All posts by casz

Weekly Writing Prompt — May 23, 2012 Edition

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Greetings! Hope the rain and cloud cover has you inspired and not mired in “where is the sun?” complaints.

Once again, we continue with our work through The Artist’s Way together. We are still working through the tasks and exercises in Chapter 4 — for those keeping track via their own copy of the book.
But, first, it’s check-in time!
1. Morning Pages?
2. Artist’s Date?
3. No reading this past week? What did you do instead?
4. Doing the tasks and exercises?
Today’s Tasks include the environment and time travel.
1.  Environment:  Describe your ideal environment. Town? Country? Sank? Cozy? One paragraph. One image, drawn or clipped, that conveys this. (For those with Tumblr Accounts, feel free to do this there). What’s your favorite season? Why? Go through some magazines and find an image of this. Or draw it. Place it near your working area.
2.  Time Travel:  Describe yourself at eighty. What did you do after fifty that you enjoyed? Be very specific. Now, write a letter from you at eighty to you at your current age. What would you tell yourself? What interests would you urge yourself to pursue? What dreams w2ould you encourage?
3.  Time Travel:  Remember yourself at eight. What did you like to do? What were your favorite things? Now, write a letter from you at eight to you at your current age. What would you tell yourself?
4.  Environment:  Look at your house. Is there any room that you could make into a secret, private space for yourself? Convert the TV room? Buy a screen or hand a sheet and cordon off a section of some other room? This is your dream area. It should be decorated for fun and not as an office. All you really need is a chair or pillow, something to write on, some kind of little alter area for flowers and candles. This is to help you center on the fact that creativity is a spiritual, not an ego, issue.
Reminders:
DayTrippers on Friday at the Black Dog at 9:30 a.m. until about Noon-ish.
Monday Midday Muse at Pioneer Cafe at 11 a.m. until about 1 p.m. ish
Writer’s Cafe @ Carriage Insurance at 6:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. on Tuesdays.
Next Writer’s WorkShop Session:  June 10th.
Steve Matlock kindly shared this link and information. Might be of interest to some of you:
Direct submissions to Arthur Levine (@Scholastic)
And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“The primary imagination I hold to be the Living Power.” ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Weekly Writing Prompt – May 16, 2012 Edition

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By now you should know that I’m going to ask you about:

Morning Pages?
Artist Date?
Spiritual Reading?
Serendipity?
Hopefully you’re making some of these habits.
Today we begin Week 4 in The Artist’s Way:  Recovering a Sense of Integrity. (Italics indicate quotes directly from the book).
This week may find you grappling with changing self-definition. The essays, tasks, and exercises are designed to catapult you into productive introspection and integration of new self-awareness. This may be both very difficult and extremely exciting for you. Warning:  Do not skip the tool of reading deprivation.
1) Honest Changes and Affirmations.
We tell ourselves “We can’t” all the times. It becomes a block. It becomes an excuse. This week we will break down that block and change those excuses into affirmations.
This week you need to use your morning pages — or part of them — for writing affirmations. 

“put it in writing,” we often say when making a deal. There is a special power in writing out the deal we are making with the universe. “I receive your good willingly” and “Thy will be done” are two short affirmations that when written in the morning remind us to be open to increased good  during the day. 

“I trust my perceptions” is another powerful affirmation to use as we undergo shifts in identity. “A stronger and clearer me is emerging.” 

Choose affirmations according to your need. As you excavate your buried dreams, you need the assurance that such explorations are permissible: “I recover and enjoy my identity.” 

Choose your own affirmation as is appropriate. Remember to keep the language positive and no “can’ts.” An affirmation does not look like this:
“I can’t write today.”
“I can’t stay at this abusive job.”
“I can’t rescue a sister who needs to save herself.”
Instead:
“I will allow myself to write today”
“I will open myself up to new possibilities in my life.”
“I am supportive and loving to those in my life.”
You will also say them to yourself — out loud — as often as you can remember. (My technique is each time I have to visit the facilities, I take a look in the bathroom and say my affirmation.)
BURIED DREAMS, AN EXERCISE

As recovering creatives, we often have to excavate our own pasts for the shards of buried dreams and delights. Do a little digging, please. Be fast and frivolous. This is an exercise in spontaneity, so be sure to write your answers out quickly. Speed kills the censor. 

