Z is for Zealous: The Bold Writer from A-to-Z -

Z is for zeal·ous

adjective

adjective: zealous

having or showing zeal.

Synonyms include some of our other a-to-z words: committed, keen, fierce. Also intense, passionate, fervent and one of my favorite - fanatical.

QUOTE:

“What a pleasure it is to be in the company of a writer with enthusiasm for his subject! It doesn't matter what the subject is; I want and ichthyologists to be as committed to fish as Mayor is two prints – to make me think there's nothing more important to him. This is the personal connection that every reader wants with a writer; if we care about the writer will follow him into subjects that we could have sworn we never wanted to know about. The blind attachment of a hobbyist to his hobby is as interesting a right force as the hobby itself.”

William Zinsser

Questions

For most of us, love for writing is a given. How does being zealous about writing differ from your love for writing? How is it the same?

What are you most zealous about in your writing?

Lists

Make a list of 5 to 10 writers who are great role models of a zealous writer.

Make a list of 5 to 10 qualities of the above writers you would most like to emulate.

Bonus: Which quality will you start with?

What one thing will you do to emulate that writer specifically?

Traditional Writing Prompts:

My zeal for writing is....

When my zeal for writing goes away, I.....

= = = = =

I believe anyone who has completed the A to Z Challenge is a zealous writer. I honor you, my fellow participants, with this final post of The Bold Writer from A to Z with Julie Jordan Scott.

The A to Z Blogging Challenge involves creative bloggers from all across the world who cover a wide gamut of topics from "whatever pops into my daily life" to infinittesimal details about unique and varied subjects. To check them out - visit The A to Z Challenge Blog.

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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 08:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

Y is for Yearning: The Bold Writer from A-to-Z

Yearning = noun

1. deep longing, especially when accompanied by tenderness or sadness: a widower's yearning for his wife.
2. an instance of such longing.

Quotes

“I didn't know then what I wanted, but the ache for it was palpable.”
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Mermaid Chair

“She had left me thirsty and all my life would be thirst and longing for what I had lost before I found it.”
― Jean Rhys

Questions

Consider your experiences of "yearning" - either seeing it or a personally knowledge of it. For fiction writers, consider how your characters would respond to it. For non-fiction writers, what would be some ways you can relate your yearning to others?

What senses do you associate with yearning? Consider how the sense of smell, for example, relates to yearning compared to how the sense of sight relates to yearning.

Lists

Make a list of 5 to 10 scenarios of longing either in your life or that you have read in books or scene in theater, visual art, movies or television.

Brainstorm a list of sentences that illustrate yearning. You may want to take this exercise over several days, returning to it several times througout the day.

Traditional Writing Prompts:

My spirit yearns to....

My heart yearns for....

If I was honest, the writing project I yearn to complete is....

The A to Z Blogging Challenge involves creative bloggers from all across the world who cover a wide gamut of topics from "whatever pops into my daily life" to infinittesimal details about unique and varied subjects. To check them out - visit The A to Z Challenge Blog.

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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 06:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

X is for Xes: The Bold Writer from A-to-Z

You may wonder how Xes relates to being a bold writer?

It is very simple, actually, and is oftentimes looked at as one of those “well, duh!” factors in most of goal-setting. Part of increasing your BOLD factor with your writing is to have an idea of where you are going when you start. It is about knowing what you are aiming at when you begin chapter one or twelve or twenty seven.

Xes, you see, starts at its ending.

Xes, dear readers and writers, is Sex spelled backwards.

A long time ago in reading Natalie Goldberg she equated good sex with good writing practice. I can’t quote her verbatim, but if you ponder it, perhaps you’ll come up with something - I almost wrote juicy but that sounded awfully punny and cliché so I will spare you.

When you have an aim with your writing and you approach your writing similarly to how you approach a lusty sexcapade, my guess is your writing experiences will soon be even better than they are now.

Quote

“Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.”

Virginia Woolf

"Language is a skin: I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire. "

- Roland Barthe

” ---I am the poet of the Body;
And I am the poet of the Soul.

The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me;
The first I graft and increase upon myself -- the latter I translate into a new tongue.”

Walt Whitman

Questions

If writing and sex were to have a baby, what would that baby look like? Sound like? What would that baby’s unique gifts be?

If your favorite character (one you created for a fiction writer or yourself if you are not a fiction writer) was truly lusty for the creative process, what might become possible?

Lists

Make a list of 5 to 10 ways writing and sex are alike.

Make a list of 3 to 10 most important writing Xeses in your life. (Yes, I mean writing goals.)

Traditional Writing Prompts:

When I think of writing xes I have achieved, I am most proud of….. because….

