There are lots of ways to organize structure in your writing projects. You could indefinitely enable your procrastination habit just by doing research on structure. So, I’ll try to keep this a fairly short post and still give you a few interpretation. Structure can apply to just about any form of writing, although some forms, […]
The second session of our Eight Weeks to a Book Object Writing Workshop at the Bixby Library marked a return to full strength in participants. WARMUP Our first exercise of the night was a warmup exercise to help getting our brains in writing mode. With a three minute timer, we each listed as many words […]
So it begins! Our summer workshop will step through the process of a writing project. We’ve got eight weeks to create a book object. That means by August 17th, each of us will have created from start to finish a book that we can give as a gift or keep as a souvenir of our […]
It was an engaging conversation at the Bixby Library writing workshop last night. Starting with some comments about the effectiveness of workshops relative to the diversity of voices involved, we ranged to memory and the body as landscape, and discussed briefly the ways word choice, syntax, and grammar can express character. FOUR-MINUTE DIARY We used […]
Another small group this week and that means we got to do more writing! The summer season is here and it seems people are still working out their schedules. A small group often means more intimate writing, though! WARMUP After chatting for a bit, we started to write with a four-minute diary. If you haven’t […]
A small group convened last night as our ongoing Bixby Library writing workshop returned. About half of our regulars were out of town or couldn’t make it, so I’ll reconstruct the workshop here, so everyone can follow along. That will make for a longer than usual post, so bear with us. Writing exercises and prompts are […]
How often do you feel like you have a moment to yourself? Not enough? The distractions and commitments of life pile up quickly and can distract us from pursuits and activities that enrich our lives. Our library is committed to helping regain some of those enriching rewards: learning new skills and knowledge, discovering the wonderful […]
Tonight I’ll share one of my favorite prompts to use in writing workshop. It’s all about imitation. WHAT’S THE USE IN IMITATION Mary Oliver writes in A Poetry Handbook, “Before we can be poets, we must practice; imitation is a very good way of investigating the real thing.” Imitation is how human beings (and elephants!) learn! Another […]
I’ve been experiencing little thrills of panic lately whenever I think about sitting down to face the blank page of my journal. It’s a tendency that has seemed to grow over the last month or two. Oftentimes, I attempt to cope by sketching on the page, and these drawings usually end up taking over the […]
If you’re not familiar with Margaret Mead or her writing, you should check her out. This article on brainpickings.org–Maria Popova’s fascinating, thought-provoking blog, just in case you needed more on the internet to impress you to disctraction–characterizes what she “wrote in a visionary 1933 letter that framed human sexuality as a matter of fluid attraction to […]
Muir Haman 