Tag Archives: journaling

Merle R. Saferstein Shares Her Knowledge of Legacy Writing and Why To Do It

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This month, I am pleased to introduce you to Florida author Merle R. Saferstein and her goal of helping others create legacy writing. She was director of educational outreach at the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center in Miami, FL and … Continue reading →

Keeping a Travel Journal You Love, Part 1

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[Summer often means travel and/or entertaining guests who have traveled to see you. Often times, we think of this as taking time away from our writing, but keeping a travel journal can keep us writing during our travels and during others’ visits to see us. I find no better advice on keeping a travel journal … Continue reading →

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Using Private Writing to Locate Your True Subjects

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This week’s article is a second excerpt from Rebecca McClanahan’s instructional book Write Your Heart Out: Exploring & Expressing What Matters To You, published by Walking Stick Press. It originaly appeared in 2003. One of the problems with being a student who is “good with words” is that you may learn early on how to … Continue reading →

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Hiring the Journal Keeper (and/or the Writer Within)

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the heart
and the learned skills of the conscious mind
 make appointments with each other, and keep them, and something begins to happen. Mary Oliver A Poetry Handbook Whether you are someone who sets out to write poems, essays, stories or articles or keeps journals, the thinking and analogy I make in this excerpt from … Continue reading →

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Double Issue: Writing Exercises to Inspire You to Write

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Here is a collection of writing ideas to keep you going for days as our schedules start to fill with fall commitments and shorter daylight. Let the Seasons’ Personas Inspire You to Write It’s the change of seasons now. Some of us feel crisp, chilly air as September wanes. Others of us may find other … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait on the Wall, A Writing Exercise

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Years ago one of my writing students wrote this line in class, “Ms. Failure paints her self-portrait, then hangs it on a wall in your world without asking permission.” He was speaking, he told us, of a time when he was “not facing the realities of the world.” His imagined self-portrait both set him straight … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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Writing as a Walker in the City (Or Anywhere)

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Writers write. That’s the definition. And sometimes, we-who-write feel cranky and rebellious toward our job. That can lead to not writing and then to becoming upset with ourselves for not writing, for not being writers. For the prompts I share this week, I’ve taken inspiration from Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”  and from the poet … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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Finding the Motto Writer Within

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We are motto (and affirmation) happy in our culture. We circulate phrases from manufacturers and social service organizations from “Just do it” to “Just say no,” from “You deserve a break today” to “I brake for animals.” After I studied creative writing in graduate school and was publishing poetry, I was just starting to use … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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Burying the Dutch Oven: A Writing Exercise for Discovery

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A writing colleague of mine once shared in an essay that when she angrily broke up with a beloved college boyfriend under duress because her father didn’t like him, she took the Dutch oven they used for cooking and buried it in the backyard before she left. The topic of the essay was finding him … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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‘Tis the Season for Lists

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[Note: I originally posted the following article in December, 2007. It’s holiday preparation time again and lists keep us sane. They can also keep us writing! Try the exercise I am suggesting based on writing lists poems. Try it more than once during this season of shopping lists, invitation lists and gift lists.] You might … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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Keeping a Writer’s Journal? 21 Prompts to Help You

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Keeping a notebook of short descriptions, thoughts, overheard conversations, quotes and even complaints and worries will keep us in the writing mode, even when our days are filled with other activities and concerns. I have been reading a wise and inspiring book called The Journal Keeper, A Memoir, by Phyllis Theroux. The author put together journal entries … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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Create the Mother Lode: Exercises for Short Writing That Leads to More Writing

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[This excerpt appear in slightly different form in the anthology Women Writing On Family: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing, edited by Carol Smallwood and Suzann Holland.] Even when life seems too busy to “really” write, you can work on gathering and storing images, details, and reflections about family life, personal experiences and memories. The brief … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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Keeping Journals Can Help Writers by Inviting Scrappiness

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In an essay William Matthews wrote as a contribution to my anthology The Writer’s Journal: 40 Writers and Their JournaIs, later reprinted in Keeping a Journal You Love, the late poet suggested that a journal “en­courages scrappiness. Things needn’t be finished, just stored, the way one might ‘store’ a five-dollar bill in a trou­ser pocket in the closet … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership or Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership.

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