The single most important reason I am at work on (name your particular writing goal) is…..

Bonus: If you don’t have a single most important writing Xes, write about several. I know this exercise alone will help you clarify what your heart and soul most wants to work on. And now that you’ve discovered the power of writing and xes, you’ll undoubtedly have a great time getting that job done!

The A to Z Blogging Challenge involves creative bloggers from all across the world who cover a wide gamut of topics from "whatever pops into my daily life" to infinittesimal details about unique and varied subjects. To check them out - visit The A to Z Challenge Blog.

=====

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

W is for Wacky: The Bold Writer from A to Z

It helps to have friends who appreciate being wacky. Creative friends normally are the right choice - like Coryn here, playing along with my silliness (from circa 2007)

Image prompt:

What story is being told here?

Sometimes the boldest thing to do is just be completely out there: you know, crazy and over-the-top wacky. This takes people by surprise, knocks them off their feet a little.

This is one of the ways my experience with acting and my experience with writing overlap. Wackiness done well, from a pure space works very well. For whatever reason I was reminded of the expression on Daphne Zuniga's face when John Cusack makes a rather wacky choice in the 1985 (little known) classic, The Sure Thing. Watch the scene but be sure to watch for that glimmer of "What on Earth will he do next?" on Daphne Zuniga's face....

Quotes:

"You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child." Dr. Seuss

"Usually the wacky people have the breakthroughs. The 'smart' people don't." Burt Rutan

Questions

When you hear the word "wacky" what comes to mind?

Consider connecting "wacky" and writing in a way you have never thought of in the past - what sort of creative freedom does this give you?

Lists

Make a list of 3 to 10 ways you would like to try to be wackier as a writer. If this sounds absolutely ridiculous to you, good. Write a list, anyway.

Make a list of 3 to 10 ways you stop reading books. Bonus: Make a corresponding list of what might have made you continue reading. (A-ha! Perhaps there is some value in being wacky. I've been told by more than one acting coach, "Whatever you do, don't bore me!"

Traditional Writing Prompts:

The thought of being wacky with my words makes me.....

Wacky is for _____ people, so with that in mind I'll.....

= = = = =

The A to Z Blogging Challenge involves creative bloggers from all across the world who cover a wide gamut of topics from "whatever pops into my daily life" to infinittesimal details about unique and varied subjects. To check them out - visit The A to Z Challenge Blog.

=====

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

V is for Voracious: The Bold Writer from A to Z

Definition:

wanting or devouring great quantities of food. (in our case, devouring great quantities of words or language....
"he had a voracious appetite"

having a very eager approach to an activity.
"his voracious reading of literature"

QUOTES:

“I was just as voracious a writer as I was a reader.”

Iris Johansen

“Like most lit nerds, I’m a voracious reader. I never got enough poetry under my belt growing up but I do read it. Some of my favorites (ravorites!) Gina Franco and Angela Shaw and Cornelius Easy and Keith Young, remind me daily that unless the words sing and dance what’s the use of putting them down on paper.” Junot Diaz

Questions

When was the last time your desire to write felt like a voracious hunger?

What happened with that project?

What comparisons can you make between being a voracious writer, reader or consumer of anything... be it food or an activity?

Lists

Make a list of 3 - 5 writers whose books make you voracious to read more? I know there are some authors I watch for and I scoop up their new books immediately. Who are some of yours?

Make a list of 5 - 10 ways you might emulate the finest qualities of these writers in your work.

Traditional Writing Prompts:

I am hungry to write about....

I can not get enough opportunities to write....

Eager doesn't begin to describe how I feel about writing....

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The A to Z Blogging Challenge involves creative bloggers from all across the world who cover a wide gamut of topics from "whatever pops into my daily life" to infinittesimal details about unique and varied subjects. To check them out - visit The A to Z Challenge Blog.

=====

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

U for Underneath: The Bold Writer from A to Z

Imagine, for a moment, all your writing that lives underneath what you show to the world. Perhaps this "underneath" writing is so buried in rules you have made up about writing or rules that have been drilled into you by others you can no longer feel what it is like to have a gurgling brook of "something" invisible" at the surface level but capable of creating a Grand Canyon of a writing world within you.

Quote

“Purring is not so different from praying. To a tree, a cat's purr is one of the purest of all prayers, for in it lies a whole mixture of gratitude and longing, the twin ingredients of every prayer.”
― Kathi Appelt

(Author of The Underneath)

“It's about, The Boogie Woogie Man
Keep your light on as long as you can
Cuz when it cuts off, so does your head
Boogie Woogie Woogie waits under your bed
With a shank, splah!, up through the bottom
Little Jimmy Jimmy, uh, got em”

The Insane Clown Posse

Questions

What is underneath your bed right this minute?

