, I will focus on creating in the following areas:
- Writing
- Crochet
- Knitting
- Weaving
- Quilting
- Music
- Painting
Happy New Year!
Last Day!
It’s the final day of 2011. Celebrating New Year’s is one of my favorite holidays because it’s a time to reflect on the past and make new goals for the future.
So 2011 was an odd year. I sprained my finger, moved to an apartment, published two poems, learned to make different breads, read more books, wrote a lot, wrote letters, and so much more. Not in that order, of course.
But as for the future? Remember my goals poster: https://slawriter89.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/writing-goals/
I fulfilled my goal to publish at least one poem, and I’ve been writing every day, reading widely (delved into Southern and Modern fiction), gathering ideas in my notebooks, attending readings (at Prout Chapel every Thursday during the semester, and developing an Internet presence.
More tomorrow on my goals for 2012. What goals do you have for the upcoming year?
Short Story Update
I started working on another short story Tuesday night but I haven’t finished it yet. I went to the Toledo Museum of Art with a friend Tuesday. I did some research on a novel idea and made significant progress.
Yesterday I went to the Napoleon Public Library for their book sale and got a great haul for a few bucks. You’ll be seeing some of them in future prompts.
The plan for tonight? Work on that short story!
Using Prompts to Prompt You in the Writing Direction
At Winter Wheat (November 19) I gave a presentation on prompts.
What is a writing prompt? It is an exercise used to move the writer beyond the fear of a blank page and get something on the page. But how does the writer come up with an idea to write about? This quote from Stephen King’s “On Writing” “…two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun” (King 25) is crucial to prompts. At least two elements are needed, but the prompt may give the writer one or both elements. If the prompt only gives one, then the writer supplies the second element.
But what are these elements? Tangible Idea and Form/Limitation.
A Tangible Idea can be a setting, character, situation, or a combination.
A Form/Limitation can be time, a list of words to pick from, a word count, poetic form, short story, novel, etc.
To practice creating your own prompts, find a Tangible Idea, pick a Form/Limitation, and start writing!
The key to prompts is finding the ones that spark an idea immediately or don’t require much thought to get you writing. If a prompt doesn’t strike you, then alter it or go on to a different one.
You can also pick a story, novel, or poem that strikes you and pick elements as a Tangible Idea or a Form/Limitation.
Prompt Books I’ve used:
The Write-Brain—Bonnie Neubauer
The Pocket Muse—Monica Wood
In the Palm of Your Hand—Steve Kowit
The Writer’ Book of Matches—the staff of Fresh Boiled Peanuts
The Poetry Dictionary—John Drury
The Poet’s Dictionary—William Packard
The Book of Forms—Lewis Turco
Patterns of Poetry—Miller Williams
Journal Complete
I finished my second journal yesterday. Some people call it a diary, I call mine a journal. I used diaries as a kid, but my entries were years apart. In college I’ve made more of an effort to write about my daily life if not every day, then every few days. The act of writing it down helps my mind release the moments I’ve experienced and look at them. Then I can use them for a story idea I already have (which happened last week–I wrote “To my perfect wife” on a cake and the idea of a wife writing “To my perfect husband” just makes sense for this short story I’m working on. Maybe I’ll finish it tonight.) Or I could forget those moments.
Do you use a diary or journal? What do you prefer to call it? Does it help your writing?
Prompt–Sunday, December 18
For today’s prompt, pick something from the following poem to imitate. It could be the stanza structure, the theme, rhyme scheme, meter, take your pick.
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/roethke.papa.html
I chose the theme of a parent and child interacting.
Summer is a time to imagine
castles of grass. The kingdom
begins the size of our backyard,
but as you mow the edges,
coming closer to the middle,
the grassy knolls become bare.
I laugh as the lawnmower
eats the rectangles like Pac-Man.
The Letter Project–Letter to Whitney
Check out the letter I wrote to my friend Whitney.
Suzanna and Writing 