1. List five hobbies that sound fun.
2.  List five classes that sound fun
3.  List five things you personally would never do that sound fun. 
4.  List five skills that would be fun to have.
5.  List five things you used to enjoy doing.
6.  List five silly things you would like to try once.

As you may have gathered by this point in your work, we will approach certain problems from many different angles, all of them aimed at eliciting more information from your unconscious about what you might consciously enjoy. The exercise that follows will teach you enormous amounts about yourself — as well as giving you some free time in which to pursue the interests you just listed.

READING DEPRIVATION:

If you feel stuck in your life or in your art, few jump starts are more effective than a week of reading deprivation.

No reading? That’s right:  no reading. For most artists, words are like tiny tranquilizers. We have a daily quota of media chat that we swallow up. Like greasy food, it clogs our system. Too much of it and we feel, yes, fried. 

Don’t know what to do instead of reading? Here goes:

Listen to music, knit, work out, make curtains, cook, meditate, wash the dog, fix the bike, have a friend to dinner, sort closets, water color, pay bills, rewire the lamp, get the stereo working, write old friends, paint the bedroom, sort bookshelves (a dangerous one), repot some plants, rearrange the kitchen, go dancing, mend.

Don’t read. If you can’t think of anything else to do, cha-cha. 
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And Now Your Moment of Writing Zen:
“When the soul wishes to experience something she throws an image of the experience out before her and enters into her own image.” ~ Meister Eckhart.

Weekly Writing Prompt — May 10, 2012 Edition

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Sorry we missed yesterday. You missed this, right?

Yesterday was one of those days you’re not really sure where you are, what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it. And I kept thinking it was Tuesday.
/blush.
So here’s the check in:
1. Morning pages? Doing them? Yes? No? If so, how often?
2.  Artist date? What did you do? What did you discover?
3.  Synchronicity? Did you have it? What happened?
4.  Spiritual Reading? Doing it? What did you discover?
**********
Exercises as we push through chapter 3 in the Artist’s Date. If you’re actually doing these you will see progress.
A.  List five people you admire. Now, list five people you secretly admire. What traits do these people have tht you can cultivate further in yourself?
B.  List five people you wish you had met who are dead. Now, list five people who are dead whom you’d like to hang out with for a while in eternity. What traits do you find in these people that you can look for in your friends?
C.  Compare the two sets of lists. Take a look at what you really like and really admire — and a look at what you think you should like and admire. Your shoulds might tell you to admire Edison while your heart belongs to Houdini. Go with the Houdini side of you for awhile.
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“Eliminate something superfluous from your life. Break a habit. Do something that makes you feel insecure.” ~ Piero Ferrucci

—
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What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — May 2, 2012 Edition

Weekly Writing Prompt

Writers!

Quick! Go outside right now. Yes, go right now. Go get some sun and vitamin D. Just stand our in the fresh air and breathe. I’ll wait here. Don’t come back for at least 10 minutes. Really, this email will still be here. Go, now. Make it happen.
What are you still doing here? …..
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Oh? You’re back? That was a quick 10 minutes. Wasn’t that grand? Did you hear the birds? Feel the cool Spring air on your face? I know you smiled. Whether because you’re in awe of the sun and nature or because you maybe felt a little silly. Regardless you smiled and new endorphins and hormones and all kinds of positive energy went through your body. And that’s a good thing.  Ever stuck in your creativity? A scene have you stuck? Try smiling. It’s amazing what epic waves of new energy follows that simple physical act.
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So, it is clear that the Month of May will put us on Hiatus as far as workshop sessions go. It’s hard to compete with Mother’s Day and the first long weekend of good weather. There may be a less formal gathering, but I will announce for sure next week.

But do stay engaged in the writers cafes and your own personal writing life. Keep working on the exercises I provide through these weekly emails — without a workshop they will become even more critical.
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Now for the fun part:
We continue our work via The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Check in: (these are good morning pages prompts, if you like)
1.  How many days this week did you do your morning pages? How was the experience for you? If you skipped a day, why did you skip it? (For me I hit 5/7, which seems to be my average. I’m having trouble rising early enough before the drums of family life awake everyone else to get these in; I may have to forgo some sleep to get them in on Saturday and Sunday).
2.  Did you do your artist date this week? What did you do? How did it feel? (I did some treasure hunting this week – and found some things that I will turn into art over the summer. I also took myself to lunch.)
3.  Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? (I decided to add “Celebrate Beltane in Edinburgh, Scotland to my bucket list. My son posted a video from his favorite free-style BMX’r who hails from there and he said he wanted to go. Plans to get there before he’s 21 are afoot.)

