Write Anyway

Happy Halloween everyone! While Australians don’t much get into Halloween, that doesn’t mean I have forgotten about it by any means. In my childhood I had my share of dressing up, parties, candy, scary music, and scary people handing out candy.

Today, instead of just having my usual random word bank, I am going to have the word bank for those of you who don’t/haven’t celebrated Halloween along with a challenge for those who have!

Let’s get started!

For those of you who don’t have any Halloween memories, feel free to use this random word bank like you do other Wednesdays. You can also use this as an opportunity to dust off your research skills and find out the roots of the holiday.

Moon
Wind
Mystery
Clear
Pebbles
Wide
Black
Stick
Hide
Night

Have fun!

For those of you who have Halloween memories to share, why not put them in your biography? Good, bad, whatever; no matter how bland you might think the memories are, they could be interesting to someone else. What was your favourite candy? Your favourite costume? Did your family have any Halloween traditions you loved? Hated?

If you are writing your biography in a journal, you could do it scrapbook style and include a few pictures if you have any. Don’t forget the Halloween traditions and fun you have now! Do you go out with friends? Do you take your kids out? Do you hand make their costumes? All are memories you might want to share with someone sometime.

Enjoy! Explore your memories.

People love telling each other stories about their lives and experiences. Some had a hilarious teacher they could never get along with and others were mischief makers in school. Some people are somehow always in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Our lives are full of stories, both good and bad, and you might be surprised at the number of people who might want to read your story.

However, sitting down and writing your life story isn’t always as simple as “sitting down and writing your life story”. Often, writing about your experiences can send you through a roller coaster of emotion like you wouldn’t believe.

But that isn’t to say it’s not a good thing to get through those experiences. I’ve had my fair share of bad experiences, and while it was hard to get down on paper (on the computer, actually), it was one of the best things I could have done for myself. I’m still working on it because I can’t do much of the bad stuff at one time (it’s good to space these things out), but it feels a lot better having written it. It’s almost the same feeling of telling your best friend a deep, dark secret.

We can’t forget the good times, though! The good memories are what make writing your own story a lot of fun.

So where to start? You don’t have to start at the beginning (your birth) by any means. If you need an easy place to start, write: “On [today’s date] I decided to take a shot at writing my life story.”

See? Easy. Go from there. Tell me about yourself and all the places people in your life.

Get a start on that biography.

Hello and happy Monday! Well, maybe not so happy for some people and maybe a bit of an apathetic Monday for others…but I hope I can put some inspiration (and good tunes!) in your day to help it go along as fast as you want it to.

Welcome to another (short) week on Write Anyway. This week I thought it would be fun to explore the biographical side of writing and declare this week’s theme:

You.

Yep, this week is completely and truly all about you and your life and experiences. Past, present, future, dreams, regrets, passions, talents, bad habits…even your favourite colour.

It’s all about you.

I know entirely too many people who have led absolutely fascinating lives but continue to feel like they are uninteresting people with boring lives. Pft! You owe it to me and all the other biography lovers out there to write about your experiences! (Well, and maybe your family, too.)

I don’t claim to have a life that’s any more interesting than the next person, but I still have a file called “BIO” that I open every now and then to peck away at writing my life experiences.

To encourage you in your biographical journey, I’ve found some “I”/ “about me” tunes to help inspire you. They aren’t all happy, but life isn’t all happy, either.

So listen to some music as you sit down to start writing the story of your life! (And no, you don’t have to start at the beginning if you don’t want.)

Enjoy! (more…)

For the month of November, Write Anyway is going to run a bit differently than it usually does because of NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo.

First off, an intro to both events for those who aren’t familiar with them.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. In the month of November, participants’ goal is to write a novel with 50,000 words (that’s the minimum, not the maximum). On the site you can get involved in regional rivalries, as for help, talk to others who are writing in your genre, and more.

NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. All you have to do is post at least once a day for the entire month of November. That includes the weekends. By luck of random draw, you get the chance to win some awesome prizes (one of which is from me) for participating. (Keep in mind she does check to make sure you posted every day!) You can post either on the blog available on the NaBlo site or on your own blog.

So, for next, week, we’ll have a short theme week (Monday through Wednesday) and then get right into NaNo/NaBlo posts on the first.

Once a day for NaNo and once a day for NaBlo (two posts a day) I’ll be putting up something for participants. There will be questions for you to answer, dares for you to try to incorporate in your stories, and more.

If you’re not participating in either of these (though I encourage you to do so!), you can still use the prompts for your writing/blog.

Good luck to all the participants!

Thank goodness it’s Friday. It’s been a long week and I am definitely ready for the weekend, even if I am going to have to do some overtime work getting prepped for NaNo and NaBlo posts on this site and others in November.

