WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

For many years, every morning I write down three phrases that I call my ‘daily happinesses.’ These are simple – usually appealing – images that help me peek into another, more objective, reality.

In a way, they are also writing prompts. Each one of these little phrases conjures a vignette, a mood, a story, a person. For example: “Planning for a garden of rare and wild roses.” “Penguins diving into the sea.” “The silence before applause.” (more…)

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

When I moved to England at age eleven I remember being amused by the amount of conversation people spent discussing the weather. The reason was that it hardly ever seemed to change. The weather was pretty much misty and drizzly and sometimes it might rain harder, other times it might be so damp it just felt like rain … I think in the seven years I lived there, I saw a cloudless sky perhaps twice. And yet every rain seemed different. That difference was in myself, not in the weather.

I tend to love rainy days. They instill in me a feeling of coziness, of stories, of Sussex. Firesides. Long walks through the forest, discovering wildlife, the gentle patter on leaves. Bluebells by the brook. Yellow raincoats and Wellington boots.

When you’re writing a description, you’re trying to evoke a mood around whatever it is you’re describing. Metaphors help, and so do adjectives. In this week’s writing practice, you’re going to use weather as the backdrop for the mood you’re trying to evoke.

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Fun Writing Practice

Describe a thunderstorm from the point of view of someone who is going mad (think King Lear!)

Do not describe the person, or going mad, and don’t use any personal pronouns.

Now describe the same thunderstorm from the point of view of someone who is on their way to meet their true love. Again, don’t talk about this person, or love, or include any action: just describe the thunderstorm so that it appears exciting, passionate, inspiring …

If you’d like to choose a different kind of weather, by all means do so. For instance, a blizzard can be described as terrifying or cozy depending on the mood you’re trying to evoke. Even a hot, still summer afternoon can seem sinister if done well; Raymond Chandler comes to mind.

A spring dawn can be bittersweet and nostalgic or filled with anticipation and delight, depending on whether the clouds are thickening and eclipsing the sunshine or they’re tinged with pink and gold. A breeze can be snapping or balmy. Stars can seem lonely or twinkling.

Have fun with this weather practice – you’ll find it helps in mastering a mood in your story or essay. You may also find it helps you master your own mood.

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Daily Happinesses

• getting into a warm car on a cold night

• realizing that less is more: clearing the clutter

• heavy velvet curtains

• the blueness of the sky against newly fallen snow

• sweeping away the cobwebs

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

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Writing Practice – Men and Women

What is the difference in writing style between men and women? And why is it important that we learn to view the world and people through the eyes of both men and women?

Along with millions of others this past week, I have longed to be able to do more than send money to help the survivors of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti. I’m not a doctor, nor a relief worker, nor a journalist – so what can I do? Money is good – it helps. But it leaves a buffer between me and the actual people to whom I could reach out. I want to be with them. (more…)

I love conclusions. I remember a friend saying that she dreaded coming to the final chapters of a novel because she couldn’t bear the story to end. I’m the opposite: I love the moment the story draws to a close; the conflict over; the exhausting seeking ended; the relationship resolved; the tears drying; the murderer found… (more…)

We had a good class today – at least it was better than I expected, given that it was the first English class after the holiday break and I figured the students wouldn’t be in the groove yet. I certainly wasn’t. (more…)

I used to be a fortune-teller – this is something only a few people know about me. I actually had a psychic practice in NYC, where I offered Tarot and other readings.

Fortune telling is an odd practice though. I don’t predict, for instance; it’s more an insight into the situation at hand and how it might develop. I try to guide the questioner back on the right path by letting the symbols resonate with them. I am merely the cards’ conduit or interpreter. Sometimes it feels more like therapy than fortune-telling.

I’m still called on at times by those who know I do this, and practice it regularly for myself. On New Year’s Eve I like to look back and look ahead. There’s something about this time of year that energizes the forces that work through symbols or intuition. I try to limit myself to one question or situation that I need guidance on. Today, instead of using Tarot cards, I take out my crystal ball. After about twenty minutes of focused meditation, a grey mist swirls across the surface and I am ready to ask my question.

Should I continue to write, or is it just a pretentious longing and nothing will ever come of it?

The answer comes as swiftly as a sword: Should you continue breathing or will nothing come of that?

So … that’s my fortune for 2010.

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is a peculiar one. Some of my friends are in Florida, basking in the sunshine. Our president is on beautiful Oahu, where I love to imagine him in peaceful sunshine, with the trade winds to soothe and rejuvenate. I have friends from long ago who still gather every year at the castle they own on the west coast of Scotland. Still others are stacking wood for their wood stoves and cozying up in intimate family togetherness. Others are partying and feasting in the city.

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This morning I was engaged in a particularly spirited intriguing Twitter connection – a highlight being introducing two fellow authors to each other.

I wondered afterwards why I am on Twitter and why people think I am. Pretty much everyone I know who tweets regularly is selling something. They are not explicit sellers, they’re implicit sellers. They have wonderful websites that engage, expatiate, offer, market… in a word: they sell. (more…)

Why do we garden? Gardens are backdrops to every Arabian Night tale, crucial to Alice in Wonderland’s mysterious adventures, vital in some Shakespearean dramas. Whether it is a miniature nature corner in a city apartment or a famous estate designed for an emperor or a queen, the garden is a symbol of something internal and eternal in each of us. Ideally, of course, the whole world is our garden. But it’s also one of the most personal, daily aspects of our lives.

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