4.  Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your {creative} recovery? Describe them. (I am struggling with contentment, meaning I feel, like many Americans, that it’s all not happening fast enough. Mindfulness of right now is a focus for me this week.)

Now to your tasks/exercises for this week:
A.  Habits:  Take a look at your habits. Many of them may interfere with your self-nurturing and cause shame. Some of the oddest things are self-destructive. Do you have a habit of watching TV you don’t like? Do you have a habit of hanging out with a really boring friend and just killing time (there’s an expression!)? Some rotten habits are obvious, overt (drinking too much, smoking, eating instead of writing). List three obvious rotten habits.What’s the payoff in continuing them?
Some rotten habits are more subtle (no time to exercise, little time to pray (meditate), always helping others, not getting any self-nurturing, hanging out with people who belittle your dreams). List three of your subtle foes. What use do these forms of sabotage have? Be specific.
B.  Make a list of friends who nurture you — that’s nurture (give you a sense of your own competency and possibility), not enable (give you the message that you will never get it straight without their help). There is a big difference between being helped and being treated as though we are helpless. List three nurturing friends. Which of their traits, particularly, serve you well?
C.  Call a friend who treats you like you are really good and bright person who can accomplish things. Part of your recovery is reaching out for support. This support will be critical as you undertake new risks.
D.  Inner Compass:  Each of us has an inner compass. This is an instinct that points us toward health. It warns us when we are on dangerous ground, and it tells us when something is safe and good for us. Morning pages are one way to contact it. So are some other artist-brain activities — painting, driving, walking, scrubbing, running. This week, take an hour to follow your inner compass by doing an artist-brain activity and listening to what insights bubble up.
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That’s a lot to keep you busy this week. But since you’ve got an extra few hours this month because of no workshops, we’re going to get moving forward on recovering your sense of artistic power.
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“Creative work is play. It is free speculation using the materials of one’s chosen form.” ~Stephen Nachmanovitch.

—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 25, 2012 Edition

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Writers:

Ah, the rains have return. Our sun sickness that has us fleeing from our desks into the light is now over. But hopefully not for long, yes?

I’ve attached (below) the Detective Work Exercise we did during the Sunday Workshop so you can catch up to the rest of us.
For those who attended Sunday, you will already have these next exercises (as well as the Detective Work). This is part of the work we’re trying to accomplish to obtain creative recovery via The Artist Way (2002). So, I implore you to actually do this work. It’s fun. It’s a self-discovery. And it works. So don’t be shy.
1.  Describe your childhood room. If you wish, you may sketch this room. What was your favorite thing about it? What’s your favorite thing about your right now? Nothing? Well, get something you like in there — maybe something from that old childhood room.
2.  Describe five traits you like in yourself as a child.
3.  List five childhood accomplishments, (straight A’s in seventh grade, trained the dog, punched out the class bully, short-sheeted the priest’s bed). And a treat:  list five favorite childhood foods.  Buy yourself one of them this week. Yes, Jell-O with bananas is okay.
Now, the below will be new for everyone, but this absolutely should be done before we meet next,  which may not be until June due to Mother’s Day and Memorial Day weekend (more on that later).
4.  Habits:  Take a look at your habits. Many of them may interfere with your self-nurturing and cause shame. Some of the oddest things are self-destructive. Do you have a habit of watching TV you don’t liek? Do you have a habit of hanging out with a really boring friend and just killing time (there’s an expression!)? Some rotten habits are obvious, overt (drinking too much, smoking, eating instead of writing). List three obvious rotten habits. What’s the payoff in continuing them?
Some rotten habits are more subtle (no time to exercise, little time to pray, always helping others, not getting any self-nurturing, hanging out with people who belittle your dreams). List three of your subtle foes. What use do these forms of sabotage have? Be specific.
5.  Make a list of friends who nurture you — that’s nurture (give you a sense of your own competency and possibility), not enable (give you the message that you will never get it straight without their help). There is a big difference between being helped and being treated as though we are helpless. List three nurturing friends. Which of their traits, particularly, serve you well?
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So, our workshop meetings in May:  The 13th and the the 27th are both holidays, Mothers Day and then the Memorial Day weekend. Historically both of those days are very low attendance. If you’re interested in still doing a workshop on those days, please let me know and we’ll make a decision based upon interest.
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And now for your moment of Writing Zen:
“Creative work is play. It is free speculation using the materials of one’s chosen form.” ~ Stephen Nachmanovitch
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DETECTIVE WORK, AN EXERCISE (From The Artist’s Way, 2002, pg 73-74)