Today is the traditional Friday free write. Five minutes, no going back and editing until the five minutes is up, and that’s about it.

Yesterday I listed thirteen things I feel passionate about, including my husband. Today I’m going to put up the email I sent to a friend of mine a few months before I got married. I think this is a good example of the passion I have for him.

Happy Friday!

(more…)

It’s Thursday Thirteen Time! Thursday Thirteens are only one reason I love Thursdays, but they’re a lovely reason. Lists are fun, easy, and interesting.

This week’s list is going to be difficult because there are a lot of things I care about, but I’m hesitant to apply ‘passion’ to all of them. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

1. My husband. This is the love kind of passion. He’s a loving and devoted soul, a sexy man with an Australian accent… How could I not be passionate about this man?
2. Editing. Yes, I am a freelance writer, but I’m also a freelance editor. I love, love, love marking up my own and other people’s work.
3. Writing. There, I feel better. I’ve added it to the list. Yes, I am very passionate about writing. It saved me when I was younger, and it’s a pleasure to build my career as a woman.
4. Books. For similar reasons to writing, I love books. They provided the escape I needed as a child, and I’m honoured to be sent books to review today.
5. Treatment of overweight women. This would definitely been the passion that makes you angry and want to rant instead of the love passion. I am so utterly disgusted by some of the treatment inflicted on overweight people. Not all of it – you lose my sympathy when you’re morbidly obese and continue to eat McDonald’s – but some of it is just ridiculous and unnecessary.
6. Self-centred people. This is another anger/passion one. This is about all the people who are so caught up in their own little bubbles that they don’t pay attention to when they insult people, get in people’s way (the people who suddenly stop walking in the mall), and the people who are so involved in la-la land that they threaten other people’s lives. (Can you tell my husband and I almost got into a car accident because some genius driver?)
7. Cooking! Since coming to Australia and having stopped eating CRAP, I have a new appreciation for tastes, textures, and good quality natural food. It’s only natural I like cooking it as well as eating it.
8. Sex. Yeah, I had to say it. I’m young, have a considerate lover, and am energetic. I don’t think I need to say more.
9. Scrapbooking! I’m a scrapbooker, even if I don’t do it as often as I would like to. Pictures, stickers, papers… I love it all.
10. Office supplies. Oh yes, I’m an office supplies addict. I can’t get enough of the stuff.
11. Good bras. There is nothing like being supported like you should be with a beautiful bra. I’m am ‘blessed’ woman and can appreciate a good bra after so many years in ill-fitting ones. Go to a lingerie shop and get properly measured!
12. Music. I use music a lot to go along with my writing. I use it as inspiration as well as a way to get me in certain moods for my writing.
13. Australia! How could I not be passionate about this beautiful country? It’s a truly unique place in the world that everyone should visit at least once.

So there’s my list. What are you passionate about?

Hello and welcome to Wednesday! I love Wednesdays when I’ve forgotten it’s Wednesday because it means that I’m halfway through the week already.

As you know, we’re talking about passion this week. Any sort of passion, anything that gets you going. You’re not limited to passionate love or passion about politics – you can write about whatever you like.

Also as you know, this is the last full week of October, which means NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo (if you’re not familiar with them, please comment and I’ll put up a post about them) are starting next week!

To get everyone geared up for those challenges (if you aren’t participating in either one, that’s okay – everyone can use a bigger challenge every once in a while), I’m going to post a mega-random word list challenge today.

I’m going to be putting up three lists of ten words each. Your challenge is to do one or both of the following (depending on how much you like to challenge yourself):

Three short stories, one story for each list of words.
OR
One larger story including all the words from all the lists.

It’s your choice. Either way, be sure to link to your response in the comments if you complete this challenge on your blog.

Here goes! Good luck, and have fun.

List One:
Tiger
Serenity
Koala
Globe
Fan
Bead
Ribbon
Felt
Metal
Line

List Two:
Ink
Cold
Ring
Stone
Granite
Infinite
Vanilla
Dollar
Nose
Rim

List Three:
Snow
Wind
Grey
Schedule
Curl
Orb
Chimney
Upright
Tape
Flowing

Passion:

strong feeling or emotion
heat: the trait of being intensely emotional
rage: something that is desired intensely; “his rage for fame destroyed him”
mania: an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action
a feeling of strong sexual desire
love: any object of warm affection or devotion; “the theater was her first love”; “he has a passion for cock fighting”

Passion can come in many forms, be it a romantic, candlelit dinner or a rousing political speech. It can be quiet, loud, hard and unforgiving, or gentle and comforting.

