Alone is one way: I pick up a pen and write for ten minutes. More fun is doing it with another writer(s).
In November, Flashnano issues a prompt a day on Facebook. November has become my most creative month because of it.
Some FWs can be turned into flash fiction.
My first FW partner was a French friend who has a Masters in creative writing from a Florida university. When her work schedule made meetings impossible, my husband, also a writer, and I declared Tuesdays sacred for a FW session.
We've been joined by a friend. Comparing the three efforts after the ten minutes of writing to a prompt is fascinating. Sometimes we overlap in our observations but other times...? One would think we were writing on different planets.
We alternate who delivers the prompts.
Where do we get the prompts?
If we FW in a café we find a "victim" and when s/he is out of earshot, we start our 10 minutes. If there are no "victims" we will select a random sentence from a book or we might also use a sign, a piece of furniture, a building, anything within our visual range.
If one of us can't join, we will send the prompt by email to the missing writer. I post all three FWs on my blog weekly.
My husband and I will often spot something as we wander and photograph it for future prompts. Ideally, it is best to start writing immediately after a prompt is identified, but there should not be any hard and fast rules. A backlog of possible prompts is FW security.
FWs can be like the scales a musician practices or the warm up before a run.
I consider writing daily necessary for my craft. Blogs, which sometimes start as FWs, can serve the purpose as well as FWs. I think of the quote of Jascha Heifetz. “If I don't practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.”
Granted, a musical performance is different from a written piece, but the concept holds true.
Note: visit www.dlnelsonwriter.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment