Julie Unplugged

10 Ways to Use Your Cell Phone to Write Blog Articles, Top 10 Lists, How-to's, Poetry and More

I never knew my cell phone would become such an important part of my life. I thought I would be texting and searching the internet, catching up on facebook and twitter and other fun, playful aps, but I didn't realize it would actually help me with so many of my writing adventures.

Here are ten ways you may use your cell phone as I do for writing purposes. Try one of these you don't currently use and please comment to share either a new way we may all use our phones OR let us know how you experiment with these ten ways to use your smart phone.

10 Ways to Use Your  Phone to Write Articles, Top 10 Lists, How-to's, Poetry and More

1. Listen to conversation being spoken around you. Eavesdrop to capture rich/true dialogue
2. Take photos, especially those surprise images to write about later. Once you set the intention to be surprised visually, your eyes will begin to see more and more intriguing sights.
3. Collect "jots" of writing in three words or less... what you see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel emotionally
4.  Use your timer: Do timed stream of consciousness writing at any time in any space. Do timed writing with your notebook while on a hike. Do timed writing on your laptop sitting in a coffee shop. Do timed writing directly into your smart phone.
5. Keep a one sentence journal. At the end of the day, write a one sentence summary of either the entire day or whatever stand out event happened, even if it is “The intersection at Stockdale and California was more annoying than infomercials as I drove through it fourteen times today.”
6. Haiku everywhere and then tweet what you write from your smart phone.  You may want to make one day a week your haiku day or make it a practice to see the normal differently – such as writing the dawn every day for a week or month.
7.  In your calendar note times (and set alarms!) for sunrises, sunsets or other "time attached" subjects. For example, an older slightly battered truck rolls by my house at about 6:40 a.m. daily. I consciously make a point to be out there so I can wave as I take notes. This truck and its driver has become a rich part of my writing life and we have never officially met.
8.  Take notes when people think you are texting. I recently did this at a birthday party where I didn’t know anyone. Since people are used to texting, in some circles this isn’t seen as rude. Be careful to not be totally oblivious to social nuances.  Interaction at the party itself will also give you gems you can capture as you sit in your car before leaving or on the bus on the way home after the party is over.

9. Create writing prompts from what you see. There is never, ever, ever “nothing to write about.” Look around as you live. Examples: “The waitress with the very red lipstick reminds me of…” and write, using your timer, for at least five minutes stream of consciousness style. “The fallen tree on the side of the road made me feel…”. “The old man waiting at the bus stop looked….” Or “I wonder where the old man at the bus stop is going? It could be…. Or… or… and why isn’t someone from his family driving him?”

 10. Write how-to articles. What technology do you suppose I used to write this one?

 © 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott

Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.

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Top 7 Ways to Make the Most of Your “Mom Schlep” (or any time you have to drive hither and yon when you would really rather be doing something – anything – else)

Yesterday I was having a great time sitting at my writing desk letting the insights and inspiration flow when I realized I needed to go pick up Samuel. I lose about an hour a day (or more!) schlepping kids here and there. I get pretty darned cranky about it SO in order to keep my sanity – and a positive relationship with my children – I have come up with strategies to thrive while doing this least favored chore. Some are simple and some may be life changing for you. Try the first couple or two that appeal to you and then… try more. It will make a big difference!

1. Smile. Just putting on a happy expression, believe it or not, makes a difference in your emotions. Put your key in the ignition of your car, put a smile on the ignition of your face.
2. Don’t turn on the radio immediately. Enjoy some quiet instead of a barrage of bass-filled beats or advertisements. This also creates room for more conversation. Teens especially need this space and will tell you more while schlepping around than anywhere else.
3. Practice creativity while driving. My children, even the youngest ones, enjoy “writing haiku” as we drive. This simple Japanese poetry form is simply 17 syllables of “what you see” in its most simplest guise. My kids are still talking about my “blue surrounds the clouds” line.
4. Have a “surprise phone-tography shot” challenge. Who can spot the most interesting image during the drive. Mom, pull over and take a photo & then together, vote on the winners. Prizes? Hugs from Mom or a relief from the simplest chore/household task on the list. And yes, Mom, you are included in this “photo spotting” project.
5. Let the view spark family and life stories. “Do you see that guy, on the corner? That reminds me of a story grandpa used to tell me when he was a little boy.” My children have learned more about my life – and the entire extended family life – because we make the most of what we see. After you are finished with your quick story, ask your child, “What does it (or that something else) remind you?
6. I know it’s illegal in most places, anyway – but put your phone away! (this is why I said to pull over for the phone-tography. A recent tweet from my fifteen-year-old “calling me out” made me choose to just put it away! (You may do the same with your children, too. Make the car “family” time. If the habit is too tough to break, as child to read amusing tweets on a favorite shared subject by searching twitter hashtags. 
7. With that in mind my final suggestion is this: set ALL electronic devices aside, except for GPS ofcourse. Unhook the headphones, put the hand held devices on standby, and use Mom-Shlep time to connect with one another rather than connect with technology.

Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot 

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!) 

© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott

 

Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield.

 

Behind the Scenes: Donut Sandwiches, Birthing Doctors, Bottled Water & Plentiful Creativity

Preface: You might remember my dear friend and castmate, Michelle Moreno. I wrote about her passion for succulents a while back. (Read that post here.) She sent me this photo this morning. She said she had a vision for it and for me. She wanted me to use it as a prompt so naturally, I did. What you see here is the result of Michelle's art creating more art. Love it! Love her! Love being backstage again!

There is a certain mythology to the dressing room, one which people inquire about or my readers enjoy reading about, so they tell me. To this community theater actor, dressing rooms can be quite a haven, quite a sanctuary, quite a place of creativity as we prepare and then wait to take the stage.

In this photo I may be seen, forever in time, catching up on facebook on June 20, 2012, as I wait.

I am not socializing on facebook mind you, I am doing business networking.  I am feeling a renewed love for the business side of what I do, so I am capitalizing on my business romancing while also nurturing my more conventional creative side.

You can see I am dressed to go on, Michelle has prettified my hair. My scene is still about forty minutes away.

Keeping me company while I wait I have a book of Laurence Ferlinghetti poetry, some throat lozenges for my nagging cough, a huge tome of a book underneath the poems titled Mad Woman in the Attic and under that – in red – is my script. Michelle and I did our usual line running shortly after she took this shot.

She didn’t happen to capture me as I wrote snippets for future poems made up of the verbal action in the dressing room. That may have been my single most fun activity of all last night while waiting.

This is primarily a transcript of what my castmates were saying as I sat, invisibly, in my little corner.

I like taking pictures
I had their donut sandwich
It was pretty good
They put American cheese on it
Anybody else?
Scene change random straight wait a minute
You should play my birthing doctor
Different accents anyway
Scotts scotts scotts the lower I go
The worse it gets
They say the don't have to match
Why did you think that?
Its comfy and ready for bed
Bottled water opens on one, two, three
Then another one, two, three and another
Think about what you did
And its five, again,
Character development as long
As its sexy vampires they don't care
Can I call you after I die?
It should be twenty minutes or so
Is that the shirt you're wearing?
Do you want to....
Yeah! Outside? Now or do you need
To wait ~

With that, Michelle and I left the dressing room. Time to run lines and be sure we are ready to be out there, on stage, performing in a way that is pleasing to the future audiences, our director, ourselves and I always have the playwright in the center of my heart and intention when I take the stage.

Then we get to do it all again tomorrow. That makes me smile.

Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot

Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)

© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott

Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.

Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -

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Busy Woman's Tips: 5 Keys to Success in Documenting Your Moments & Memories (Even if you have never "succeeded" before!)

This post was inspired by another post I wrote during the Summer Blog Challenge: 15 Life Tips to Your Better Life Journey.

I got such favorable responses, I decided to write short articles and sometimes, more tips, to go with the original article.

I'll repeat what I said there:

Hold lightly & apply with love.

I am going to preface this list of life tips with the last tip. Please read this as a beginning, an end and an in-between: Hold all of these tips lightly with love rather than duty. Duty is a fun-sucker, love is a fun-creator.

I can’t remember all the times I was told to keep scrapbooks filled with all sorts of stuff from my children’s lives. I tried. I did! When I was pregnant with Samuel my goal was to at least get started on Emma’s baby book.

I prepped photos, I collected stuff – and all of it sits in an 8 X 11 envelope, still waiting for me to get it together enough to get that scrapbook – baby book made.

So – you may be asking how can I be suggesting this very tip: Write things down, witness your moments & document with photos when you can’t do it yourself?

Well, truth is I have done it, I have simply done it in my own way. Which is

Key to Success #1: Find a way to document that suits your personality which you will continue to return to rather than abandon before you even get started. You might take photos for a month and then have a day to organize, categorize and choose which ones to print, hang and share. You might take photos every day and organize daily. Neither is wrong or right: either one is a success.

Key to Success #2: Carry a small notebook somewhere. I know, you can take notes on your phone (see #3) but a small notebook will help you to sketch something you see or ask your child to contribute or collect a quote from a surprising stranger and allow them to sign it. I know, notebooks seem old school – but you can even get tiny composition books from the dollar store. At least try this for a week or two and if it doesn’t fit, give your teeny tiny notebook to someone else to use.

Key to Success #3: Use your phone’s note taking feature to witness the world around you. I do this especially when I am standing in line. I found myself in a convenience store in a crummy part of town recently and to distract myself from freaking out wrote these lines:

Smell of a convenience store: inhabited by a crack head smelling like smoke, beer, and a t shirt worn for eight days in a row. Tattoos decorate the calves of a man in cut off shorts whose glassy eyes tell a story all their own I write lines for future poetry, perhaps, into my cell phone to stay safely distracted. Pink paint sparkles on my left thumb as I type type type into my android colornote “Armando, I looked the door,” she said, “We just had a beer run” Too long t shirt man puts a gallon and 81 cents into his dodge. I see glassy eyed man move in the opposite direction I will be driving in his car and I am frozen, unbelieving:  I pray for his inebriated abilities and wish I had thought to write his license plate into my poem. Please, God, forgive me. Keep this neighborhood  - this place – safe.

 Key to Success #4 – Write using either the simplest form (strings of sentences) or a form that will inspire you to write (like haiku). Be sure to capture, anyway, so you will be able to hold this moment in the future.

Key to Success #5 – Don’t worry about having the biggest, best or most bad ass camera or tablet computer to collect your moments. Just use what you have. Test what works. Let go of what doesn’t and continue trying until you have your own brand of “keepers.”

You will soon have a potpourri of memorable stories, photos, poems and momentos to not only keep your family legacy alive, you may find yourself writing to earn money or teaching workshops or simply being a more engaging storyteller as you tuck your children into bed.

Whatever the result of this is, know it will make your life even better than it is today.

Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot

© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott

Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.

Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -

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