 

“…A little sleuth work is in order to restore the persons we have abandoned – ourselves. When you complete the following phrases, you may feel strong emotions as you retrieve memories and misplaced fragments of yourself. Allow yourself to free-associate for a sentence or so with each phrase.”

  1. My favorite childhood toy was…
  2. My favorite childhood game was…
  3. The best movie I ever saw as a kid was…
  4. I don’t do it much but I enjoy…
  5. If I could lighten up a little, I’d let myself…
  6. If it weren’t too late, I’d…
  7. My favorite musical instrument is…
  8. The amount of money I spend on treating myself to entertainment each month is…
  9. If I weren’t so stingy with my artist, I’d buy him/her…
  10. Taking time out for myself is…
  11. I am afraid that if I start dreaming…
  12. I secretly enjoy reading…
  13. If I had had a perfect childhood, I’d have grown up to be…
  14. If it didn’t sound so crazy, I’d write or make a…
  15. My parents think artists are …
  16. My (spiritual center – God, Buddha, The Universe, etc.) thinks artists are…
  17. What makes me feel weird about this creative recovery is…
  18. Learning to trust myself is probably…
  19. My most cheer-me-up music is…
  20. My favorite way to dress is…

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—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 11, 2012 Edition

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Greetings Writers!

We will depart, as they say, from our regularly schedule program today to allow those who participated in or attended Word Jazz to reflect on the experience and provide feed back. It will also give everyone a chance to actually catch up on work we’ve been doing on our creative recovery journey ala The Artist’s Way. There were a good chunk of exercises in last week’s prompt, so I hope everyone will go back and work on those exercises.
So today’s prompt is to do a check in:
1.  How many days this week did you do your morning pages? How as the experience for you? I’m bad this week — yes I have bad week’s, too. And I notice my creativity suffers for it. I’m 3/7 this week. I could blame illness (2/3 kids sick this week), crazy schedule (conference, Word Jazz), but they really aren’t barriers, when I think about it; I’m just being lazy. But today is a new day.
2.  Did you do your artist date this week? What did you do? How did it feel? I had three artist’s dates in a row, since I went to NorWesCon. I love conferences, it always fuels the creative fire, even if physically they wear me out.
3.  Affirmative reading? Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them. As for me, I’ve had two separate epiphanies as it were this week. I will blog about my thoughts later today and you can read them there, if you’re interested.
Now onto comments, questions, concerns, suggestions, etc. for Word Jazz.
Please tell us (via email here) what you liked. Please tell us any suggestions for improvement you may have. Those who keep blogs, I encourage you to write about your experience either as participant, volunteer or audience member.
Our next regular work session will be April 22 at the North Bend Library Meeting Room at 3 p.m.  Until then …
Friday:  DayTripper’s @ Toad’s in North Bend 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. (ish) (if you’re the first one there, please secure the large table in the very back).
Monday:  Midday Muse @ Toad’s in North Bend 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. (ish) (if you’re the first one there, please secure the large table in the very back).
Tuesday:  Writers’ Cafe @ Carriage Insurance House – 6:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. (byo-beverages and snacks)
Keep writing and send it out!