What are you passionate about in your life?

Write about whatever stirs you, be it the love in your life or the latest political issue that really gets you going. Is there a particular book you’re reading or have just finished that has left you wanting all your friends to read it so you can all talk about it? Is there an issue in your community that isn’t being addressed that puts in speech mode – even if the only one you can give your speech to is your dog?

Examples of some of the things that get me going are my Pet Peeves over on Fiction Scribe. Some are merely small annoyances, but sometimes I tap into the real gems that make me so annoyed I could rant on about them for ages. Other things I get impassioned about are things like babies being fed things from McDonalds and the way overweight people are treated by other people, stores, etc.

It can truly be anything you care to write about in any form. Even write your own speech if you care to. Pick something that moves you and write your heart out.

Welcome to another week on Write Anyway - and the last full week of October. Why is this significant? Because after October comes November, and November is when NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are happening. As this is a writing prompts site, I plan to do something a little different for next month.

I’ll explain more at the end of this week.

I want to end this month on a strong note. A very strong note.

Passion. This week I plan to have us explore what we are well and truly passionate about, be it sex, money, or what your favourite footy team is doing. It can be a political issue, a family issue, or a book that makes you want to get up and do something. Whichever makes you feel that energy inside you.

First off is Feels Like Today by Rascal Flatts. Not only are they one of my favourite country bands, they also play a lot of songs that are full of hope, which can be what inspires and drives people. This song is about, if nothing else, passion for a new day.

I’m putting up Roxanne for a couple reasons. One, in the Moulin Rouge version, I love the man’s voice. (Not Ewan MacGregor, but the other man.) Also, this song is very full of passion and energy.

A note - I used the song put to Phantom of the Opera because the actual Moulin Rouge version isn’t appropriate for all ages.

Roxanne - Moulin Rouge version

And the list wouldn’t be complete without a love song…

Far Away - Nickelback

Write anyway, writing prompts, music, music inspiration, inspiration, nanowrimo, nablopomo, passion, politics, rascal flatts, feels like today, roxanne, moulin rouge, ewan macgregor, phantom of the opera, far away, nickelback

This week I’ve asked you to write about all kinds of places, both real and imagined. I’ve asked you to write about your experiences by tapping in to all your senses.

Today for your Friday Free Write, I would like you to write about your most favorite place in the world. Write about why it’s your favorite, when it became your favorite, and what feelings it inspires in you. If it’s outdoors, feel free to get into what kind of weather makes it perfect and what season is the best to visit. If it’s indoors, detail even the small knick-knacks if that’s part of what makes it your favorite space.

However, it’s not always the far away places that excite us, inspire our imaginations, and make us feel safe. Today you can feel free to write about a place in your own home or a place across the world. As long as it’s your favorite space, then write out your heart about it.

Remember, free write for at least five minutes. Free write means no looking back over what you wrote or going back to edit.

Have fun!

Picture one: I can’t remember the name of the falls, but it’s a stop in New Zealand between Waitomo and Bridal Veil falls. (As far as size, these falls were more impressive than the Bridal Veil falls.

Picture two: Welcome to my desk. It’s a little different now because I don’t have the second monitor to work on, but it’s still the same desk. It’s in the spare room of our flat and is my little space in the world.

Hello once again. I apologize for taking yesterday off, but when it comes to health or blogging, I tend to choose health.

I hope you’ve had some fun with this week’s theme. I don’t think I’ve met a person who hasn’t travelled or wanted to travel. How about you?

For this week’s Thursday Thirteen, I’m going to list…

1. Niagara Falls, Canada - In my opinion, the Canadian Falls are more impressive than the American ones, but it’s a beautiful place nonetheless. I’d love to go back there.
2. Toronto, Canada - I loved the lively markets they have there.
3. Canberra, Australia - A beautiful place, but a map is absolutely necessary.
4. Waitomo, New Zealand - This is an absolutely gorgeous place and I recommend it to anyone visiting north island.
5. Mt. Beauty, Australia - My husband and I loved this little mountain town with it’s ample supply of awesome views. We loved it so much, we’re planning on spending another weekend up there sometime.
6. Christchurch, New Zealand - We didn’t get a long time to spend there due to idiot drivers, missed planes, etc, but what we saw of it was very nice.
7. Lake’s Entrance, Australia - I wasn’t all that impressed. It was a bit too commercial for me to like it.
8. Kerang, Australia - I’ve wandered around this town quite a few times now, and I’ve grown rather fond of it. There is a lot of good food to be had there.
9. St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota - It’s mostly just another big city to me, but there is something about the twin cities in winter, all decked out for Christmas, that is beautiful to me.
10. Green Bay, Wisconsin - I went to university for a year here. The campus is beautiful, but I’m not all that impressed by the city.
11. Madison, Wisconsin - Same goes for Madison - They have a lovely campus.
12. Melbourne, Australia - I love this place. It is full of life in ways you can never quite understand until you’ve been here.
13. Kiama, Australia - Someday I’ll live in Kiama. It’s gorgeous, close to the ocean, and has a lot of beautiful views and nature walks within driving distance.