What do you hide underneath things in your writing life? What is the reason for holding things under rather than bringing them into the open?

What is your purest prayer (for those who don’t pray - goal, intention) underneath the most obvious?

Lists

Make a list of 3 - 10 things you are hiding in your writing life -

Make a list of 3 - 10 things you USED to hide in your writing life that are now out in the open for all to see

Bonus: Write the “what happened” for those things that used to be in hiding.

Traditional Writing Prompts:

Underneath my rough draft….

When I look underneath my writing that sits undone, I might find….

The A to Z Blogging Challenge involves creative bloggers from all across the world who cover a wide gamut of topics from "whatever pops into my daily life" to infinittesimal details about unique and varied subjects. To check them out - visit The A to Z Challenge Blog.

=====

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Wild: Women, Reflections & The Wilderness You Want To See

April Moon suggestion is... WILD. My heart took my pencil and here is where we went.... enjoy... and hey, these words weren't written as a fluke. They were written because they were called out of me.

You are reading this because YOU were called to read them... and to respond. I firmly, fully believe this.

Your wilderness shows in your eyes: look into yourself with love - what do you see? Write it, tell it, speak it, Tell the world your story.

Look into your eyes: What Wildness is Reflected?

I think about wild and I think not about the wilderness out there, I think about the wilderness in here in this photo. In these women from long ago - the same dance troupe Martha Graham got her start - yes, her energy and life force still flows into my blood and out into whatever it is I am creating in that specific moment - as it does in yours, too.

I want to shout to women I see, just barely living, just barely breathing, smiling that “I know this is how and who I am supposed to be, at least that's what everyone (silently my husband, mother, teacher, life coach, boss, the media, my high schooll yearbook) says and respond, "Hey: you are safe here. Let’s play around in these waters, even just looking at what we see reflected is a powerful thing!"

Hold that image of you in that mirror you gaze into.

Look at one feature, tell me what you see.

What do you see in those eyes there, looking back. Describe them, carefully, minutely in every unique detail.

I hunger for those specifics: the flecks of gold, the slightly upturned downturn at the edge of your eye where that unspent tear from seventh grade still waits for you to say, “Julie’s tear, from that moment when she said that to you - you know the one and you know the what, it is safe. You are love personified. That tear and the others may all come now.” I want to hear about the rim of your eye, the outline. I want to hear about the specific shade of copper or brown or middle-of-the-Summer-night-before-the-moonrise color. Perhaps yours look like a dark rain cloud or the fog or maybe like the color of your sister’s woolen coat, the one she hated but the one you always wanted to wear.

Tell me about your eyes, the ones you see reflected.

This is where wildness lives. This is WILD: in your eyes and in the words you use to bring your eyes to life in front of me so that I can close my eyelids and see your eyes reflected there.

That - this - is the wild I want to see.

= = = = =

My interpretation of woman of mystery

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

T is for Think: "The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud." Coco Chanel

Quote

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”

-- Coco Chanel

Questions

Please take a moment and really ponder the question I am about to ask. Don’t just shuffle your mental deck of cards and say four of clubs, allow yourself to consider the possibilities.

What percentage of the time are your thoughts uniquely your own versus re-iterating what someone else has told you?

What are you willing to do to become more practiced at thinking for yourself?

How often do you share your most unique thoughts with others?

What is it that stops you?

Now, for the writing side:

When is your writing the most authentic, with your own unique beliefs and thoughts?

What stops you from writing in such a clear, easily definable as you way?

Lists

Make a list of 3 to 5 topics you have strong opinions on that may not be what the majority of the people you know share your same opinion.

Make a list of 3 to 5 popular opinions you believe in.

Do research on one from each of these lists: it doesn’t have to be graduate level study, simply google at first and read some articles. You may even get out a notebook and jot down some new ideas. Then… extra bonus: write about what you have learned.

Traditional Writing Prompts:

When I think about speaking or writing my own, pure thoughts, I….

When I am completely honest, I remember the last time I spoke up or wrote about something really important (and unpopular) and I…..

I want to be more courageous with my writing so I will…..

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The A to Z Blogging Challenge involves creative bloggers from all across the world who cover a wide gamut of topics from "whatever pops into my daily life" to infinittesimal details about unique and varied subjects. To check them out - visit The A to Z Challenge Blog.

=====

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

S is for Spontaneity: The Bold Writer from A to Z

Please note: There have been some challenges with Typepad.com for the last few days. I'm sorry if you've tried commenting and it didn't work. They're working on it and I'm attempting to stay positive through it all.