—
—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — April 4, 2012 Edition

Weekly Writing Prompt

Writers:

Good Day to all of you.
We continue today with our Artist’s Way Journey. Some of you have gone and obtained a copy of the book or workbook — that’s great. Someone asked if it was necessary to do, and no, it’s not. You can take this journey with us without the book, although I’ll say again the King County Library, one of our biggest supporters, has several copies of the book and audio book.
I’ll ask you again, as promised, how you’re doing on using the tools of The Artist’s Way and your creative recovery efforts:
1) Morning pages? Me? I’m 5/7 this past week. Seem to have some trouble on the weekends getting them done; so, I need to work on that.
2) Artist’s Date? Me? I’m doing well on that. This week I’ll be at NorWesCon 35; so, I’ll have lots of opportunities for that.
3) Affirmative Reading? Never a problem for me because I have those posted near my writing desk.
Today’s exercises (note they are extra detailed because we are NOT meeting this Sunday due to the Easter holiday and my conference schedule):
I want you to return to the list of imaginary lives we’ve made (see below if you forgot *) Add five more lives (me:  rancher, wilderness guide, environmental scientist, a master gardener, a successful etsy business person). Again, check to see if you could be doing bits and pieces of these lives in the one you are doing now. If you have listed a dancer’s life, do you let yourself go dancing? If you have listed a monk’s life, are you ever allowed to go on a retreat? If you are a scuba diver, is there an aquarium shop you can visit? A day at the lake you could schedule?
Next:
LifePie:  Draw a circle. Divide it into six pieces of pie. Label one piece spirituality, another exercise, another play, and so on with work, friends, and romance/adventure. Place a dot in each slice at the degree to which you are fulfilled in that area (outer rim indicates great; inner circle, not so great). Connect the dots. This will show you where you are lopsided. As you begin the course, it is not uncommon for your life pie to look like a tarantula. As recovery progresses, your tarantula may become a mandala. Working with this tool, you will notice that there are areas of your life that feel impoverished and on which you spend little or no time. Use the time tid-bits you are finding to alter this. If your spiritual life is minimal, even a five-minute pit stop into whatever you see as a spiritual place (nature, synagogue, temple, cathedral) can restore a sense of wonder. Many of us find that five minutes of drum music can put us in touch with our spiritual core. For others, it’s a trip to a greenhouse. The point is that even the slightest attention to our impoverished areas can nurture them.
We’re not done yet:
Ten Tiny Changes:  List ten changes you’d like to make for yourself, from the significant to the small or vice versa (“get new sheets so I have another set, go to China, paint my kitchen, dump my bitchy friend Alice”). Do it this way:
I would like to____________________________________________________________________________________.
I would like to____________________________________________________________________________________.
As the morning pages nudge us increasingly into the present, where we pay attention to our current lives, a small shift like a newly painted bathroom can yield a luxuriously large sense of self-care.
Two to go:
Select one small item from your ten tiny changes and make it a goal for the week.
Now go do that item.
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Reminders:
DayTrippers this week will return to Toad’s in North Bend — 9:30 a.m. until Noonish. 

Word Jazz is Tuesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. If you are wanting to come but don’t want to sit alone, I have a table for 5. Due to schedule changes I have three other seats available. Let me know if you’d like to come and sit at my table. Otherwise get your reservations today; my understanding is there are very few seats left.
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” ~Eddie Cantor
—

—
What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

*Imaginary Lives:  If you had five other lives to lead, what would you do in each of them? I would be a successful author, a literature PhD, a helicopter pilot, depth psychologist, or a violinist. You might be a sucba diver, a cop, a writer of children’s books, a football player, a belly dancer, a painter, a performance artist, a history teacher, a healer, a coach, a scientist, a doctor…..Whatever occurs to you, jot it down. Do not over think this exercise. The point of these lives is to have fun in them — more fun than you might be having in this one. Look over your list and slect one. Then do it this week. For instance, if you put down country singer, can you pick a guitar? If you dream of being a cowhand, what about some horseback riding?

Weekly Writing Prompt — March 28, 2012 Edition

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Writers:

