Category Archives: process

First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. [Octavia Butler] I forgot how much I love to write when the sky is dark. In the wee morning hours the words swirl. Under the dark night sky the words wobble and bend. I write for work, completing tasksContinue reading “open invitation no. 78: a writing habit”

Whimsy doesn’t care if you are the driver or the passenger; all that matters is that you are on your way. [Bob Goff] Look around your corner of the world and find something whimsical. Take a picture. Write about it. (Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.) *Remember, you don’t have toContinue reading “open invitation no. 73: discover whimsy”

Sometimes it’s time to regroup. Please accept my apologies for missing a couple of invitations. I’m grateful for your grace. Sometimes it’s time to regroup. I hope you’ll share your story and encourage someone else to share their story, too. *Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept theContinue reading “open invitation no. 63: regroup”

A storm is either brewing, raging, or settling for everyone. Always. Everyone you meet, everyone you scroll past on social media, everyone who is walking on this big rock of a planet has a storm brewing, a storm raging, or a storm calming around them. It is true for you. It is true for me.Continue reading “open invitation no. 56: Storms”

Read your writing aloud while you draft. I constantly read my writing aloud as I draft. This allows me to: Hear the sound of the words. Slow down and consider the meaning. This allows me to craft the writing and make the words bubble or burrow. Try it. Read your draft aloud. Hear the soundContinue reading “open invitation no. 54: out loud”

There are times writing goes awry. An email from an #SOSmagic story collector arrived in my inbox with a link to her post for this week. I mentally slapped my forehead with my palm because I realized invitation number 46 didn’t go live last Thursday. It takes a matter of minutes to fix it, butContinue reading “open invitation no. 46: oops”

Sometimes, if you write fast without thinking, the words will break through. “Every writer I know has trouble writing.”—Joseph Heller I’ve been avoiding the post box. My blog writing is the writing I do for me. It’s the writing I do for fun. It’s the writing that is most unexpected. My blog writing is theContinue reading “open invitation no. 45: write fast”

Take space for writing. Where do you take space for writing? It can be literal…where do you write? At the kitchen table? On your couch? Out back when the sun is rising in the sky? It can be figurative. What kind of mind space do you create so you can write? Deep breaths? Angry outbursts?Continue reading “open invitation no. 42: writing space”