Where have you been/would like to go?

I’ve done my first Thursday Thirteen over at The Book Stacks! Pop over and say hello.

Instead of leaving everyone to think I’m a slacker blogger, I wanted to let you know I’m quite ill at the moment. I’m to the point of being even too exhausted to blog from bed.

I’ll be back to normal soon, but until then, posting might be a bit sporadic.

Thank you for your time and patience.

~JM

There’s definitely something to that saying, you know. Even if it’s just a matter of locations around your own home. Where I live, I prefer doing work writing from my desk in the spare room, but I have found I have an easier time novel writing in my bedroom, strangely enough.

Yesterday I posted up some songs about various locations (feel free to post links to your favourite location songs in the comments) which I hope helped you get in the mood to write about this week’s theme.

Today I want you to think about a place you have travelled to. Where it was doesn’t matter, so long as you can get a clear picture of it in your mind.

Write about that place. Was it a completely foreign place? What made it different? Was there anything there that made it feel, look, smell, etc the same as ‘home’? Did you have to dress differently? Learn a different language? What about the food? The people? What did you like/dislike about the place? Do you want to go back?

Alternatively, if you have yet to travel and thus don’t have a place to write about, try writing about a place you would like to go. Real or made up, it’s your choice. Write about what the place is like or what you think it will be like. What makes you want to travel there? What appeals to you? What doesn’t appeal to you? If/when you go will you have to learn a new language or dress differently than you normally would?

Tell me about your strange and wonderful places.

First off, I apologize for being late. I somehow acquired a flu virus and have been a bit ill (and stuck in bed for the most part for that matter). Of course, with it being me, it’s not your typical flu virus either. Bah. I’m still working from bed today, but I’m on the mend.

But enough of the negative vibes, let’s think of something happy.

This week’s theme is inspired by my wanting to get out in the beautiful weather instead of being stuck in bed – otherwise stated as wishing I was somewhere else.

For its large population, the United States has one of the lowest numbers of citizens holding passports in the world. (Go figure.) Australia has one of the highest, so my husband gets a bit confused when I ‘ooo’ and ‘aah’ about how Australians take ‘so many’ holidays and travel so much.

Before I came to Australia, the one place I had been (I went with a friend and her parents) was Toronto, Canada, which wasn’t exactly all that far from my Wisconsin residence. This week I want you to talk about where you’ve been and where you’re going (or want to go). Or, alternatively, if you don’t want to travel, talk about why you don’t. (I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t want to, so I’m curious to find out why. And no using ‘we can’t afford it’ or the like – this is dreaming stuff, not calculating your actual next vacation.)

Of course, I have to start with a song about my beloved new home…

Land Down Under - Men at Work

New York, New York - Frank Sinatra

And, of course, if we’re talking songs about locations…

I’ve Been Everywhere - Johnny Cash

If you’re interested in travel, 451Press has a lot of US city blogs (scroll down to the bottom) - everywhere from New York to Seattle so be sure to check those out.

Before I get started, I wanted to highlight Amanda’s post on time in which she responds to the quotes I listed on Tuesday with her own thoughts.

If/when you respond to the prompts be sure to leave a comment and let me know.

Welcome to yet another Friday free write. I find it funny how the world works sometimes. As you know, this week’s theme is time. Last night, my husband and I ended up having a long talk about our past. For a while in our relationship, I was being manipulated by a “friend” of ours and I was not at all a nice person to him. The manipulation does not make me innocent, but it does still mess a little with my sense of who I am today.

What I am struggling with now, about a year and a half later, is learning to forgive myself for what I have done, as my husband has long since forgiven me. I’m learning to look at what I did and accept what I did so I can get to the point of self-forgiveness. I wish I could go back and lessen the damage I did.

What I am leading up to is what I would like you to write about today.

With the subject of time comes the thoughts and wishes that we would have done something different. If we had only done this, it could have lead to a better that. What would have happened if I had summoned the courage to ask him/her out? Stand up to my parents? Buy that new car?

For five minutes (at least) free write (no editing, no stopping) about something you wish you could go back and change. If there’s nothing you wish you could go back and change, write about a big event in your life that would have lead you down a different path if the outcome had been different. Explore the possibilities.