Now, on with S is for Spontaneity:

This is sometimes a debate:

To be spontaneous or to not be spontaneous, that is the question.....

and now, what do you think?

Let's Write!

Quotes:

“Why not seize the pleasure at once? -- How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!” Jane Austen

“I guess sometimes the greatest memories are made in the most unlikely of places, further proof that spontaneity is more rewarding than a meticulously planned life.” J.A. Redmerski

“Basketball is an intricate, high-speed game filled with split-second, spontaneous decisions. But that spontaneity is possible only when everyone first engages in hours of highly repetitive and structured practice--perfecting their shooting, dribbling, and passing and running plays over and over again--and agrees to play a carefully defined role on the court. . . . spontaneity isn't random.” Malcolm Gladwell

Questions

How do you balance spontaneity with planning?

Are you more of a planner or more of a spontaneous writer? (Sometimes called pantsers vs. plotters, I believe?) What will you do to take a taste of writing “the other way?” What might this do to strengthen your writing?

Lists

Make a list of 3 to 10 ways to make space for increased spontaneity in your world OR increased planning, depending upon your current preferred way of being.

Make a list of 3 to 10 ways to plan for spontaneity - as Malcolm Gladwell said above, “spontaneity isn’t random.”

Make a list of the rewards of being spontaneous.

Make a list of rewards of careful planning.

Traditional Writing Prompts:

When I think of spontaneity, I feel…

When I think of micromanaging my writing, I feel…

When I follow through on my writing plans, I think….

When I choose spontaneity over my careful plans....

= = = = =

The A to Z Blogging Challenge involves creative bloggers from all across the world who cover a wide gamut of topics from "whatever pops into my daily life" to infinittesimal details about unique and varied subjects. To check them out - visit The A to Z Challenge Blog.

=====

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Posted at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

How to Reward Your "Other Work" with a 5 Minute Creativity Fix (and just feel better about everything!)

It was another one of those mopey sort of uninspired, I don’t feel like doing anything sort of afternoons when I remembered the greatest trick to instantly feeling better: the 5 Minute Creative Fix!

I was busy with stuff “to do” but the problem is it all felt crushing and heavy and none of it felt in the least bit attractive.

I decided I would set up a reward system for myself: thirty minutes of grading student’s papers would bring me five minutes worth of creative fix. Decluttering for fifteen minutes would buy another five minute creative fix. Preparing dinner? You’ve got it now - five minute creative fix.

What did I do in those five minutes?

One project I worked on was a mixed media piece. One of the things I especially love about mixed media is it is a form created for layering. It is perfect for five minutes here and there. It is not a rushing form, it is more of a waiting form. There is such value in this for busy women!

Another project I worked on was a collage I am building in a reclaimed frame that was more than sort of wonky. It had nails sticking out of it! I hadn’t known what to do about that but remembered I have braided sheets I am using in a rag rug project. Rag rug meet frame and instantly… solution and a cute solution as well. AND it took about five minutes to affix the braid to the frame. Wow. That was a genius move more than a month in the making!

A third project was a writing project . I set the timer for five minutes and wrote, stream of consciousness style, on a writing prompt from my friend, Kat McNally. Instead of saying, “I don’t have time for yet another thing!” when I used my 5 Minute Creative Fix solution, suddenly time opened up and wow, did I ever feel satisfied when I uploaded that blog post.

Ready to try it out? Here are 3 tips to help you in your process.

Don’t pressure yourself to finish anything quickly. Think of the tortoise rather than the hare. Think of personalized rather than off a conveyer belt just like everyone else. Think of ideas floating down to you over time rather then rushing to step 3 while still working on step 1.
Think of your five-minute creative chunk as an opportunity for progress rather than completion.
Remember the adage, “It is about the journey, not the destination.” This is a perfect example. Embracing it will change your attitude!

I look forward to seeing your photos of your projects in process and then, completed. Five minute chunks of time add up.

Hooray for you! Hooray for us! Hooray for creative fixes five minutes at a time!

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Spring, 2014 and beyond.

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Giving You Permission to Be Purely You, Unerased, Raw, Absolutely Right.....

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Please note: There have been some challenges with Typepad.com for the last few days. I'm sorry if you've tried commenting and it didn't work. They're working on it and I'm attempting to stay positive through it all.

Now, on with S is for Spontaneity:

This is sometimes a debate:

To be spontaneous or to not be spontaneous, that is the question.....

and now, what do you think?

Let's Write!

Quotes:

“Why not seize the pleasure at once? -- How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!” Jane Austen