Have your reservations for Boxley’s for SnoValley Writes! Word Jazz on April 10th at 7 p.m.? No? Well you can do it online here: http://www.boxleysplace.com/web/reservations.espx?reservations=on&cid=44b996ab751e19c2ed2babc48169b615
Do it now, this event fills up fast.
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As discussed in our last bimonthly writing work session…wait, you say you missed our work session? Well, be sure not to miss the next one on April 22 (we’re suspended for the Easter Holiday Sunday). On the 22nd we’ll be discussing all the exercises contained in the weekly writing prompts, so be sure to stay tuned.
SnoValley Writes! is in the midst of The Artist’s Way journey. We’ve been employing the tools of morning pages and artist’s dates and affirmative reading. Affirmative reading includes these basic principles, which I’ve attached in an effort to get you to print it and post it near your writing space or within your morning pages journal. (Please note the use of God, The Great Creator, Universe, etc. is used interchangeably to cover all spiritual preferences; because at the heart of creativity is an experience of the mystical. Ms. Cameron refers to “God” as ‘Good Orderly Direction,’ so you can look at it as an acronym if you so choose. The core of it is the same. Creativity is a spiritual thing at its foundation.)
So are you doing morning pages*? I’m 6/7 last week. This week may be a little lower because I was ill Monday afternoon through yesterday. But, I’ve got a better batting record than most Major League Baseball stars in that regard, so I’m happy. Today is a new day, you can get those pages, done, too.
What was your artist’s date** last week? Reply and tell me what you did!
And now you can do your weekly affirmative reading (see attached).
Today’s writing prompt is two fold. First:  pick one of the Basic Principles and write from that. It can be essay, poem, short-story, whatever. Just pick one that means something and write. Write until your hands cramps or every thing you have to say on it is on the page/screen.
Second:  look at the second attachment (contract) and print it, fill it out, sign and date it and keep it in your morning pages journal or near your desk/writing space. I have modified it slightly for our purposes because we will be doing this journey for more than 12 weeks, given our bimonthly (less holidays) work session schedule.
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Writing Dates This Week
Friday, March 30, DayTrippers Write-In Fall City Roadhouse 9:30 a.m. until Noon-ish (come when you can, leave when you must)
Monday, April 2, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Midday Muse, Toad’s (North Bend), Write-In (come when you can, leave when you must)
Tuesday, April 3, Word Jazz Dress Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m. Carriage Insurance House
Thursday, April 5, Open Mic Night, The Black Dog, 6:30 p.m. — An opportunity to read your stuff for an appreciative, receptive audience.
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“Man is asked to make of himself what he is supposed to become to fulfill his destiny.” ~Paul Tillich
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*Morning Pages are three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness. I call them “mental debris collector.” They are not meant to be art. It’s simply menat to be the act of moving the hand across the page and writing down whatever comes to mind. Nothing is too petty, too silly, too stupid, or too weird to be included. The act of morning pages frees your mind for better creativity. 

**Artist Date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artists. In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you pre-plan and defend against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist, aka your creative child. 
***If you’re reading this online and want the attachments, you just need to email us at:  snovalleywrites (at) gamil (dot) com.  We will send them your way.
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What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — March 21, 2012 Edition

Weekly Writing Prompt, , , , , ,

Lots of ones and twos in that date. It probably means something, but I’m about two cups of coffee unprepared to relay it to you all.

Because it’s so early, I must resort to numbering what I need to express to you all:
1.  Get your reservations for Boxley’s now for April 10 at 7 p.m. (or a bit before or after if you’re so inclined) for the 3rd Word Jazz by SnoValley Writes! This is some of the best storytelling we have done so far and I don’t want you to miss it!
2.  Still looking for suggestions for our first guest for our literary salon. Please send any local authors, editors, agents, publishers, etc. that you would like to see featured at such an event. Thank you.
3.  As you know we’re working together as a group through The Artist’s Way, so I’m going to ask you each week if you’re doing your morning pages, if you’ve done your artist date, if there were any other issues this week that you consider significant to your artistic recovery? So? Are you 7/7 for morning pages? 5/7? Where was your artist date? What did it teach you or bring you?
4. This week’s prompt: Number the screen or paper 1 to 20. Then, list 20 things you enjoy doing (rock climbing, roller-skating, baking pies, making soup, making love, making love again, oh quit blushing, riding a bike, riding a horse, playing catch, shooting baskets, going for a run, reading poetry, and so forth). When was the last time you let yourself do these things? Next to each entry, place a date. Don’t be surprised if it’s been years for some of your favorites. That will change. This list is an excellent source for artist dates. Still not clear on what artists dates are? Let me explain:  Artist Date:  An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist. In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you preplan and DEFEND against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist, aka, your creative child. That means no lovers, friends, spouse, children — no taggers-on of any stripe.
5.  Regular Writing Works Session/Workshop this Sunday (March 25)  at 3 p.m. at the North Bend Library. Please RSVP and let me know if you plan to attend.
6. Your moment of Writing Zen:  “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.” ~C.G. Jung

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What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron

Weekly Writing Prompt — March 14, 2012 Edition

Weekly Writing Prompt, , , , , , , , ,

Happy Pi Day all. Be sure to get some Pie today as well. Treat yourself. Apple-pie making in the happening over in these parts.

