Photo Prompt: The Falls

Some visual inspiration.

First Lines Challenge: Day 14

As I watched the sun beat down on her shimmering skin, I knew.


Practice the power of opening lines. Take the 30 Day First Lines Challenge.

Fresh Flowers

Pink petals unfold
embracing the rising sun,
cool dew glistening in light.

Beautiful roses
in a garden colored bright,
snipped, gracing a table top.


*Written in sedoka form.

First Lines Challenge: Day 13

Two prancing goats dented the roof of my car.


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A Walk to Remember for #ThrowbackThursday

A Walk to Remember (11/1/2003)

Beautiful cloudless sky
Endless mass of stars above
Two forms walked forward
Walked only looking ahead

He held her hand in his
She rested her head on his arm
Silently they walked in sync along the path
Only one set of footsteps could be heart
Just one powerful heartbeat could be sensed
The pair was one.

Every night the pair walked
Hand in hand for hours on end
Every night they never spoke
Just cherished the moments together

This evening would be the final night 
Until a year passed
For he was leaving
And she would be left behind

This night their pattern was dismissed
For he broke the silence
And she broke the touch between them

"I love you," he whispered silently
She looked up at him teary-eyed
"I love you, too," she answered 
With a hint of sadness in her voice

He grabbed her hand
She placed her head on his shoulder
They walked on again until the night was over

Until the miles no longer stood between he and she
A walk to remember this would be.

A poem I wrote when I was 16, presented for Throwback Thursday. Barf! It reads like more like a short story than a poem... a bad, broken, improperly formatted story... and apparently I didn't realize you don't have to capitalize every line... and that poems should flow instead of read awkwardly... and that it is just completely horrible.

Do you have old work that makes you cringe?

Top 4 Reasons Writers Avoid Writing

I've been there. I'm sure you have to. For one reason or another, you avoid that deep down biting desire to write. That story you've imagined for years, written in your head those late sleepless nights, that's been gnawing at your brain every time you pick up a pen, sits gathering dust in your mental library. But why?



Author Ronlyn Domingue explores this walls many writers hit in her article, "Listen to the Deep Know: The Urge for a Writer's Life."

1. Expectations. "You might ask yourself, "I want to write, but what would THEY think?" Ask yourself instead, "What do I want?" In the end, it's your life -- and your stories."
2. Circumstances. "Your path might be cluttered with obstacles. You want to get an MFA, but you don't think you can spare the cost or the time."
3. Fear. "This is the worst. It's connected to the darkness of the unknown and the heart of self-doubt. Sometimes, you wonder whether it matters if you write."
4. Stability. This is my own personal addition. Many writers may have good, solid careers.  For me, I have a job in healthcare with a promising future. If my career stays on this upward path, why try for something uncertain?

The whole point is that if you have the drive to write, you have to take chances.  I'm not saying just quit your job and go for it but work it in the wee hours of the night.  Set aside time.  Don't give up.  Your "deep know" won't.

First Lines Challenge: Day 12

The howling wind wrapped my body in a cold, wet cocoon as I raced down the empty street, my arms the only glue holding me together.


Practice the power of opening lines. Take the 30 Day First Lines Challenge.

Growing as a Writer

I have a binder full of poetry and short stories that I wrote from about age 12 to 18 stashed away for safekeeping. While there isn't anything in it I'd dare be proud of today, each is evidence of my growth as a writer.  For instance:

Why Me? 1999 (I was around 12)
As I look into the cup
the cup in front of me
I see my life
dark and unfree
it hurts to cry
through the tears I can barely see
all I think about,
why me?

I believe it's the first poem I ever wrote and even though I can recite every word...ugh, I cringe! Luckily, I had a habit as a teenager to date my work with at least the year, so the dates give me a timeline of my writing.  I can see change in my ability from the first poems I ever wrote to the last entry when I was 18.

Depression Reigns (2005)
Pain took advantage of the circumstances
Sorrow is once again my home
If only I had the courage to bleed again
I might feel better with depression on the throne.

To each good thought
he screams off with their head
To each wonderful memory
the dungeon is where they make their bed

He severed the lines that allow me to smile
the laugh I once had has been captured for a while
He drains my energy
But retains my tears for their daily trip down

Some may call him a tyrant
Some may find him vile
I call him my grand king
After all, I cannot escape him
So I gave him the crown.

Whoa at the teenage angst! Without a doubt I know that I could take any one piece from my binder and create a totally different, vastly improved version of my old ideas... but I won't.  I really do want those poems and short stories to stand in time.  They may not make me proud of my writing ability back then, but they serve as static reminders of my love of creativity and the written word.  More importantly, they are evidence of my growth as a writer.

Part of the importance of a writer's journal is that it keeps record of your ideas and work.  Not only can you revisit ideas once discarded, you can see how you grow as you become a more involved and talented writer.  Often times I laugh at the silly or typical words and images I used in past writing, but I can also see how I used figurative language and other literary devices without even being aware of their purpose.

The whole point of this post is to urge you to keep everything you write, especially that which doesn't make you the proudest.  There may come a day when you can revisit that piece and turn it into the masterpiece you envisioned when you first put it to paper.  You need to see evidence of your growth.  It will be a great tool those days (or weeks or months) that you need a confidence boost.

First Lines Challenge: Day 11

I woke with a start, heart racing and head pounding.


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First Lines Challenge: Day 10

It shattered, the broken webs crawling toward the sole keeper that could halt its fragmentation.


Practice the power of opening lines. Take the 30 Day First Lines Challenge.

Photo Prompt: At the Lake

Use a photo to inspire your writing.

First Lines Challenge: Day 9

A loud screeching slid closer as she shut her eyes and slowly exhaled.


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App Review: Writing Prompts by Writing.com

One app I love always having at hand is Writing Prompts by Writing.com.  It features hundreds of prompts for writing exercises in its $1.99 app. The prompts are placed into five categories: sketches, scenes, texts, words, and news.

• Sketches provides a color, genre, type of writing, and three drawn images. A most interesting take on prompts, sketches really gets your imagination going. 
• Scenes gives a place, brief character description, object, and weather description. 
• Texts shows more classic writing prompts (ex: "A bus full of people vanishes"). 
• Words provides random groups of words that, just like sketches, is more unique. I found that with either of the two prompt types I get a clear image in mind which is especially helpful when I have writer's block. 
• News prompts allows the app to search the web based on a random keyword and give you a headline to use as your prompt.  Tap refresh and a new one appears.

Users can use portrait or landscape modes and shake or swipe to change prompts, although the shake didn't work well for me. The app allows you to make a favorites list of prompts and make notes that you can email, which worked great on my iPhone.  If you desire more prompts, there are four $0.99 prompt packs each containing 250 new scene elements, 400 new words, and 100 new sketches.  According to the in-app information, with all five of the prompt packs there are over 3 billion combinations available on the scene prompt generator alone.  If users want to avoid buying packs later, they can go ahead and purchase A+ Writing Prompts for $4.99, containing all prompt packs for $1 less than buying them separately. I'm still using the basic app without the need for more, but I like that it's available if I need it.

Writing Prompts is available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire.

First Lines Challenge: Day 8

Shivering hands tore into the scarlet letter if only to drown the sound of his fading footsteps.


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