Tag: Writer Zen Garden

  • A Is For… A Letter!

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    Welcome, friends! And Happy April!

    Every year, in the month of April, there is an international blogging challenge called the A to Z Blog Challenge. I\’ve done it in previous years, but as with many of my writing friends, the last couple years have been difficult. Between the pandemic; war in Ukraine (Slava Ukraini!); the George Floyd riots and subsequent awakening of the American people to the continuing evils of racism, misogyny, and homophobia; the climate emergency; and the rise of Christo-fascism in the U.S. and around the world, it\’s been a difficult climate in which to be a creative. It\’s easy to feel lost in the midst of all of the onslaught.

    I think it\’s important to remember that we are physical beings. We aren\’t avatars, and we don\’t live in social media: we are flesh and blood beings with physical bodies and THAT is where our connection, our reality, must live.

    And therein I found my theme for this month\’s blog challenge. I decided to join at the last minute; I literally wrote the theme out yesterday and had to ask myself, \”Am I nuts? Do I really want to do a 30 day challenge right now after coming off a severe dry spell?\” In answer, my brain\’s squirrels awoke and not only was the answer yes, but I got ideas for my other sites and themes.

    Thus, here I am.

    Which brings me to today\’s subject: letters!

    What do you get in your physical mailbox? Do you get garbage mail, paper spam, bills, and nothing interesting? Nothing uplifting? Connecting you to people from far away?

    Well, I LOVE getting \”non-bill\” mail. It turns out, you get what you put out there, and that\’s doubly true for receiving letters. If you write letters, you will get letters back. Pretty magical, nu?

    And so my theme this month will be around my love of penpalling. I\’ll share some pictures of letters and postcards I\’ve received (never with the sender\’s address visible), and I\’ll talk about how I meet other penpals and snail mail aficionados. I\’ll even talk a little bit about mail art. While I don\’t consider myself a mail artist, I am fascinated by it and have participated in a couple Artist Trading Card swaps.

    But for today, I\’ll simply close with an invitation. Would you like to be my penpal? If so, please drop me a note at a.catherine.noon AT gmail DOT com and include your name, how you like to be called (if your nickname is different than your given name), and your mailing address. International folx welcome – I just got in a new set of international stamps. 🙂

    Tell me, Dear Reader, what do you like to receive in the mail?

  • Magic Monday – Fun with Prompts

    Magic Monday – Fun with Prompts

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    So, it\’s like this.  I was noodling ideas for my Monday blog posts, and came up with an idea to share some of the goofy results from Prompt Circles over the past several years.  Today\’s is about … well, you\’ll see in a moment.  I entered \”funny pictures dog bathtub\” into Google, thinking I\’d find something funny.

    THIS poor sod is one of the first pictures that popped up and I think I pulled something laughing.

    For those of you unfamiliar with Prompt Circles and writing prompts, a little explanation will help.  A writing prompt is designed to help germinate ideas, and can take many forms: a short statement, an image, a scent, a song… anything that will give the writer something to start from.  The Prompt Circles that I run in Writer Zen Garden are designed to be a group event where we share prompts, write for a set amount of time, (say ten or fifteen minutes), and then those who wish to, can share what they wrote.

    A popular tool is called the Amazing Story Generator, which is a lot of fun to play with.  I\’ve pasted details on it below the prompt, in case you want to try it out for yourself.  Without further ado, I give you:

    Suffering from amnesia / a talking dog / refused to leave the bathtub

    “No.”

    “Ralph, come on. You have to get out of that tub! Now!”

    “Why? And who are you, anyway?”

    “Oh, Ralph. I’m Louise.”

    “Louise, come on. Just leave him in there.”

    “Dad, you can’t. He’s gonna clog the drain!”

    “Janey, don’t whine. And put your phone down; this does not need to go on Facebook.”

    “Oh, Mom.”

    “I’m hungry. Are you people part of my pack? Where’s the food?”

    “Yes, hello? Animal Control? Harry, I got through. Yes, hello? This is Louis Hancock and six-two-five Crescent. The dog won’t get out of the tub.”

    “Damn right I won’t. None of you will give me a straight answer. I’m hungry, too. Hey, is that a cat? I could eat a cat.”

    “Mooom!”

    “Yes, he’s a Siberian Husky, but he’s from Canada, not Siberia. He doesn’t have any Russian accent at all. What? Who? No, Harry’s from Poughkeepsie. The dog’s from Saskatoon.”

    “Janey, your mother said no Facebook. Ralph, you may not eat the cat. You love that cat. You’ve known him since he was a kitten.”

     

    \"2016-01-04If this seems like fun to you, give it a try.  The Amazing Story Generator is a lot of fun.  You can use it with your family, your church or community group, or your writers group.  Or, give yourself a challenge and post the results on your blog.

    Or, give it a try with this prompt.  Set your timer on your smartphone for ten minutes and see what comes out of your pen or keyboard.  Have fun!

    If you\’re near Chicago, join me in Writer Zen Garden:

    The Writer Zen Garden:  The Writers Retreat Blog | Forum | Twitter | Meetup