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So how many days this week did you do your morning pages? What? You haven’t been journaling? You haven’t been getting that mental debris out — the stuff that keeps your creativity blocked?

Have you given yourself an artist date this week? Even just a trip to a favorite retailer for some fun stickers and a new journal? How about to a book signing? A new art exhibit? Hear a new band? If you did, how did it feel? What did you do? What do you plan to do this week?

For those that missed the work session on Sunday, we’ve started the journey of The Artist’s Way (A path to higher creativity). Having done the formal program twice personally, beginning it with a group is fabulous. It has that much more meaning. For those that have had a hard time making time for your creativity — or spending too much time on your shadow art as opposed to the art you’re impassioned about (e.g. writing), this will be a great exercise for you. It will take us many months to do, but I hope that you will see this as a course in discovering and recovering your best creative self yet. A self who is generative and prolific and a creative life that leaves you feeling satisfied.

The major tools in this journey are:

1) Morning pages: three hand-written, stream-of-consciousness pages you write every morning as soon as you wake up (before you do anything else). Write them in a notebook or journal so you can have them all in one place (currently, I have two completed Morning Page journals sitting on my bookshelf). I set my alarm :15 early to do this. My handwriting is not pretty; but, it clears the mind and is like a writing meditation. I can’t recommend this practice enough.
2) A weekly Artist Date: A commitment of time spent on yourself once a week; Time spent solely on you — no companions allowed; A date with your inner-artist, or your inner-child. For me, it was yesterday and getting a multi-flavored slurpee at 7-11 and to sit in the sunshine (albeit brief as it was in Seattle yesterday) and just watch the world go by. Oftentimes I walk down to the river and do yoga or just sit and watch the inner workings of the water, the trees, the birds and critters. I have also been known to pull the blinds and get out the kids coloring books and crayons and just color in superheros or Hello Kitty. It’s freeing and lets your brain recharge for productive creativity.
3) Daily Reading (which can be accomplished on Wednesdays by undertaking your weekly writing prompt from SnoValley Writes!) I do no less than :30 of reading a day. Non-fiction, fiction, it doesn’t matter. I have books everywhere — my car, the bathroom, my bedroom, my purse, my desk, the living room, even the kitchen. There’s no excuse for not reading every day.

Therefore your prompt this week is to try to accomplish these goals. I can’t recommend or encourage you strongly enough to really take these tasks to heart and do them. Reward yourself for each day you accomplish your morning pages; the artist date is a treat in itself. Do not turn out the lights at night until you’ve gotten in your :30 of reading.

Let me know by next Tuesday how you’re doing, too. Yes, I’m giving homework. Report back, please. I promise no tongue-lashings, just honest encouragement and understanding and all-out cheerleading-praise when appropriate. 

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Sometimes I carve out my artist date on either end of one of the Writing Cafes we host. The next is Friday’s DayTrippers from 9:30 a.m. to about noon-ish. Our dearest Takako Wright sends out the reminders for that. DayTrippers are tripping all over the valley for the next few weeks until the Black Dog returns to normal hours on Fridays. So, get the Email from Takako to find out where this week’s location is (her email is in the to line above).

Following that will be Mid-day Muse on Monday at Toad’s in North Bend. This is your reminder about that. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (ish). Hope to see you there.

Then Tuesday is Writers Cafe at Carriage Insurance House in North Bend. The Incredible Sheri Kennedy will send out the reminders for that. 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.(her email is in the to line above).

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Make your reservations for Word Jazz now. April 10 at 7 p.m. at Boxley’s. It’s going to feature some of our best work yet. Be there or make us all very sad. 

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I am still in need of local literary legends for our first Literary Salon. Send me your suggestions now, please.

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And now your moment of Writing Zen:

“You need to claim the events of your life to make yourself yours.” ~Anne-Wilson Schaef
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What did you Write today?
~Casz

Casondra Brewster
Moderator/Founder
Sno Valley Writes!
Helping Writers Reach New Literary Peaks Since 2008
http://www.snovalleywrites.org
Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SnoValleyWrites

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~ Lord Byron